There's a lot of great stuff going on in The First Great Train Robbery. First off, it's a caper movie, along the lines of Ocean's Eleven, with the unual twist of it being set in 1855 England. It's the brain-child of writer/director Michael Crichton, the man behind Jurassic Park, Westworld, Twister and E.R. who, as with all of his novels and movies, is preoccupied with the issues that technological progress has on humanity, whether it's cloning, robotics, time travel, nanites or Victorian railway security.
You've got a playful Sean Connery, a silly Donald Sutherland and a ultra-sexy Leslie Anne-Down as the con men attempting the impossible 'job' with British luvies Michael Elphick and Wayne Sleep giving them a hand. Oh, and another vintage Jerry Goldsmith score from one of the best years of his career (Star Trek and Alien were composed in 1979 as well).
This is huge, huge fun and the period setting allows you to admire the craft of 'grand theft' in an era before electronic safe-cracking became the norm. Just a word of warning however; If you feel the need to watch this on the Universal Channel (the one that shows NCIS, Monk and Psych)...then don't. Chances are they won't transmit the climactic robbery itself, making Universal the biggest thieves of your time that you'll encounter all year.
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