Death bridge meeting point
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Death bridge meeting point |
| Original title | The Cassandra Crossing |
| Country of production | Italy , United Kingdom , Germany |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1976 |
| length | 129 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Pan Cosmatos |
| script | George Pan Cosmatos Robert Katz |
| production |
Lev Grade Carlo Ponti |
| music | Jerry Goldsmith |
| camera | Ennio Guarnieri |
| cut |
Roberto Silvi Françoise Bonnot |
| occupation | |
| |
Meeting Point Death Bridge (Original Title: The Cassandra Crossing ) is a thriller from 1976 . The European co-production was directed by George Pan Cosmatos and in the wake of the disaster film wave that had spilled from the USA to Europe in the 1970s . Start in Germany was on March 31, 1977.
action
A European transcontinental train is on its way from Geneva to Stockholm . Among the many passengers there is also a Swedish terrorist , located in a failed attack on a laboratory at the headquarters of the fictional international health organizations with a deadly mutant plague - bacterium has infected. In the International Health Organization plans US Colonel Stephen Mackenzie, the train on a disused railway line into a quarantine camp for Janów in Poland to send. The way there leads over the badly dilapidated Kassandrabrücke . Should the bridge collapse under the weight of the train, all potential carriers of infection would have died in a deserted area and panic could be avoided; apparently this is also the position of the Eastern bloc authorities ("... yes, I know that it is a Warsaw Pact country but we will not have any difficulties!").
On the train are Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain and his ex-wife Jennifer, Nicole Dressler, the wife of a German arms manufacturer, and her lover, the drug courier Robby. In Geneva, the doctor Dr. Stradner desperately persuading Mackenzie to stop the train. The passengers have no idea of any of this until shortly before arriving in Basel they are diverted to Nuremberg , the train is sealed and a (military) medical team in white protective suits comes on board. Meanwhile, Holocaust survivor Herman Kaplan realizes that the quarantine camp is located on the site of the former concentration camp in Janów, where he was interned in World War II and the rest of his family perished. Panicked by these memories, he wanted to flee the train, but was shot and had to return.
He reports to Chamberlain from the Kassandrabrücke . Chamberlain recognizes the imminent danger and also notes that some infected patients are on the way to recovery. Chamberlain informs Mackenzie and Dr. Stradner immediately about this development and wants to make it clear that a further trip to Poland is not necessary. Mackenzie refuses to stop the train. Dr. While observing a dog that has been rescued from the train - which has since overcome the disease - Stradner develops the theory of healing through the pure oxygen that is passed through the train - just like in the dog cage. At the same time, Chamberlain realizes that Mackenzie is playing the wrong game and he begins a race against time by forcibly attempting to incapacitate the quarantine staff with some passengers. They manage to uncouple some of the wagons from the train before they reach the bridge. The others plunge into the depths and kill many people.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was a " reasonably exciting disaster film designed for external effects ". He takes over " in an effort to formulate political statements ".
Trivia and locations
Parts of the opening sequence of the film take place in Geneva train station . In fact, these scenes were all shot in the Basel SBB train station . The bridge shown in the film is the Garabit Viaduct in southern France , which was built by Gustave Eiffel between 1880 and 1884 .
The film recordings of the scene of the taking of the dog with a helicopter from the moving train were made on January 13, 1976, partly on the Niederglatt-Oberhasli section of the former Bülach-Regensberg Railway . This section has no catenary and is only used as a rail connection for a tank farm and for parking freight cars . For the film, a Re 4/4 II with a lowered pantograph was left coupled to the Zugspitze , while at the end of the train, invisible in the film, a Bm 4/4 provided the actual drive.
Other locations:
- The headquarters of the fictitious International Health Organization is the Bruderholz Cantonal Hospital in Bottmingen
- Escaping terrorist shortly after the attack on the WHO: Pedestrian viaduct ("Gundeli-Passerelle"), which connects the Gundeldingen district with today's tram stop "Peter Merian".
- Railway line Basel - Delémont - Moutier ( Jura Railway ):
- The train passes Dornach-Arlesheim station ; a row of police cars with flashing lights is parked at the station there. The train passes through the station away from Basel; Regarding the cinematic route of the train, however, the route leads back towards Geneva (where the train actually came from) and not to Germany.
- In the scene with the helicopter and the moving train, the route between Laufen and Zwingen can be seen briefly .
- When the dog is dropped from the helicopter, the Moutier-Gänsbrunnen route is traveled before the train disappears into the Weissenstein tunnel .
- Moutier gorge .
- Saint-Ursanne railway viaduct .
The footage also normal were RIC - cars used, one to another with normal UIC - screw couplings are connected, so that not only the clutch with a special dining car can be separated - such a system namely does not exist. Except for the electric locomotive , the rolling stock was really ready for international use and the train could at least have covered the distance with the appropriate changes of locomotives .
The scene in which the train is sealed in Nuremberg was filmed on an Italian marshalling yard with Italian rail vehicles, which were optically approximated to the otherwise used Swiss vehicles.
Web links
- The Cassandra Crossing in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Cassandra Crossing at rotten tomatoes (English)
- Meet at the death bridge in the online film database
- Meeting at the railway in the film