Training Day

Now, for something different.

In conjunction with this week’s release of the drama Rails and Ties, as well as recent movies The Darjeeling Limited and 3:10 to Yuma, here’s a list of five other movies that involve trains. No, I’m not going to mention The Polar Express because I still think it’s creepy.

The Fast and the Furious: I have never rooted for a massive wreck harder than I did when doofus Paul Walker and doofus Vin Diesel were trying to zip their cars in front of an oncoming freight train. It would have made the whole movie worth watching. But no, it is not, in any way, worth watching.

Back to the Future III: The fun climax of the trilogy involves an old-timey locomotive pushing the famous time-traveling DeLorean along a long stretch of track to try and get it up to 88 miles per hour so Marty McFly can zap his way back to 1985. Doc Brown and Mary Steenburgen have to climb all over the engine and use hovering skateboards to escape with their lives. It’s not often you get to see a train dive off a cliff and explode into an awesome fireball.

The Station Agent: A great low-key drama about a guy who inherits a cruddy New Jersey train depot. Peter Dinklage gives a great, quietly charismatic performance as the antisocial new owner surly at his lot in life, while Bobby Cannavale is highly amusing as the effusively friendly neighbor in the hot dog stand next door.

Money Train: A Wesley Snipes/Woody Harrelson team-up that’s underrated in how amusing it can be, no matter the level of stupidity involved. It’s also notable for having Jennifer Lopez, pre-fame, being really hot and slightly naked.

Ghost: The late, great Vincent Schiavelli screaming “GET OFF OF MY TRAIN!” was a great moment in a film otherwise dominated by Swayze pottery.