''Death Train'' (also known as ''Detonator'') is a 1993 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such a ...

featuring

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actor ...

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultima ...

Ted Levine Frank Theodore Levine (born May 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Buffalo Bill in the film '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) and Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series ''Monk'' (2002–2009). L ...

, and

Alexandra Paul Alexandra Elizabeth Paul (born July 29, 1963) is an American actress, activist, health coach, and former model. Paul began her career modeling in New York before landing her first major role in John Carpenter's horror film '' Christine'' (1983) ...

. The script was based on an Alastair MacNeill novel of the same name, which in turn was based on an

Alistair MacLean Alistair Stuart MacLean ( gd, Alasdair MacGill-Eain; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a 20th-century Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably '' The G ...

screenplay.

Plot

With the aid of a German nuclear physicist, dissident Russian General Konstantin Benin (

), a military casualty of the Soviet collapse, is conspiring to restore the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

to superpower status. His plan is to place a

nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

on a train controlled by mercenaries, led by Alex Tierney (

), bound for

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, forcing the Russian army to invade Iraq to recover it and once again mobilize its might - creating a new military union in the process. Malcolm Philpott (

), the head of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

Anti-Crime Organisation (UNACO), entrusts the mission of stopping the train and its deadly cargo to a multinational team led by field operative Mike Graham (

) and information analyst Sabrina Carver (

) who are forced to form a reluctant partnership as the international balance of power hits crisis point.

Cast

as Mike Graham *

as Malcolm Philpott *

as Sabrina Carver *

as Alex Tierney *

as General Konstantin Benin *

John Abineri John Abineri (18 May 1928 – 29 June 2000) was an English actor. Born in London, he attended the Old Vic drama school and described himself as "Well educated from the age of five to eighteen". He spoke a number of languages (including Germ ...

as Dr. Karl Leitzig *

Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...

as C.W. Whitlock * Nick D'Avirro as Major Gennadi Rodenko * Andreas Jung as Lt. Sergei Kolchinsky

Novel

MacLean had written a number of unfinished storylines before he died in 1987. These were fleshed out in novel form by Alistair MacNeill: ''Death Train'' and ''Night Watch''. One review of ''Death Train'' said "MacLean fans have to wonder just how much of the detail is indeed his. For example, MacLean's heroes are traditionally thrown on their own wits to survive in sticky situations. Death Train's three agents are rarely tested this way, and yell for help when the going gets tough. Having Big Brother step in on cue with its muscle is no substitute for imaginative heroics". In 1991 a Warwickshire Council trading standards department sued the publisher of the novels claiming misleading advertising, in part because MacLean's name featured in bigger type on the book cover than MacNeill's. In September 1991 the publishers were fined £6,250 for misleading advertising. By that stage they had sold 355,000 copies of MacNeill's first two novels. When a third MacNeill novel, ''Time of the Assassins'', came out in late 1991 the cover art was amended so MacNeill's name was as large as MacLean's.

Locations

Film rights were bought by USA Pictures, an off shot of the USA Network. They would make films for screening on the USA Network in the US but which could be shown theatrically in other territories. ''Death Train'' was the first in a slate of four pictures. It was the first project Brosnan made following the death of his wife. "It's boy's own adventure", said Brosnan. "It's everything I've wanted to do -run along the top of trains, shoot guns and climb in and out of helicopters".The New Adventures of Pierce Brosnan Actor Is Back on Track With USA Network's 'Death Train':

ome Edition Ome may refer to: Places * Ome (Bora Bora), a public island in the lagoon of Bora Bora * Ome, Lombardy, Italy, a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia * Ōme, Tokyo, a city in the Prefecture of Tokyo * Ome (crater), a crater on Mars Tran ...

King, Susan. Los Angeles Times 11 April 1993: 15. The film was shot entirely on location in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

and at Jadran Film Studios, Zagreb,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

as a co-production between Yorkshire International Films Ltd., and Jadran Film. Filming finished by June 1992. The country was in turmoil at the time due to the Yugoslavian wars. Brosnan said it was "a heightened exhilaration in a lot of ways because the hotel we were staying in was overrun by soldiers. The combat outfits that we wore were just like the Croatian army, which seems to be a hodgepodge of uniforms. At times, going to work was like going to the front because it was very tough (to shoot)".

Reception

The film was popular at the box office in England but debuted in the US on the USA Network.

Home media

The film was released on by New Line Home Video on VHS tape in the US as "Detonator" in 1993.https://vhscollector.com/movie/detonator The Region 2 UK DVD release (by Prism Leisure) of ''Death Train'' lacks English subtitles for the Russian dialogue. The scenes with Russian dialogue are meant to be hard-subbed, as was the case with TV broadcast, VHS, and the Region 1 American DVD versions.

Sequel

Pierce Brosnan and Alexandra Paul returned for the sequel ''Detonator II: Night Watch''. ''Night Watch'' is available on Region 1 DVD both individually and bundled as a double pack with ''Death Train''.

References

External links

* {{Alistair MacLean 1993 television films 1993 films 1993 action thriller films 1990s disaster films Action television films British television films Disaster television films Films about mercenaries Films about nuclear war and weapons Films based on British novels Films based on thriller novels Films based on works by Alistair MacLean Films set in insular areas of the United States Films set in Germany Films set in Austria Films set in Russia Films shot in Croatia Rail transport films American thriller television films USA Network original films Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television Films directed by David Jackson (director) 1990s American films