Avalanche Express

PG

Released Oct 19, 1979

1 hr. 28 min.

Action

Mystery & Thriller

List

20%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

12%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

A CIA agent (Lee Marvin) plans to use the defection of a Soviet official (Robert Shaw) to kill a Soviet germ-warfare expert on a train.

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ashley h

Avalanche Express is a disappointing film. It is about a CIA agent who plans to use the defection of a Soviet official to kill a Soviet germ-warfare expert on a train. Robert Shaw and Lee Marvin give horrible performances. The screenplay is badly written. Mark Robson did a terrible job directing this movie. I was not impressed with this motion picture.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

joe m

"Avalanche Express" is a mash up of the spy and disaster genres of the 1960-70's yet just doesn't pull it off. The biggest problem is the movie has a muddled plot with the contrivance of using a train to transport a high ranking Russian defector from Milan to Rotterdam in some ludicrous scheme to out all of Russia's undercover agents along the way. This is on a train armed to the teeth and attacked numerous times - all while carrying paying passengers! Adding to the mess is the bad acting all round headed by the stars Marvin, Evans and Shaw. The only highlight is the fantastic train models and sets that are stand ins for going through the Alps. Just skip it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Choppy mishmash of spies and action.... a cast of notable actors delivering a time waster. Plot not believable. Action phony.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Short and standard action movie of the late 70s. Robert Shaw is a Russian General who task a Colonel Maximilian Schell to take charge of a biological weapon project security. Lee Marvin and Linda Evans are CIA agent. Robert decide to defect and Lee is in charge of escorting him to safety. He use this chance to lure the secret killer agents as he know they will try to kill Robert. Lee fake his own death and become the train operator which nobody knows. Maximilian planted a agent in the same train. In the first ambush, Lee has to come out and kill the double agent. Before that he already told Robert to hide among the snow if attack is coming. Second attempt to kill the train was an avalanche. They have to free up last 3 carriages to escape in time to the tunnel. Maximilian hire a professional killer and his team to go up finish the job. A lady hold grenade and go to the control. The train stop on the bridge and the killers attack. All killers are dead. Maximilian manage to escape. Lee and gang dress up as the killers, trying to board the tanker which the baddies are hiding. Maximilian ignore the order to save them and want them dead. Lee fires torpedo and blow up the tanker. Finally they are in safety on board airplane to USA.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

La ultima película que Robert Shaw filmo antes de morir :'( ...y no fue buena :v aunque que curioso que la haya junto a Lee Marvin, ya que el fue la primera opción de Spielberg para ser Quint lol

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Directed by Mark Robson (Von Ryan's Express (1965) and Valley of the Dolls (1967)), and adapted from the 1976 novel by Raymond Harold Sawkins under the pseudonym of Colin Forbes. This cold war adventure film should have been no trouble to shoot, but Robson and it's star died after filming, but despite this, it proves to be an OK film to watch, even if it is a little dated now. When Russian General Marenkov (Robert Shaw) decides to defect to the West, he is aided by CIA agent Harry Wargrave (Lee Marvin), who leads a team to get him over the border, and Wargrave decides the only safe way to do this is by train, which is named as "The Avalanche Express", from from Milan, Italy to Rotterdam, Holland. Wargrave has a plan, he decides to try and lure the Russians into attacking the train, thus rooting out enemy spies and their identities. But, further up the track, Russian spy-catcher Nikolai Bunin (Maximilian Schell) has a secret agenda, and plans to stop the train by causing an avalanche. Filmed mainly in Ireland, which doubles well as Eastern Europe, it has some good moments, even if has been seen before, and the special effects are quite ropey by today's standards. It's a shame Shaw died when he did, as he did have a lot more to offer as an actor, but not all of this works, but it'll do.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Mark Robson

Director

Robert Shaw

Marenkov

Lee Marvin

Wargrave

Linda Evans

Elsa Lang

Maximilian Schell

Bunin

Joe Namath

Leroy

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Gary Arnold

Washington Post

This fizzled brain-storm from New World, Roger Corman's production company looks like a cinch for the first supplement to "The 50 Worst Films of All Time."

Dec 21, 2015

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A miserable experience.

Rated: 1/4

Dec 26, 2023

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Can always make time to watch an avalanche.

Rated: B-

Aug 31, 2021

Full Review

Chuck O'Leary

FulvueDrive-in.com

A bad-luck project that saw director Mark Robson and co-star Robert Shaw die during production in 1978. The final result is a choppy all-star thriller that's obviously a truncated 88-minute salvage job.

Rated: 4/10

Aug 18, 2007

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: C-

Aug 7, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

A CIA agent (Lee Marvin) plans to use the defection of a Soviet official (Robert Shaw) to kill a Soviet germ-warfare expert on a train.

Director: Mark Robson
Screenwriter: Abraham Polonsky
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Lorimar Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 19, 1979, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2008

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