When a murder occurs on the train on which he's travelling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.When a murder occurs on the train on which he's travelling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.When a murder occurs on the train on which he's travelling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 29 nominations
- Director
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Kenneth Branagh was aware of the over-extravagance of his character's mustache, but he justified it by the fact that there were fifteen quotes in the original novel mentioning the mustache.
- GoofsBetween Vinkovci (last stop before the murder) and Brod (today Slavonski Brod, the final stop in the movie) there is roughly 70km of a totally flat railroad. Nowhere near the alpine/mountain/snowy setting that it is depicted in the movie.
- Quotes
Hercule Poirot: [thinking as he walks through the train towards the bar car] My Dear Colonel Armstrong, finally, I can answer your letter, at least with the thoughts in my head and the feeling in my heart that somewhere you can hear me. I have now discovered the truth of the case and it is profoundly disturbing. I have seen the fracture of the human soul. So many broken lives, so much pain and anger giving way to the poison of deep grief, until one crime became many. I have always wanted to believe that man is rational and civilized. My very existence depends upon this hope, upon order and method and the little grey cells... but now perhaps I am asked... to listen instead... to my heart.
[pauses]
Hercule Poirot: [addressing the passengers in the bar car] Ladies and gentlemen, I have understood in this case that the scales of justice... cannot always be evenly weighed. And I must learn for once, to live with the imbalance. There are no killers here, only people who deserve a chance to heal. The police have accepted my first solution to the crime: the lone assassin who made his escape. I will leave the train here to conclude formalities. You are all free to go. May you find your peace with this... May we all.
[exits train]
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Must See Trailers of June 2017 (2017)
- SoundtracksAnatolian Longa
Written by Hassan Erraji
Courtesy of Extreme Music
Of the four filmed adaptations of 'Murder on the Orient Express' the only outstanding one is the 1974 Sidney Lumet film, which is one of the best cinematic Agatha Christie adaptations to me. The others are the David Suchet version, which is often considered one of the worst of the series but from personal opinion while very flawed it's better than given credit for, and the 2001 Alfred Molina version which is a mess. This latest version has a good deal going for it but feels like an adaptation too far. Actually saw it a couple of days ago, but was not sure what my thoughts on it were.
Let's start with 'Murder on the Orient Express's' good things. It is a very beautiful film visually, very elegantly shot, lots of stunning scenery, sumptuous costumes that are evocative of the period and a train that has the grandeur and claustrophobic confinement that is necessary. The make-up is also wonderfully elaborate. The story does have some intriguing moments and it is a very clever one in the first place. Poirot is an interesting as he should be. Kenneth Branagh does a very nice job with the visual style, the script is thought-provoking and Poirot's crime-solving is delightful. The relative faithfulness to the source material is commendable too.
He also stars as Poirot and generally is surprisingly good, he is very commanding, suitably steely and captures his crime-solving skills beautifully. He could however have brought out more of Poirot's lighter and more eccentric side, like the obsessiveness, there isn't enough of that here. The cast is star studded and generally the acting is very good. Standouts include Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, a surprisingly well-cast and suitably conflicted Josh Gad and Daisy Ridley, Derek Jacobi and Willem Dafoe also make much of not very much.
Conversely, there are other elements that don't work. The mystery itself is intriguing as a story but doesn't have enough tension or energy. With so many characters and so much focus on Poirot, the exploration of the supporting characters is limited, meaning many of the characters are really sketchy in development. Branagh excels in the visual side of the direction but it comes at the expense at providing enough depth to the mystery.
The film has a slow and awkwardly staged beginning and the ingenious denouement feels under-cooked and contrived for an ending so justifiably famous and brilliant. Just to make it clear, the problem is not the denouement itself, it's the execution of it that's the problem. While the cast are on very good form mostly, an exception is Johnny Depp. Really didn't get the sense that Rachett was a nasty piece of work, like in the book and especially Toby Jones' interpretation in the Suchet adaptation when talking of the previous versions, and that the performance was too much of a pale caricature of Depp's lesser roles. Have really liked a lot of what Patrick Doyle has done, but this is not one of his better music scores. It's not awful, but it is blandly uninspired and its slightly syrupy feel doesn't fit. Oh, and Branagh's moustache is like a character of its own and am really not sure as to whether that is a compliment or not.
In summary, some good things that stops it from completely derailing but the lack of steam makes it a bland endeavour, this wonderful story and Christie deserve better. 5/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Nov 10, 2017
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Án Mạng Trên Chuyến Tàu Tốc Hành Phương Đông
- Filming locations
- Valletta, Malta(harbour)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $55,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $102,826,543
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $28,681,472
- Nov 12, 2017
- Gross worldwide
- $352,794,081
- Runtime1 hour 54 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1