The Battle of the Rails

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walter m Featuring dramatic recreations, "La Bataille du Rail" is a highly suspenseful ode to the heroics of the railroad workers of France during the Nazi occupation. While most passengers had their passports checked by officials crossing the border, others were smuggled right under the Nazis' noses. First and foremost, sabotage was the main occupation of the railroad resistance, slowing down or downright wrecking the Nazi war effort. At first, the Germans said that they were all on the same side which of course nobody believed. So, firing squads were set up, shown in one expertly crafted scene that eschews the hyperrealistic approach of the rest of the film. Still, the sabotage continued, especially after the cat was out of the bag with D-Day. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member If you are after a movie about the railways and the actions taken by the French resistance to thwart the Nazi's plans, then this is your movie. If you want a movie with developing characters, its not your movie. Personally I enjoyed the movie and place it up there with better railway movies available to us. It can have bit of a documentary feel to it but it adds to the purpose of the film. Great stuff. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Though ultra-realistic, this one is kind of tough to sit through (possibly due to the lack of a clear story line). The effects I found very impressive - especially those of the derailed train (could this have been a maquette? Scarcely believable). The heroism of the workers and the grim and dirty realities of occupied France are all there in full view, as the director must have wanted it. What this film clearly does not tell is the other side of the French railways' story of the period: as we know by now, the SNCF had no scruples at all about assisting the Nazis with their human cargo transportations to the concentration camps. Back in 1945, France was (understandably) not yet ready for this rather awkward piece of truth. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member De beaux mensonges bien filmes. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member It's a gritty, stripped docudrama detailing how various arms of the French Resistance (from the railway workers to the partisans) sabotaged Nazi-run trains. The subtitles aren't that well done, but for the most part it doesn't matter, since the movie's largely action-oriented. And all in all it's a really interesting movie; there aren't many flourishes to it, but there are a lot of really impressive fighting scenes, as well as an amazing scene of a train derailing. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member A gritty, almost guerrilla type documentary style film, very neo-relist and very intriguing. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Battle of the Rails

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