Agatha Christie's Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (Blu-ray)
Poirot searches for a killer on a snowbound train.
While traveling from Istanbul to London aboard the luxurious Orient Express, Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) encounters a ruthless businessman who offers him a large sum to expose the person threatening his life. Poirot declines, not caring for the man or his money. But when he is stabbed to death, the detective is determined to find the killer. With the help of an amateur sleuth (Samuel West, Van Helsing), Poirot begins to piece together the chain of events leading up to the murder.
Member Reviews
Hercule, you're no fun anymore. - Proggy
I absolutely adore David Suchet's performances as Poirot. Or I did, at least, until seeing this one. I don't know quite why the most famous Poirot story was saved until almost last before they filmed it, but that's no matter I suppose.
The problem here is that the (now older) Suchet seems to have developed a cragginess that has bled into the character we know so well. Twenty years ago, Suchet brought such charm to the role, and now we are presented with a deadly serious Poirot who is prone to angry outbursts and rage, and rarely gives us a glimpse of the light-heartedness we saw in the tv series or earlier films. When he got angry then, it was often a source of amusement for the audience. This time I found myself frowning. That's a mighty big difference.
Compounding the problem in these more recent productions is the absence of our beloved Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp. They - and their interaction with Poirot - are sorely missed. Murder On The Orient Express, although beautifully shot and visually impressive, is wayyyy too heavy on the melodrama, and needs a few major injections of humour and whimsy.
The verdict? The Poirot production I least enjoyed (that's a nice way of saying the worst one). And I've seen over 90% of them.Average in every way - kevo64
I am a fan of the David Suchet Poirot series, and was looking forward to seeing them make the jump to Blu-Ray. This is just a so-so adaptation of the great book. Lots left out and big changes in the plot, characters left out, most likely due to time constraints, it is only a 93 minute movie. The Blu-Ray presentation is also so-so, mediocre audio and video, a 2 our of five on all counts.
Member Reviews
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Hercule, you're no fun anymore. - Proggy
I absolutely adore David Suchet's performances as Poirot. Or I did, at least, until seeing this one. I don't know quite why the most famous Poirot story was saved until almost last before they filmed it, but that's no matter I suppose.
The problem here ...Average in every way - kevo64
I am a fan of the David Suchet Poirot series, and was looking forward to seeing them make the jump to Blu-Ray. This is just a so-so adaptation of the great book. Lots left out and big changes in the plot, characters left out, most likely due to time constraints, ...