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This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

For war movie fans, "Von Ryan's Express" is an entertaining film with considerable action. It's a fictional story about an escape of an entire POW camp during World War II. Only, unlike the real escape from a German POW camp in "The Great Escape," this one is from an Italian POW camp. And, it has plenty of action in a novel method of escape – by a commandeered prisoner transport train. All of the cast are very good. The movie is based on a novel by David Westheimer. He was a B-24 navigator in the U.S. Army Air Forces during WW II. His plane was shot down by an Italian fighter plane and he spent 28 months in POW camps – first in Italy and then in Germany. The book is based on his experiences as a POW. When a story is fiction it doesn't make much difference how much the movie may differ from the book – except in the case of recognized literary works. Or, for accuracy of otherwise factual matter or details in the face of credulity. In this case a couple of distinctions should be made about this film and the book. Frank Sinatra's Col. Joseph L. Ryan in the movie tells his British prison mates that he was a "90-day wonder." That refers to an officer who is commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant after three months of officer candidate school (OCS). In the book, Ryan was a West Point graduate who had worked his way up in rank. It's not realistic that a 2nd Lt. out of OCS would rise to the rank of Colonel in three years. I don't think there's a single instance of such in history. The second thing that stretches the credibility of even a fictional story is that a full bird colonel would have been flying a mission at all. That was the regular rank of a Group commander of several squadrons, or even a Wing commander in some cases. Those command officers were not supposed to be flying missions. Their combat flying time was behind them and now they were to command the various units. Of course some did fly in combat, as the movie "Twelve O'Clock High" shows. But those were exceptions. There are some other anomalies about this film. How did Ryan escape that crashed plane – that did a nose dive into the earth? Why didn't he bail out? Where were the rest of his crew? These are questions that came to my mind right away when I first watched this film. The plane mock-up in the crash scene didn't seem real either. It is interesting that Ryan's plane was shot down by an Italian fighter plane. Although it doesn't show that in action, that's what happened to the author of the book, and since this was yet over Italian military territory, it's implied. This may be the only movie made about WW II in which an allied plane is shot down by an Italian fighter plane. I won't go into the apparent reversal of military posture – between the British and Americans, except to note that the film shows the reverse of the usual. The Brits, with their long history and military traditions, were always much more disciplined and spit and polish than the Americans would have been during WW II. And, especially when comparing British regular army with American Army air forces. The POW camp stuff is fun and entertaining. Then, the action comes when the escaped POWs are herded onto a train for transport to Germany. Besides the daring stuff in this larger portion of the movie, the film has some wonderful scenic shots of the Italian countryside and the Alps. The scenes with the train racing against another in the mountains, and the German planes attacking are very good. So, this fictional war movie makes for good entertainment, in a Hollywood style rendition of a war story. I do wonder why Hollywood seemed to have a penchant for showing so many top German officers in films having a woman in tow. That's a stereotype that didn't serve to enhance the credibility of many war films. Frank Sinatra made nearly a dozen movies about WW II and Korea, but he didn't serve in the military. He was 26 years old when the U.S. entered the war. While most Hollywood actors of age were signing up for service – and many getting commissions, Sinatra was supposedly classified 4F for a ruptured eardrum. Eardrums usually repair themselves, and in some instances can be repaired surgically. Perhaps it was something else. He did very well in most of his war movie roles and won a best supporting actor Oscar as Angelo Maggio in "From Here to Eternity."

I've watched VRE many times over the last 40 plus years. It was shown constantly on broadcast TV when I was a teen in the 1970's New York City (Sinatra, New York favorite), and because it's a decent action war film, I usually always watched it. I just rewatched VRE today (after at least 20 years) on a cable movie channel and showed it to my wife for her first time. I once would have rated this film a 9 or maybe a 10 even, but now it ranks as a 6 for me. My wife did watch it all so it is a decent escapist film. However, we started to make fun of it because the whole premise is they are escaping the Germans to go to Switzerland to "be free". When you got to Switzerland in real life during WW2 they put you in an interment camp until the end of the war, something the film never discusses. So Ryan is getting everyone killed off to save his reputation in general since he really messes up in the beginning of the film, getting shot down and captured in the first place and sparing the Camp CO. If you remember while watching the film, nearly every one of the POW's dies.....twice. It's hysterical but at the end they have the same amount of prisoners as at the beginning. And ammunition? This has a 1940's B Western mentality, unlimited ammo in the guns. And almost all of the WHOLE German army are armed with sub machine guns. Yawn. A flamethrower would have been cool at the end no matter what side used one. And Italiano Frank Sinatra doesn't understand a single word of Italian? And he's a Colonel flying a fighter plane with no wingman and decides to crash on the land instead of out at sea? Yawning on my 20th rewatch but the wife did stay around to see the ending (and laughed when she saw it). I give it a 6 because although the story is stupid, the production values are really high with the location shooting (it's a better film then the really lame Sinatra war film None But The Brave (also from 1965) which I give a 4 of 10 and also co stars Brad Dexter, (the least memorable Magnificent Seven member)). The fighter planes at the end were also cool as they were actual German planes not Mustangs (nor actual 109's but at least they were trainers from the period (108's)), so it's better then watching Battle Of The Bulge using American cold war tanks as Tigers. Finally, run through the tunnel! Why is it shorter to run around a mountain instead of through a tunnel anyway?

Von Ryan's Express (1965)Not exactly a Frank Sinatra vehicle, but he is the leading figure in a movie that has lots of ulterior motives. And it pulls off an action film about World War II with pizazz. When the war ended there was a lot of consternation about the difference in the roles of the two European antagonists--the Germans and the Italians. That's maybe the biggest ongoing theme of this movie, and clearly the Italians are being shown as victims and eventually as heroes to the Americans once the troops start to arrive and the Nazi occupation is pushed out. This is set and filmed in Italy, and the locations are terrific. And so is the filming, nicely dramatic widescreen stuff.Sinatra represents, in almost all his film roles, a kind of regular guy who isn't overly engaged but who is gentle and relaxed and ready to do the right thing. He's a real American archetype just as much as Bogart was, and his characters (including this one) mix a compelling personal demeanor with a moral fiber that makes him admirable. He doesn't seduce the woman who really is ready to let him. He doesn't put criticize his British counterpart in the prison until he has to. He stands up to the enemy but doesn't every sound arrogant or nasty. He's the ultimate good guy and is presented this way for the ongoing reason often seen in post-war American films, establishing a national character in film characters that matches the best of what was really in the air and on the ground in the U.S. at the time.It's all pretty wonderful to watch. You admire him and wish there were more people like him around.The plot is exciting as heck. What starts as a kind of prison break movie shifts to another kind of escape and survive movie, with a train running right through enemy territory. Filled with daring, with this one American amidst mostly British soldiers, the enemy is dispatched, tricked, and evaded several times. When the good guys fail, it's only temporarily. And ultimately the good guys, beyond Sinatra's American type, are the Italians, who are shown to hate the Germans and are glad for the invasion by the British and Americans.

I was wondering about the microwave towers in the background when the train stops to feed the prisoners. Would those have been there in 1943? I sure there were some ego issues with the main actors. I have always wondered why set directors never show the shadows passing in scenes within cars and trains. To me it's a flaw.I don't have 10 lines so I'll repeat it.I was wondering about the microwave towers in the background when the train stops to feed the prisoners. Would those have been there in 1943? I sure there were some ego issues with the main actors. I have always wondered why set directors never show the shadows passing in scenes within cars and trains. To me it's a flaw.