The Best Train Movies

Originally by Ranker Community

Updated September 11, 2019 2.8k votes 699 voters 71.7k views46 items

List RulesMovies must feature trains.

What are the best train movies ever made? This list includes a lot of different movies that all feature trains in some fashion. Whether it's comedy or drama, the great train movies included here are all memorable. Some of them are among the best movies of all time, too. Which one is your favorite? Vote up the train films you like the most and feel free to rerank this list any way you want. If any good train movies are missing, feel free to add them to the list.

Some of the best train films are train robbery movies. Among them: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and The Great Train Robbery. Trains are an excellent vehicle (so to speak) for story lines involving robberies. They're fast, dangerous and an exciting means of transportation, after all. Along those lines, two outstanding Alfred Hitchcock films both involve trains: 1951's Strangers on a Train and 1959's North By Northwest.

Without a doubt, some of the best comedy films are also about trains. Who can forget the hilariously classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles, starring Steve Martin and John Candy? And 1976's Silver Streak is a comedy thriller that includes murder, mayhem and the comedic genius of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.

Enjoy this list of top notch railroad movies, and don't forget to vote!

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Silver Streak
Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder
Released: 1976
Directed by: Arthur Hiller
Silver Streak is a 1976 comedy-thriller film about an event on a Los Angeles-to-Chicago train... more
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The Train
Burt Lancaster, Jeanne Moreau
Released: 1964
Directed by: John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn
The Train is a 1964 black-and-white film directed by John Frankenheimer from a story and... more
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Murder on the Orient Express
Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman
Released: 1974
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
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The Polar Express
Tom Hanks, Steven Tyler
Released: 2004
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
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Once Upon a Time in the West
Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale
Released: 1968
Directed by: Sergio Leone
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North by Northwest
Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock
Released: 1959
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
North by Northwest is a 1959 American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and... more
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Emperor of the North
Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin
Released: 1973
Directed by: Robert Aldrich
Emperor of the North Pole is a 1973 American film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee... more
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Snowpiercer
Chris Evans, John Hurt
Released: 2013
Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
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Strangers on a Train
Alfred Hitchcock, Farley Granger
Released: 1951
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Strangers on a Train is a 1951 American psychological thriller film noir produced and directed... more
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Throw Momma from the Train
Billy Crystal, Danny DeVito
Released: 1987
Directed by: Danny DeVito
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Source Code
Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan
Released: 2011
Directed by: Duncan Jones
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Steve Martin, Kevin Bacon
Released: 1987
Directed by: John Hughes
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Runaway Train
Jon Voight, Rebecca De Mornay
Released: 1985
Directed by: Andrei Konchalovsky
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Broken Arrow
John Travolta, Christian Slater
Released: 1996
Directed by: John Woo
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The Taking of Pelham 123
John Travolta, Denzel Washington
Released: 2009
Directed by: Tony Scott
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Money Train
Jennifer Lopez, Woody Harrelson
Released: 1995
Directed by: Joseph Ruben
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The General
Boris Karloff, Mike Donlin
Released: 1926
Directed by: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
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From Russia with Love
Sean Connery, Robert Shaw
Released: 1963
Directed by: Terence Young
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Unstoppable
Denzel Washington, Rosario Dawson
Released: 2010
Directed by: Tony Scott
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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three 1974
Jerry Stiller, Walter Matthau
Released: 1974
Directed by: Joseph Sargent
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Before Sunrise
Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Released: 1995
Directed by: Richard Linklater
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Breakheart Pass
Charles Bronson, Doug Atkins
Released: 1975
Directed by: Tom Gries
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Transsiberian
Kate Mara, Woody Harrelson
Released: 2008
Directed by: Brad Anderson
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Back to the Future Part III
Michael J. Fox, Elisabeth Shue
Released: 1990
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
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Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Katherine Heigl, Steven Seagal
Released: 1995
Directed by: Geoff Murphy
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