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      Buster

      R Released Nov 23, 1988 1h 30m Romance Comedy List
      Reviews 57% 5,000+ Ratings Audience Score The story of Great Train Robber Buster Edwards, a small-timer who fell in with more ambitious thieves. After the gang robs a London to Glasgow Royal Mail train in 1963, he takes his family into hiding in Mexico but finds that money is no substitute for life back home. Read More Read Less Watch on Prime Video Stream Now

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      Buster

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      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member When you miss the latest episode of Rawhide on TV 😔 Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review r 9 Phil Collins is surprisingly good. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member http://letterboxd.com/zbender/film/buster/ I think I can fairly say that this point in Phil's career as a showman treated him fairly well. Coming off his most commercially successful Genesis album, and his Grammy winning solo effort No Jacket Required, Phil was poised for his film debut as Buster Edwards. Buster, a professional thief, has a lot riding on this next robbery (get it? It's a train robbery. "Riding on."). The money will lead to a better life for Phil and family. Now it's about getting away with it. Let's get the good out first. Phil can act. Simple as that. Before getting into music, Phil was a child actor and I guess he must've retained some skill going into his film debut. He can maintain presence for me. It may be biased since I've basically done and said everything without actually blowing him. However, I'd like to think it's not just bias. Julie Walters does a respectable job as the wife of Buster. The soundtrack was also good, but I wish Phil's music was in it a little more other than the very end. Some good tension is also placed in areas such as the train robbery and trying to get away with the heist. Despite all this good, I feel this film was mediocre. For one, the climax was played out early in the train robbery. That was the most exciting moment of the film. The chase afterwards of Phil wasn't quite as exciting. There never seems to be any real stakes in this film. For instance, the whole family knows about Buster being a thief, but no one gives a flying fuck about the living he makes as long as the money comes in. Some critics note that this acceptance of criminality ruins the film for them. Same, but in a different sense. Buster during this lifestyle of crime and running from the law never has to make much compromise. There isn't much argument within the family on where to go and what to do. He just does and he never gets caught. It seems a bit vanilla and it bogs the film experience for me. Maybe if we mixed in more tension build prior to robbing the train, or there was more issue while on the run. The vanilla in this film is especially apparent in a dull third act with little thrill. While Buster and his friends vacation, the story takes a backseat. Any build this film may have had comes to a halt (like the train did; hehe). Even toward the end when there was a bit of stake in Buster's life being dramatically affected, I knew that Buster would probably escape consequence. The final shot of the film just gives the feel of, "oh Buster you scamp!" Overall, Buster has some great acting, music, and minor tension from place to place. However, it's overshadowed by a story with little consequence and little stake in the matter. Making this one rather forgettable. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member My favourite singer and all round nice guy in a film. Love and loss comes into consideration in this knock out flick as we see Phil Collins present himself as Buster Edwards, the kind hard on his luck devoted father, not the criminal everyone thought when he helped to steal a million quid in 1963, this film teaches you not to judge a book by its cover and realises criminals do bad things for a good reason for their families, and that's what Buster did, I love the way they took a true life story about one of the biggest crimes in UK history and turned into a Romantic flick. I love the fact that Collins wrote 2 hits for this film and really do well pushing out the romantic side to the film, Larry Lamb and Julie Walters do a fantastic job as supporting Collins, Walters does a more than good job in being his on screen wife and really making this film work giving the event more sweet and romantic than others think. I loved this film so much I never thought my favourite singer can act so well. A knock out performence for a knock out 4.5 star film that is expected to brighten anyone's day Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member British film about a likable petty thief pulls a major heist of used bank notes from a train and subsequently escapes to Mexico with his family while most of his accomplices are rounded up. When his homesick wife leaves him to return home, he finds no money in the world is worth sticking around for. Really a love story and not a bad one. Phil Collins only adds three songs to the soundtrack but two of them were big hits that continued his assault on the charts in the 80's. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member An odd, occasionally entertaining heist and aftermath movie with a very competent performance from Collins and a much much better one from Walters. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Buster is played with surprising effectiveness by rock star Phil Collins, who looks and sounds like a gentler Bob Hoskins. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Singer Phil Collins, who plays the lead in this British heist movie, was nominated for the Best Song Oscar. Rated: C+ Aug 22, 2012 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: C+ Aug 11, 2005 Full Review Linda Cook Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) Rated: 1/5 Aug 4, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis The story of Great Train Robber Buster Edwards, a small-timer who fell in with more ambitious thieves. After the gang robs a London to Glasgow Royal Mail train in 1963, he takes his family into hiding in Mexico but finds that money is no substitute for life back home.
      Director
      David Green
      Producer
      Frank Giustra, Peter E. Strauss
      Screenwriter
      Colin Shindler
      Distributor
      Hernadale Film Corp.
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Romance, Comedy
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Nov 23, 1988, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Dec 2, 2003
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $350.1K
      Runtime
      1h 30m
      Sound Mix
      Surround
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