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Silver Streak BluRay Edition / Rated PG for violence, rude humor and seduction.
Turning any age that has your birthday ending in a zero can be a shocking experience. Any time you are leaving a decade of your life and starting a new one is life’s way of reminding you that the next 10 years is probably not going to be as good as the last. Most people face this challenge by celebrating. My 30th birthday has long come and gone. What I did on my 30th, which was a Friday night, was attend a movie. Surprise, surprise.
Silver Streak premiered in December of 1976. I highly recommend that if you are turning 30 this film can make it a memorable birthday event. It is a combination comedy, action and suspense thriller. It’s all about a simple guy played by Gene Wilder boarding a train in L.A. to travel to Chicago. The trip is anything but simple. He meets up with all kinds of oddball characters including a beautiful and seductive “Hilly” played by the late Jill Clayburgh. GW also encounters an insidious bad guy in actor Patrick McGoohan and a group of henchmen led by 7ft 2 in Richard Kiel. During this era RK gained fame as “Jaws” the giant baddie facing off against James Bond (then played by Roger Moore) in a couple of the JB films.
Along the way all kinds of twists, turns and roller coaster train ride fun occur. Adding to the fun Richard Pryor joins the cast at just past the one hour mark. It would be the 1st of four comedy team ups of Wilder and Pryor. Besides the comedy there is also Alfred Hitchcock like suspense as this film bears a great resemblance to the AH masterpiece North by Northwest (1959).
Arthur Hiller directs and Henry Mancini provides a score that had a typical 70’s Mancini sound, filled with a great train movement main theme and beautifully romantic music for the GW & JC characters.
Originally meant to be filmed on the cross country Amtrak train they were turned down because Amtrak thought the film would provide negative publicity for the railroad. Most of the cross country exteriors were shot in Canada. Looked a lot like the U.S. to me, not that I had seen that much of it at 30.
The BluRay limited edition restores the theatrical look for the first time ever. This is a fun ride to take even if you are not turning 30.
Note: At just past the 26 minute mark, Gene Wilder in one of his many great comedic moments is physically thrown off the moving train. Hate to be a spoiler but I got to tell you there are two more just like it. Both as funny as the first. All aboard. Or all unaboard.
Rated 3.9 out of 4.0 reasons not to miss the train. Oh, and if the time is right Happy 30th Birthday.
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