Please don't spend money on this.

Must See Movie...

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Richard Fleischer's "The Narrow Margin" was a great little B-Movie and a classic suspense picture. Peter Hyams' remake is hardly in the same class but it's no disgrace either. It's glossier and done on an altogether larger scale and it makes superb use of some spectacular Canadian scenery. This time it's Anne Archer who is the witness to a killing and Gene Hackman is the Deputy District Attorney trying to keep her alive so she can testify against Mafia boss Harris Yulin. It keeps its train board setting and Hyams builds suspense very nicely in this reasonably claustrophobic locale. Those fine character actors J.T. and M Emmett Walsh are also on hand though they are dispatched much too early for my liking. Not a classic, then, but very enjoyable nevertheless.

Peter Hyams' 1990 remake of "The Narrow Margin" (1952) is full of suspense, high-speed thrills and exciting action sequences. Visually, many of the film noir characteristics are retained but this production is also considerably glossier and more colourful than its predecessor. Good use is made of some stunning locations in Canada and the cinematography is impressive throughout. The grittiness and sharp dialogue of the original are dispensed with and the main characters are noticeably much more sophisticated and well-mannered than they were in the Richard Fleischer version.Recent divorcée, Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer) goes on a blind date to a Los Angeles hotel where she meets successful lawyer Michael Tarlow (J.T. Walsh). Before they have a meal, Tarlow receives a note and has to make an important telephone call, so the couple go up to his suite where Carol immediately goes into the bathroom. When she comes out again, she sees two men talking to Tarlow and then witnesses one of them shooting and killing him before leaving. Shocked and panicked by what she's seen Carol furtively leaves the suite and goes into hiding.L.A. Deputy D.A. Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman) learns that evidence has been found that a witness was present when Tarlow was murdered and also that the identity of the witness has been established. Excited by this information and the possibility it offers of bringing top crime boss, Leo Watts (Harris Yulin) to justice, he then ignores the lack of support that he receives from the D.A. and together with Police Sergeant Dominick Benti (M. Emmett Walsh) heads to the Canadian Rockies where the men visit the log cabin where Carol Hunnicut is hiding out. She's uncooperative and refuses to return to L.A. to testify, but as the men try to change her mind, a mob helicopter arrives overhead and the cabin is immediately engulfed in a storm of machine-gun bullets. Benti is killed in the attack and Caulfield and Hunnicut escape from the cabin in a pick-up truck hotly pursued by the helicopter.After a desperate chase down a steep forestry road, the couple arrive at a nearby station and take a train to Vancouver. The journey that follows proves to be extremely dangerous as there are two hit-men on board and also some other characters such as a fat man and a blonde woman who they don't know if they can trust.Gene Hackman brings a great deal of charm, energy and humour to his role as a guy who's out of his depth doing all the action-hero stunts and sums up his character's incorruptibility when he refuses a huge bribe by saying "I like my side of the courtroom, the pay's not so good but the air's a lot better". Anne Archer is also good in her role and makes her fear palpable as she tries desperately to escape the attentions of all her pursuers."Narrow Margin" features a number of well-executed stunts, some well directed action sequences and a very strong cast. Its Hitchcockian influences add some extra interest but overall it's uncomplicated, fast-moving and extremely enjoyable.

This tense,taut thriller deals about a D.A. protecting a witness(Anne Archer) on a train journey throughout the wilderness Canadian Rockies back to Los Angeles.He must save her from deadly killers (Nigel Bennet, James B. Sikking). Hackman fights to keep them both safe from the hard-boiled hit-men in some exciting pursuits such as helicopters and aboard and in top train .Well made film full of noisy action, tension , suspense, breathtaking stunts and spectacular set pieces. A real cat and mouse game between Hackman-Archer and heavies Sikking-Bennet. Gene Hackman is splendid as two-fisted deputy prosecutor who is in charge of transporting a widow and he must attempt to keep her safe from the murderous who would kill her to testify against a mobster played by Harris Yulin. Relieable Anne Archer is first rate as reluctant and long-suffering witness . Lavishly produced cost 20 millions of dollar by today disappeared Carolco created by the famous producers, Mario Kassar and Andrew G Vajna. Moving and stirring musical score by Bruce Broughton, fitting perfectly to action. This thrilling motion picture is finely photographed and stunningly directed by Peter Hyams . However it results to be an inferior remake of its predecessor, a noir classic directed by Richard Fleischer with Mary Windsor and Charles McGraw, one of the best films of the 50s and one of the most successful in the story of RKO.

I just happened to be watching this movie when it came on late night on TBS and I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into, but after reading about the plot, I figured 'what the hey' and just give it a shot. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed at all.After some ominous music, followed by very creative opening credits, we join the story of Carol Honeycutt who is an editor for a publishing company on a blind date with Michael Tarlow, a defense attorney. Michael is obviously a man with lots of secrets but Carol gets to know him quite well and they seem like an even match. However, after getting a phone call in his hotel suite, they adjourn to his room together and Carol decides to get a glass of water from the next room. Unbenowst to her and Tarlow, they have a surprise visitor: Leo Watts, a reputed crime boss with ties to organized crime. After some chit-chat, Leo reveals that he knows that Michael has been 'skimming' from him and Michael 'breaks down' and confesses that he did it and he intended to pay him back. Leo seems like an understanding fellow at first when he tells Michael that he's to return every penny that he took from him and then ties will be severed. But as they near the door, Leo says, 'Michael, I lied' and Leo's associate Jack Wooten pulls out a gun and viciously executes Tarlow, much to Carol's horror. Knowing that her life is on the line because she's a witness, Carol high-tails it out of there, making sure to cover her tracks the best she could.Enter Robert Caufield, a Deputy DA who has been after Watts for years and when he learns that Carol was a witness to the slaying of Michael Tarlow, he jumps at the chance to bring her back to testify (but is met with resistance from his superiors who for some reason, don't want him getting involved). None the less, he and Detective Benti head up to her cabin in Canada and do their best to persuade her to come back and assist them with putting a notorious crime lord behind bars, but to no avail, Carol refuses to cooperate. What was suppose to be a simple 'search and retrieval' assignment soon falls to pieces though when high-tech professional assassins show up and start gunning the cabin to pieces. After Benti is killed and their chopper destroyed, Caufield and Honeycutt flee the cabin in a Bronco pick-up truck down the mountain and to a train station where they will board the first train headed to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the killers board the train too and are intending to earn what their boss has paid them to do: to eliminate any loose threads. For the next several hours, Caufield and Honeycutt will have to put each other's lives in their hands as they try to outrun, outmaneuver and outwit their adversaries in a lethal game of 'step on or get stepped on'.I was completely blown away and amazed at this film and many people are saying that the first version is better than this remake. I saw the first one and in comparison, the remake has a lot more going for it. Not only do we have nail-biting suspense, but we've got action and great performances by Gene Hackman and Anne Archer. The interesting part is the internal struggle that these two have to go through: besides the killers on the train, Hackman's character must try and convince Archer's character to do the right thing because even if they escape the killers today, Watts would just send more hitters until Honeycutt was dead. Anne Archer did a swell job playing the sharp-tongued Carol Honeycutt who won't cooperate out of fear that she'll be killed but decides to do the right thing when the killers begin to close in on them. The atmosphere of being in a train with no means of escape and no way to tell friend from foe created a claustrophobic setting for the film. It was very impressive and you spend a lot of time rooting for Caufield and Honeycutt to come out on top. They have no weapons, no cellular communication, no backup...they are totally on their own and must rely on each other in order to stay alive.Narrow Margin is a terrific film with an excellent cast...if you haven't seen this one yet, you don't know what you're missing! :)