A vengeful computer engineer takes over a train with the Vice President's wife on it and sets it on a collision course with another train. Naturally, it is up to a ensemble of name actors to avoid this. We have Lloyd Bridges as a uptight secret service man in a control center (amazingly, his role in Airplane the following year is almost identical, so it makes for some fun viewing); E. G. Marshall as an "egghead" in charge of the computers; Raymond Burr as a railroad exec; Lane Smith as a crooked railroad exec; William Shatner as a conman on the train; Yvette Mimieux as his love interest; Robert Fuller as a train gigolo; Pat Hingle as a engineer; Harry Caesar as a conductor; and Paul Smith as the kitten-loving villain! While this isn't as good as its big screen counterparts, it is an entertaining 90 minutes. Director Richard Sarafian gets his cast to go out on a limb (Shatner and Smith actually have shots on top of the fast moving train) and there are several hairraising stunts. One I've linked below got me to scream out "holy moly!" because we are talking Joe Don Baker Framed (1975) level of close shaves. My other favorite bit is how the news says for people to stay away from the train's path and they crowd the tracks to gawk and wave protest signs. That hits home in today's climate.
Review of Disaster on the Coastliner
