This thrilling chase film, set mostly aboard - and on top of - a speeding train, hurtling through the Canadian wilderness, is a remake of one of the most successful B-movies in history, which turned in a fantastic profit on a modest budget of 230,000 dollars for its studio in 1952. This updated remake cost $21million, and every cent is on the screen in the shape of breathtaking action set pieces. Gene Hackman turns in another reliable performance, as a deputy DA charged with delivering key Mafia killing witness Anne Archer to testify at a trial and having to keep them both safe from a gang of armed heavies in a pursuing helicopter and on the train. The stars add to the gritty thrills by doing nearly all their own stuntwork on top of the train and director Peter Hyams uses interior wide-angle shots for unusual views of the carriages and breathtaking aerial shots of Canadian lakes and forests along the route. It's nice to see James B Sikking (Lt Hunter from Hill Street Blues) cast against type as the lead heavy.

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