brilliant actors, brilliant editing

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Considering how old the tale is, this is a perfect example of the genius of Agatha Christie. But I will be very quick to add that with the casting can make or break such a gem. And this version is very well played. Poirot(Suchet) has now earned his reputation as a great actor and it allows the viewer to really enjoy the tale. So about the tale...without giving away too much, I will say that this movie is worth the watch...every bit of it. Enjoy.

This version I loved. Poirot as a person delivering justice all his life, and facing a situation as this, would not easily have let the vigilantes go. It would indeed go against his principles. In all the stories he has always, no matter the circumstance, let the guilty pay the price. He has been sometimes diplomatic about it, but he has never let anyone go. He has given speeches about the justice! To let everyone get away with their deed would indeed pain him, as is so very well shown by Suchet in the end. He questions God, questions what is His true will and can he live with a God who allows revenge. The ending here is very deep and very disturbing if we think of what really happened. 12 people murdered 1 man. They had a reason. We all agree on that. But does that mean that murder is ok under certain circumstance? WE can think so, but what about Poirot? Who was always fighting for justice, not for revenge? I do not think it would be so easy for him. And this is why I really appreciate this version. Here we see the character of Poirot take on flesh beyond the books, we see him become a real person.

Agatha Christie was the greatest exemplar of the mystery story because of her range. She wrote stories where the most obvious suspect did it, where the narrator did it, where no one did it, and where everyone did it! And "Murder on the Orient Express" ranks right up with "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" as one of her most famous yarns, both because the book is well known and because of the famous 1974 movie version.My first exposure to Agatha Christie as an innocent schoolboy was the gala all-star 1974 "Murder on the Orient Express." Though I never became a Christie aficionado until nearly twenty years later, I have enjoyed that version immensely then, and upon repeated viewings.I was wary of David Suchet's version. While alterations are necessary as stories shift from a literary to a visual medium, some longer "Poirot" episodes made unnecessary changes and their mood was frightfully dark. Better "long" Poirot episodes include "Peril at End House"; "Sad Cypress"; "Third Girl" (changed, but an improvement over the book); and "The Clocks." Meanwhile, among the more egregious misfires are "Appointment with Death"; the, admittedly, difficult "Murder of Roger Ackroyd"; and the simply boring "Murder on the Blue Train."I tried to divorce myself from the earlier flick while enjoying this "Poirot" but I fear echoes of the past kept sounding in my mind. I don't have this sort of trouble with "Hamlet"; but with "Poirot" I kept missing the humor and joie de vivre of the earlier version even amidst the murder, and the panache it showed from casting to costuming to the jaunty score. And I really miss Jacqueline Bisset!My fault, I know. If you haven't seen the earlier version, or think Albert Finney's 1974 vision of Poirot was an affront to Christie (I know people who hated Finney who accepted the buffoonish Peter Ustinov!) then you might enjoy this more realistic retelling of Christie's most famous story.

I have read through many of the reviews on here, it's fair to say on first viewing, which I think was Christmas time a few years ago, I didn't like it, too much of a fan of the Albert Finney fan, but on the second viewing I'll be honest I fell in love with it. I can imagine when they were in the pre-production stages they came up with the 'dark' theme, it's such a contrast to the movie. Toby Jones is brilliant in the role of villain, he plays his scenes with such venom, a great actor, totally loathsome. I think I originally found the stoning scene a little distasteful during Christmas TV, but it's there to set the tone. David Suchet is on his A game here and gives a masterclass to the rest of the cast, he is outstanding. You get a true sense of claustrophobia on the train when they are marooned, and the obvious cold they would have encountered is definitely evident. Poirot's summing up seems more as to what I would have believed in with Poirot, a sense of injustice. The closing scene had me in tears on the second viewing, it is truly brilliant.This version is also superior to the 2017 remake, and although Kenneth Branagh was excellent as Poirot, David Suchet will always be Christie's famous character.