Lasko - Death Train (2006)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Even though I'm not Catholic, I weary of movies that bash them or portray their clergy or adherents in the worst possible light. 'Lasko: Death Train' is charmingly pro-Catholic, and a lot of fun.What could be more enjoyable for Catholic 9 to 15-year olds than to see kung-fu monks try and stop mercenaries from distributing a deadly stolen virus on a train of pilgrims bound for Lourdes to see the Pope? For what it is, this movie is relatively safe for young people -- only a smidgen of vulgar language, very little blood, and nothing prurient. Classroom teachers should feel pretty safe about showing it to students. The editing, music, cinematography, pacing, etc. are all very good. Okay, so the dialogue sounds like it came out a Japanese animated film at times, but kids won't care. There won't be anything new here for action flick fans, but what is here is handled carefully and done well.I liked it. Kids will enjoy it, too.

I totally enjoyed this movie. It's a shame when people nitpick over little details. Let's all remember WHY we go to the movies in the first place: we want to believe that there's a happy ending, that there's a crazy, action packed setting where lots of unbelievable things happen. Explosions galore in this one! Lots of cars getting blown up (how crazy was the timing on the hummer driving RIGHT past the truck that the villain had stuck a detonator to?), helicopters smashing into trains... It's a miracle the train survived as long as it did! The only thing that puzzles me is how a train has a "ventilation system" that runs throughout all the cars in sequence. Lots of great martial arts, and a rather interesting storyline. The strong arm of the Vatican? Interesting plot line and sorry, but you don't see a whole slew of movies based on "death trains." The characters were believable, and there were a few humorous moments, most notably the atypical heavyset monk, and the main villain calling himself Lucifer. If you want non stop action, this movie delivers; it has you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I highly recommend it.

This was a pretty good action movie with believable characters, given the genre. The ex- soldier Lasko sick of death and hiding out in a monastery (Mathis Landwehr) reluctantly takes up the gauntlet to be the Vatican's point man in a struggle against terrorists centered on a train bearing pilgrims from Cologne Germany to Lourdes. You also have a deadly virus, helicopters, explosions, martial arts fights in and on top of the moving train, rockets, guns, knives, the works. Pretty good pyrotechnics too. The single most unbelievable thing in the plot is when a henchman parks his truck right across the tracks while waiting to pick up the bad guys, anticipating the train will stop before it hits him, thinking the bad guys control the engine. I cannot believe anyone would not simply have parked a few meters away, just off the tracks. Too stupid to believe even of idiots. I could more readily swallow Vatican secret agents than that incident, though who knows. There were military orders of monks during the crusades. Mathis Landwehr looks to be in great shape in the early scenes when he is shirtless. He has a fine physique: lean but muscular and looks completely believable as a martial artist. I hope they do a sequel, as the title suggests. In English it was Lasko:Death Train. That suggests Lasko: the Next Adventure. I would watch it.

Great action film all round really. Saw this at Cannes 2005 and had a blast watching it and it was a class touch getting Arnold Vosloo to play the lead villain. My only complaint is that the lead character played by the highly versatile Mathis Landwehr does not get to demonstrate as much of his martial arts ability as he did in Kampfansage. However, the crashing explosion at the end of the film must be one of the largest i've ever seen in all my years. A genuine spectacle. Great fun from start to finish, and it's great to see an Action Concept film making the leap to English language. Although I generally like subtitled films myself, this will hopefully ensure that their films will be seen in more territories worldwide. Well worth seeking out.