?Make a movie like "AIRPLANE" but about trains?

[Boyd]

Wouldn't it be fun to make a movie like the comedy movie AIRPLANE accept make it centered on trains. I wonder if Leslie Neilson is still acting? They could add drop down oxegen masks and here and there shots as if its a Lionel train.

[piouslion1]

Wouldn't it be fun to make a movie like the comedy movie AIRPLANE accept make it centered on trains. I wonder if Leslie Neilson is still acting? They could add drop down oxygen masks and here and there shots as if its a Lionel train.

Your imagination does justice to the memory of Mr. Neilson's comic greatness.

[ericsp]

You would also have to play steam locomotive noises when showing a diesel.

[SR1457]

Wasnt there a movie Throw mama from the train , and another with richard pryor, both pretty old, better would be one about railroad engineers, about not waving and being mean to the conductors

[Last Chance]

Or perhaps backing a dump truck and dumping a pile of sand in front of the choo choo when sand is called for.

I remember that movie. I still say Emperor of the North is the best train film.

[Murphy Siding]

     Surely, you're not sure serious!

[ChuckCobleigh]

Wouldn't it be fun to make a movie like the comedy movie AIRPLANE accept make it centered on trains. I wonder if Leslie Neilson is still acting? They could add drop down oxegen masks and here and there shots as if its a Lionel train.

Uh.....you've never seen Silver Streak? 

[AntonioFP45]

I enjoy comedy, but an extreme slapstick about trains?  For me, no.

IMHO, today, railroad train crews receive so much disrespect from many in the public and media as is.  Even after Airplane I and Airplane II were filmed, airline crews still enjoyed a higher than average status as far as transportation career images go (yes, even with the reported drug & alcohol abuse by flight crews in many instances).

Railroaders, generally, enjoyed a similar type of status up until the 1970s, just before Penn Central and the birth of Amtrak. Look at how often trains were used in tv shows in movies back then, comically and dramatically ( I Love Lucy, North By Northwest, Martin & Lewis movies). Engineers and Conductors were looked very highly upon and often admired by kids.  Songs about M.O.W crews were common.   Much of that seems to have vaporized with a public that today is so much more ignorant about railroading than even 30 years ago.  Instead of laughing with them, I think people would laugh at them, and would actually believe that most railroaders are like the goofballs portrayed. 

I for one wouldn't want to see railroad workers demeaned anymore than they are in the media. 

Again, just my  

[locomutt]

As far as the Comedy goes, doesn't "Atomic Train" count?!

[Last Chance]

Atomic Train was the worst bomb there ever was. An insult to the movie going public.

[Goober]

     Surely, you're not sure serious!

I think he is, and don't call him Shirley! 

[SFbrkmn]

Silver Streak was funny, I enjoyed it. Was not too out of line. Planes, Trains & Automobiles w/ Steve Martin & John Caddy was another good one also. Making a flick on trains in the same format as Airplane, I don't know on that one. Would not make a good impression on a industry that lacks good pr and is in need of it badly.

[jfallon]

     Surely, you're not sure serious!

I think he is, and don't call him Shirley! 

 Rats, you beat me to the punch-line!

[edblysard]

If DHarmon writes the script, I would take a part....

[sovablunt]

 For the sake of entertainment yo need comedy. Airplane was humor, nothing else. For anyone to take offense to it is silly. A Movie about trains would be hard to pull off, but if you throw in will ferrell and a few other funny guys maybe adam sandler? You could probably do it. You just have to have a sense of humor and not take everything as a personal insult when people are just trying to make you laugh at everyday life.

[CShaveRR]

Keep in mind that Airplane was not so much poking fun of the airline industry as it was a spoof of more serious movies, such as Airport, in which airline employees were the heroes.  The sight gags and old jokes were merely the icing on the cake.  I mean, really--don't you wish "drinking problems" could be laughed off so easily?

As for Silver Streak, that was no more a movie about trains than Love Boat was a series about ships.  The introduction of trains into the plot just provided another level of comedy for railroaders (along with some frustration that some people would really believe this sh...crap about railroad operations).  Railfans had fun, too--how often can you see a train knock down a bumping post in Chicago and finally stop in Toronto without a word from Customs?

[choochoobuff]

Picture McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges) and Johnny in the switch tower. 

[narig01]

Send this thread to a producer. ( and some money). 

(Maybe the producer to hire a secretary)

Rgds IGN

[Murphy Siding]

Keep in mind that Airplane was not so much poking fun of the airline industry as it was a spoof of more serious movies, such as Airport, in which airline employees were the heroes.  The sight gags and old jokes were merely the icing on the cake.  I mean, really--don't you wish "drinking problems" could be laughed off so easily?

I sure picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue!  It's odd, when you look at all the carp that gets put into movies today, and realize, that some of the stuff in Airplane wouldn't make it in today's movies.  (Do you like to watch Gladiator movies?)

[Boyd]

Surely a few of you are taking the movie AIRPLANE way to seriously. It was a comedy and really didn't take any direct stabs at the airline industry. It was basically a spoof on the "Airport" movies. At least one of them was partly filmed here at the Minneapolis airport.

[miketx]

Wouldn't it be fun to make a movie like the comedy movie AIRPLANE accept make it centered on trains. I wonder if Leslie Neilson is still acting? They could add drop down oxygen masks and here and there shots as if its a Lionel train.

Your imagination does justice to the memory of Mr. Neilson's comic greatness.

I googled him.  He's done ovr 200 TV shows and movies. My favorite was "Forbidden Planet" in 1956.  It's the movie where Robbie the Robot was introduced.  It was SCARY if you were five years old.

 Also, I'm pretty sure I saw him in a trailer for a new sitcom just today, so I guess he's still acting.  Can't ever get enough of Leslie Nielsen.

m

[Last Chance]

A long time ago we got together with some visitors who asked us about Mountain Driving. It is a serious subject to us at the time and done with attention to duty because life/death is involved. To keep things light, there were a few jokes told. To our amazement the visitors displayed no humor at all. They finally revealed that they were part of the insurance that covered the company.

I dont know it was possible to get through life without a laugh or at least a poke of fun at something in your work. If they found those cracks and jokes to be distasteful then they really need to pick up something else to do for fun.

The best among us were numbers one or twos on the radio keeping the stress levels down with laughter in the convoy when you are above the snowline on chains and 6 hours to go before safety.

To date we have seen some training films featuring Earl who would find himself in costly and time wasting situations. Never a film went by without at least a laughter from a orientation class that has been there and done that.

Sure Railroading is serious business, but if you cannot find traction once in a while to have a bit of fun, what good is it?

[wabash1]

where do we put the religous freaks at do we place them at the yard office so the crews haft to fight them on the way out to the train? ( well maybe not thats what train masters are for) the better spot would be at busy road crossing stopping motorist and warning them on  rail saftey and and their church......... that may be the way to stop accidents people will avoid crossings afraid of these people.

[ButchKnouse]

Surely a few of you are taking the movie AIRPLANE way to seriously. It was a comedy and really didn't take any direct stabs at the airline industry. It was basically a spoof on the "Airport" movies. At least one of them was partly filmed here at the Minneapolis airport.

A spoof done right might actually do some good. "The Simpsons" has been lampooning all of the paranoid mythes about nuclear power for 20 years. People don't repeat those idiotic stories anymore for fear of being thought stupid enough to believe what they see on "The Simpsons".

[Red Horse]

Comedy has been around even before the invention of TV and film, the court jester had a good paying gig until he failed too please the king and Queen and then, well you know!

I'd like to see a comedy movie about trains because I can't get enough comedy or trains, I'd like to see a scene where the train pulls into a pit stop area and a crew rushes out to change the tires, or a scene where the engineer pulls into a car hop type diner and a gal on roller skates has to climb a ladder to place the meal tray on the window of the locomotive.

Why not have two trains in a drag race complete with all the Model train hobby stickers on the trains to advertise their sponsors.

A scene where the train is stopped and a hobo climbs up too the windshield and sprays the window and wipes it down for a tip???

And it would need a scene of a locomotive decked out with low rider hydraulics and a California paint job, with a gaint  boom box on wheels as the tender , why not.

Comedy breaks up the hardships of life and without it life would be a drag that's for sure.

The train would have 1st class passenger cars, all decked out in the finest of furnishings and then 2nd class cars over crowded and serviving happy meals and then 3rd class with the seats filled with people in rags with ores out the windows looking as though they are in the bottom of a ship rowing, all dark and musty, now thats funny!

Hummmm, I could go on all day, and at the end of the film a disclaimer stating that "No engineers reputations were harmed in the making of this movie", I crack myself up sometimes!!!

[vsmith]

SOmeone already mentioned Atomic Train as a so bad its MST3K material, I want to add "Under Siege 2" as another candidate for a movie so bad its funny

 

Ever see "Wrongfully Accused"? Theres a parody of the train wreck scene from "The Fugitive" where the train after hitting the bus and jumps the tracks and chases Neilson around the forest, its a hoot of a scene! Judge for yerselves...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVr5AJz2xNo

I love Youtube!

[rich747us]

As far as the Comedy goes, doesn't "Atomic Train" count?!

AMEN! HAHAHA!  :D  There are not words in the english language to describe what an abomination that movie was!

[Andrew Falconer]

Since the film would be shot in California, it would need an absurd rivalry between Metrolink and Amtrak.

Andrew

[Railroader_Sailor_SSN-760]

I have mixed feelings about such a concept. I agree, it is unlikely that a film like AIRPLANE! could be made now. The film going public has changed too much, becoming increasingly stupid with a short attention span.

Back whn AIRPLANE! was made, it was common to have a big movie stay in theaters for a longer period of time, now movies barely stay in theaters long enough to sneeze at, not to mention that overall, movies are just simply overall getting worse in quality. Some good movies each year, but a lot of terrible ones out there.

Very seldom do you see a film now that actually makes you think. Most are just for a quick cheap laugh, or to shock and disgust you.

That and as a whole, the general public is just simply getting dumber, as marked by the string of idiots who have removed themselves from the gene pool by trespassing on rights of way.

I know there are smart people out there, but the idiots make themselves more well known. 

There are a lot of people that still ask if the events in "Down Periscope" really happened down at the submarine museum here in Groton,CT.

 If the movie was to be made, it would probally best be something that a railroad media company like Pentrex would be the best way to distribute it.

Right now, I do not feel this is a good time to make such a movie and show the the general public. One can only imagine seeing that truckers might have to say about it, maybe a bit paranoid, but with oil prices going up and traffic rightly returning to the rails, the last thing we need for the industry right now is something that portrays railoaders in anything short of a professional light.

That is just my two cents (and some assorted othe change and a rusty bus token.)

[ValleyX]

Unlike airlines, most people don't know anything or experience anything about trains and for that reason alone, the movie would be a miserable flop. 

You would all pick it apart, too.