''Disaster on the Coastliner'' is a 1979 American made-for-television

action drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

. It was directed by

Richard C. Sarafian Richard Caspar Sarafian (April 28, 1930 – September 18, 2013) was an Armenian-American film director and actor. He compiled a versatile career that spanned over five decades as a director, actor, and writer. Sarafian is best known as the direct ...

and starred

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas '' Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...

, Robert Fuller,

Pat Hingle Martin Patterson Hingle (July 19, 1924 – January 3, 2009) was an American character actor who appeared in stage productions and in hundreds of television shows and feature films. His first film was '' On the Waterfront'' in 1954. He often pla ...

E. G. Marshall E. G. Marshall (born Everett Eugene Grunz;Everett Eugene Grunz in Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934, Ancestry.comEverett Eugene Grunz in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed via Ancestry.com June 18, ...

Yvette Mimieux Yvette Carmen Mimieux (January 8, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American film and television actress. Her breakout role was in '' The Time Machine'' (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career. Early li ...

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

, and Paul L. Smith. It originally aired on '' The ABC Sunday Night Movie'' on October 28, 1979.

Plot

A disgruntled railroad employee attempts to cause a collision between two

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...

Cast

- Al Mitchell *

- Estes Hill * Robert Fuller - Matt Leigh *

- John Marsh *

- Roy Snyder *

- Paula Harvey *

- Stuart Peters * Paul L. Smith - Jim Waterman / Victor Prescott *

Lane Smith Walter Lane Smith III (April 29, 1936 – June 13, 2005) was an American actor. His well-known roles included newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', Walter Warner in ''Son in Law'', coll ...

- John Carlson *

Sandy McPeak Sandy McPeak (February 21, 1936 – December 31, 1997) was an American actor best known for such films and television series as '' Winnetka Road'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Centennial'', '' Ode to Billy Joe'', '' Patton'', ''The Osterman Weekend'', ''Kell ...

- Hennessey *

Michael Pataki Michael Pataki (January 16, 1938 – April 15, 2010) was an American actor. Early life Pataki was born in Youngstown, Ohio. His parents were Hungarians. He was the youngest of three children - one older brother and one older sister. He atte ...

- Tate *

Peter Jason Peter Edward Ostling (born July 22, 1944), also known as Peter Jason, is an American character actor. He has appeared in over eighty films and a hundred television series. He played Con Stapleton in the series '' Deadwood''. He was a frequent col ...

- LeBoux * John Brady - Locomotive Engineer

Production

The film was shot on a railway line in Connecticut. At his own suggestion

did his own stunts, including standing on top of a moving F40PH. Years later Shatner called the stunt "the most truly dangerous stunt I ever did" and couldn't imagine "what ewas thinking" in suggesting it. Shatner compared it to the work he'd done in '' Kingdom of the Spiders'', and wondered which was worse: "standing on top of a speeding locomotive without any kind of safety cable or gluing tarantulas to your face?" Jack Sessums worked on the miniature effects and had his work profiled in ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

''.

Release

''Disaster on the Coastliner'' premiered on '' The ABC Sunday Night Movie'' on October 28, 1979. Although no DVD or VHS has been released in America, the movie's current owner, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, has made the movie available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount plus in the United States.

References

External links