Have you ever remembered the train cartoons you watched as a kid, like Thomas the train?
And have you ever wondered what movies are there with some action-filled or adventure-filled genres involving trains? Then get ready for what’s to come, as we made these 14 Best Train Movies for you to Binge-Watch and enjoy.
Shanghai Express (1932)
English, French, Cantonese, German 1h 22m IMDb
Josef von Sternberg
Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong
Although the Shanghai Express film was released in 1932, it is still one of the best Train movies of the century. It had one of the highest scores among critics and moviegoers and also ranked high back then.
Even though this movie was 70 decades ago, our generation of moviegoers still enjoys having to watch an old treasure from the past, so you should add this to the list of train films that you are going to binge all night with a bag of popcorn.
This film is about a British Captain Meeting his old flame In Peking, China. But what meets him in his travels will indeed prepare him for what’s to come.
Strangers on a Train (1951)
English, French 1h 41m IMDb
Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman
Another one of the classics from way before is “Strangers on a Train.” It is also one of the best Thrilling Train movies today, with a high critics’ score on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, and everyone that watched it enjoyed this old treasure of a film.
There is no doubt that it will also be added to your list to binge-watch, as it has thrilling and gorgeous cinematography about two train passengers striking up a conversation with one another that leads to a deadly chain of events.
The Great Train Robbery (1978)
English, French 1h 50m IMDb
Michael Crichton
Stars: Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down
The Great Train Robbery is another one from the classic era. The film takes place in England during the 1800s. And during this time, train robberies were quite frequent as some trains were private transport for bank money or rich folks.
A master criminal had devised a plan to get on the heavily secured train with the right group of skilled men to make this impossible task possible. The Great Train Robbery is an elegant and great film due to the simplicity of the plot
but has excellent entertainment in the movie, having 2 award nominations and high critic scores on the internet.
Runaway Train (1985)
English 1h 51m IMDb
Andrey Konchalovskiy
Stars: Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay
Runaway Train is a thrilling film made in the 80s. It is a film about two escaped convicts who went to a train station to steal and ride a crewless train.
Not knowing that there is a stowaway girl with them, they soon find themselves in a situation where they are trapped inside a speeding train with no brakes as they run out of control through Alaska.
The film is a solid, action-packed thriller, like many others, as it is exciting and entertaining to watch. Its serious tone makes it intense to watch the thrilling film as they had no way of stopping the runaway train.
It was great and enjoyable. Having a critics score, like many others, deserved a spot in our best binge-watching list.
The Polar Express (2004)
English 1h 40m IMDb
Robert Zemeckis
Stars: Tom Hanks, Chris CoppolaMichael Jeter
Ever wanna enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa on Christmas eve while you wonder what movie you want to enjoy while celebrating Christmas but still have the temptation to watch some fantastic and entertaining train films?
Look no further as the Polar Express is here, bringing you to a beautiful Christmas Eve movie. It is where a young lad embarks on an incredible Christmas journey in the polar express, where he and many other young kids go to the hometown of Santa Claus at the North Pole.
This film is very entertaining as it goes well watching on the night of Christmas eve and teaches the kids about friendship, leadership, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas. But even if the film is geared toward kids, it is still enjoyable and entertaining for adults to watch.
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
English, Hindi, German, Punjabi, Tibetan, French 1h 31m IMDb
Wes Anderson
Stars: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman
It is an emotional but humorous film about three brothers traveling across India via train after their father’s death.
After a year since their father died, they must travel and bond with each other as their reunion has a reason to visit their mother in the Himalayas. The film is entertaining to watch as the writing, the plot, and the actors are top-notch in the film.
It has those emotional moments between the brothers and some comedic scenes that the viewers tend to enjoy throughout the film. The film is a success due to its visually pleasing scenery of India and its impact on the audience.
Transsiberian (2008)
English, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin, French 1h 51m IMDb
Brad Anderson
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley
A thrilling film of deception and Murder, it is also one of the most suspenseful movies on our list. The film is about a married couple taking a train home from Beijing, China, to their home in Moscow.
But they do not know that fate will take a turn as the two couples meet and befriend two fellow travelers on their journey home.
The film is very mysterious and suspenseful as it builds up tension between the audience as they watch throughout the film, so it is no surprise that this will also be added to your list of train movies to binge-watch.
Unstoppable (2010)
English 1h 38m IMDb
Tony Scott
Stars: Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson
What happens when a train carrying dangerous toxic chemicals suddenly roars out of control? The threat is so dangerous that a sudden accident would end human life and permanently damage nature.
The film has a straightforward enough plot but is a good action film inspired by actual events, and it is aimed at audiences looking for suspense, exciting and genuine thrilling films that they would want to add to their lists of films to binge-watch.
The director, Tony Scott, has made the film more intimate with the simplicity of the plot throughout the film.
Source Code (2011)
English 1h 33m IMDb
Duncan Jones
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga
This movie is quite different and has more sci-fi genre than the other train films on the list. The “Source Code” is about a soldier who suddenly wakes up in another man’s body, in which he soon discovers that he is in a classified military experiment that allows him to live the last few minutes in the man’s body.
Now, as he lives within a few minutes of the man’s body, he is confident that he can stop this tragedy from ever happening. This movie is excellent due to its thrilling and finely executed scenes throughout the film. Many moviegoers added this to their list due to its perk sci-fi related mixed with trains.
Snowpiercer (2013)
English, Korean, French, Japanese, Czech, German 2h 6m IMDb
Bong Joon Ho
Stars: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton
Another sci-fi film, Snowpiercer, is probably one of the favorite train movies due to its message in society and its entertaining and thrilling scenes that the audience enjoyed quite a lot.
The film is set in an ice-game apocalyptic world where the poor and rich survive and are divided and living aboard a super train that spans around the globe.
But, a man from the inferior side of the train will start a revolution against the wealthy humans part of the train, which have better living conditions and are practically higher-ups than the poor.
The film is worthwhile to watch since it is wicked and violent, but also a deeply beautiful film with viewers on the edge of their seats. The film also has a message regarding the poor and the rich. It is about how unfair life is due to the rich making fun of those who had unlucky dice in their life.
Train to Busan (2016)
Korean, Hawaiian, English 1h 58m IMDb
Sang-ho Yeon
Stars: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok
Due to the rising popular zombie flicks at the time, Train to Busan always had a place in everyone’s heart due to the depressing drama, horror, and thrilling scenes in the film that left everyone with a sad expression.
Train To Busan is a Korean film where a zombie outbreak that happened in the city of Seoul and is in pure chaos. Our lead in the movie is a father traveling aboard a train with his daughter.
However, they found themselves and other passengers trapped aboard a zombie-infested train. They must travel to different stations to get to a safe place where they can evacuate safely.
The film is beautiful and outstanding in its impact on the audience because they feel the sheer fear and horror in the character they are watching. The film had numerous awards because of its beautifully done directing.
And how the actors in the movie show their passion through their characters. This deserves a spot on the list of train films to binge-watch, as it is very worth it.
The Girl on the Train (2016)
English, Spanish 1h 52m IMDb
Tate Taylor
Stars: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson
This film is a mystery, detective, and thrilling one as a commuter one day gets into a missing person investigation. At the same time, the police suspected that she was now going in a dangerous line in the investigation.
She now had a task to find out what happened to the missing girl, where she was, and why she disappeared one day. The film is thrilling with its crime investigation going around throughout the entirety of the film, as the lead character works her way to investigate a stranger she barely knows.
This film will surely make you add it to your list as it has a thrilling mystery you would like to watch.
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
English, French, Arabic, German 1h 54m IMDb
Kenneth Branagh
Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe
When a trip across Europe quickly turned into a nightmare where the orient express stopped due to a sudden avalanche, and then a murderer went around the trapped train.
A famous detective must find clues on who the killer is before they strike another again. The classical yet stylish quality of the storytelling of a behind-the-times sort of murder mystery is the most enjoyable to watch about the Orient Express.
It is thrilling and suspenseful to watch as the detective races against time to find the killer, or he is too late.
Compartment No. 6 (2021)
Russian, Finnish, English 1h 47m IMDb
Juho Kuosmanen
Stars: Yuriy Borisov, Seidi Haarla, Valeriy Nikolaev
The last on our list, Compartment No. 6, is a significant part of human connection as the lead characters bonded and made a connection that they yearned for so long.
The story takes place in Russia, where a Finnish woman escapes a love affair and gets aboard a train. She then shares a tiny sleeping car with a Russian Miner, in which the encounter between the two leads to them being in unconventional love.
The film is terrific as it shows the nature of human connection with the same interest between individuals that slowly blooms more between them.
The beauty of this film shows the appreciation of small talk and conversation that will lead to friendships and love between strangers. So it will indeed have a spot in the list as it also has a high enough rating in the IMDB, and the audience loved watching this.
Summary
We have now finished listing the adventurous and thrilling 14 Best Train Movies. In case you want to watch train movies with a good story plot and dynamic characters of the film, enjoy watching the movies listed above that will surely make your movie night better.
All these films are enjoyable to watch and entertain you and your friends who would like to join in the train of binge-watching.