With last week’s movie, The Death of Ocean View Park, and now Disaster on the Coastliner, it seems like the television networks were trying to cram as many disaster movies as they could into the decade before it ended. That’s funny because the subgenre had about run its course earlier in 1979 with The Concorde… Airport ’79. Then again, to some extent, disaster movies are popular during any year.
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With both movies, especially Disaster on the Coastliner, the filmmakers were getting more reckless with their stories, focusing instead on the action. This one has a more structured plot, but once it’s in motion, it never gets complicated and it moves forward as fast as… well, a speeding train. Like William Shatner’s character, Stuart Peters, if you’re not careful on the ride, you’re in danger of falling off.
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Speaking of “danger of falling off,” when Shatner is hanging between train cars trying to disconnect them, swinging up on the wrong car when he does, then scaling the side and walking along the top, his toupee hangs on tighter than he does. It’s mightily windblown, but never let’s go. Interestingly, trivia on IMDb says the wind machines had to be turned down because it was indeed blowing off his head.
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I’m giving “Shat” a hard time, but he’s terrific in this movie. He’s on the run from the police for some reason that I never understood, but once the conductor asks him to notify them about what’s happening, he turns into a hero… hanging between train cars, swinging up on them, and scaling and walking along them. His character is charismatic, wooing Pauley Harvey (Yvette Mimieux) and smiling as a spectator to the disaster snaps his picture.
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But I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Shat and company are on the northbound train from Los Angeles heading toward San Francisco while the southbound train from San Francisco heading toward Los Angeles is speeding toward it on the same track! In 90 minutes, they’ll collide, creating a disaster on the coastliner. You might think this is a plan to hold the Vice-President’s wife hostage on the southbound train….
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…but that's secondary to the disgruntled ex-employee of Trans Allied Railroad Company (that must own and operate trains from Amtrak) who wants to hold the company responsible for a past derailment that killed his family. This may sound spoilery, but remember the story is secondary to the action. It doesn’t really matter. All it does is explain the presence of Al Mitchell (Lloyd Bridges), a secret service agent…
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…who verbally spars with Roy Snyder (E.G, Marshall), the train dispatcher. Snyder is proud that those newfangled computers are now running the show, but Mitchell is somewhat of a luddite who blames the impending disaster on technology. Did I mention that the disgruntled ex-employee is their IT guy? Yeah, he “programs” warning lights to stay dark and re-routes communications so the trains themselves don’t realize the danger they’re in… for a while.
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As I hope you can tell, Disaster on the Coastliner is ridiculous fun. Add Raymond Burr as Estes Hill, the CEO of Trans Allied, Robert Fuller as Matt Leigh, Paula’s philandering husband, and Pat Hingle as the befuddled engineer on the southbound train, and you have a great cast that seems relaxed as if they’re having as good a time as we are. Director Richard C. Sarafian (Vanishing Point, 1971) knows a thing or two about action, and he demonstrates that here.
Visit the TV Terror Guide: 70's TV Movies playlist at ClassicHorrors.Club TV on YouTube to watch Disaster on the Coastliner as well as all the great movies from this series.
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