Product Description

When U.S. combat pilot Col. Joseph Ryan (Frank Sinatra) is captured by Nazis, he does what it takes to survive prison camp, including, by all appearances, befriend the enemy. Hence, his prison mates give Ryan the insulting nickname ?Von Ryan.? But in time, Ryan takes over from the commanding British officer (Trevor Howard) and masterminds commandeering a train to Switzerland ? with the Nazis in hot pursuit. It?s all blazing action, hair-raising chases and spectacular Italian scenery in this Oscar® nominated* adventure that will blast you full speed ahead until its nail-biting finale!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29120 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-05-21
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Customer Reviews

Von Ryan's Express
An excellent World War II movie. This one would go into a category that I would consider "classic." I would consider this to be a "must have" for folks that like movies involving WW2.
Frank Sinatra does an excellent job as Colonel Ryan a captured American pilot that finds himself in a prison camp in Italy. Colonel Ryan is put in command of the prisoners due to his rank. Two problems. The first problem is that Ryan is one of only a handful of American P.O.W.s in a predominently British camp. The other is the Italian Commanding office of the camp. It goes from there.. GREAT movie

Still worth watching
I'm not a big fan of fictional war movies. I mean, come on, there were so many heroic events that took place that there should never really be a need to make a plot up. But, Von Ryan's Express is fiction, and it's actually pretty well done.

The plot is a little weak at times. For the life of me I couldn't understand why, when only 6 miles from the coast the men all stopped and rested. If I'd been a prisoner of war for years and was only a 2 hour march from my own troops and freedom I wouldn't have stopped for anything.

Still, Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard do a nice job in their rolls. In fact, I'd say solid acting all the way around with some supporting rolls being just outstanding.

The uniforms, weapons, and other equipment appear to all be accurate and authentic. This is a real import thing to me as we've all watched movies with American tanks painted desert yellow pretending to be Rommel's panzers. The only glaring mistake is using three trainer aircraft to represent German fighter planes. But, hey, how many actual German fighters still existed in 1965. I'd bet very few so the use of trainers, while unfortunate, is understandable.

For a movie made more than 40 years ago, it's still very much worth watching.

Frankie
It has been said of Sinatra, not a nice person off screen but on screen, always dependable and in charge of the situation. He even outshadowed the venerable Trevor Howard in this one. As a drama, very good and as a war movie, good again. Interesting locations like the old ruins. Back to Sinatra, seen many movies with him and never a bad one.