Orient Express (2001)

Islamic terrorists seize the legendary train, and Richard Grieco seeks to rescue it and remove the bomb.

Genre – Action

Director(s) – Mark Roper

Writer(s) – Harry Alan Towers and and Peter Jobin

Cast – Richard Grieco and Romina Mondello

Blue Rider’s Role – Arranged bridge financing

Distributor(s) – E-M-S The DVD Company

Release Date – 2001

Synopsis – Action hero Richard Grieco meets up with some rich Europeans and Americans on a luxury train for a New Year’s Eve trip across Europe, and Islamic terrorists seize the train and blackmail the Western citizens. Grieco and an attractive female companion need to find and neutralize the bombs on the train and fight the terrorists.

Release Data:
The film made its DVD premiere in Germany on Sept. 18, 2001, and it bowed on Hungarian TV on Sept. 17, 2005.

Major Cast and Crew Credits and Awards:
Director is Mark Roper (Ultimate Force, The Sea WolfCity of Fear, Queen’s Messenger, Orion’s Key, Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target, Adventure Inc., four episodes of UK’s Peak Practice, four episodes of The Secret Adventurew of Jules Verne).

Writers are Harry Alan Towers (Ten Little Indians, Owd Bob, Warrior Queen, Queen’s Messenger, The Mangler, The Face of Fu Manchu, High Explosive, Marquis de Sade: Justine, Bullet to Beijing and 38 other movies and TV projects ) and Peter Jobin (Gemini Award nom for Friday the 13th; also wrote Happy Birthday to Me, Queens Messenger, She, High Explosive, Dorian, High Adventure, Deadly Harvest and Witness to a Kill).

Stars Richard Grieco (won 1991 ShoWest Male Star of Tomorrow award; also performed n Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Mobsters, A Night at the Roxbury, If Looks Could Kill, Blackheart, Evil Breed: The Legend of Samhain, Book of Days, Fish Don’t Blink, 23 episodes of Booker, 18 episodes of 21 Jump Street, eight episodes of Marker, four episodes of Gargoyles, three episodes of Veronica Mars and 39 other movies and TV projects) and Romina Mondello (Queen’s Messenger, Marquise, Chiara, Nostromo, M.D.C. – Maschera di Cera ).

Cast also includes Nicky Henson (Syriana, Me Without You, The Jokers, Vera Drake, There’s A Girl in My Soup, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, Witchfinder General, Crooks and Coronets, 30 is a Dangerous Age Cynthia, 36 episodes of EastEnders, 12 episodes of Shine on Harvey Moon, five episodes of Seagull Island, three episodes of The Green Man and 66 movies and TV projects);
Christopher Waltz (won five major German awards for various films and earned three other nominations; also appeared in Ordinary Decent Criminal, Falling Rocks, Queen’s Messenger, Dorian, Herr Lehmann, She, four episodes of The Gravy Train goes East, three episodes of Tatort and 80 other movies and TV projects); Jennifer Nitsch (won two major German awards for Nur Eine Kleine Aff�re; also appeared in Dorian, Der Schattenmann, Craibi, Allein Unter Frauen, Busenfreunde, 26 of Gl�ckliche Reise, 19 episodes of Freunde f�rs Leben, six episodes of Die Stra�en von Berlin, three episodes of Der Alte and 39 other German movies and TV projects); Yoanna Boukovska (Marines, Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy, The Mechanick and eight Bulgarian films and TV projects); Barry Flatman (Saw II, Saw III, The Dead Zone, Just Friends, Short Circuit 2, Cruel Intentions 2, The Sea Wolf, High Adventure, The Dream Team, Switching Channels, The Company, Bizarre, seven episodes of Earth: The Final Conflict, five episodes of Odyssey 5, five episodes of Tilt, five episodes of Rideau Hall, four episodes of X-Men, four episodes of Ramona, three episodes of Leap Years, and 104 other films and TV projects); G�tz Otto (Schindler’s List, Tomorrow Never Dies, Alien Autopsy, Deep Freeze, Der Untergang, Beowulf, Kleine Haie, The Antman, Gunblast Vodka, She, three episodes of Polizeiruf 110 and 61 other movies and TV projects) and Hristo Shopov (won Best Actor Award at the Golden Knight Film Festival for The Passion of the Christ; also appeared in Alien Hunter, The Grey Zone, Queen’s Messenger, Sacco & Vanzetti, Raptor Island, Shark Hunter, I am David, Octopus, Vchera and 34 other movies and TV projects).

Produced by Harry Alan Towers (nominated for 1980 Best Picture Canadian Genie Award for Klondike Fever; also produced Cry The Beloved Country, Ten Little Indians, Treasure Island, Call of the Wild, Bullet to Beijing, The Mangler, Fanny Hill, Circus of Fear, The Phantom of the Opera, The Hitman, The Brides of Fu Manchu, High Explosive, High Adventure, Paroxismus and 87 other movies and TV projects).

Associate Producer is Maria Rohm (Edge of Sanity, Black Arrow, The Sea Wolf, Queen’s Messenger, High Adventure, Sumuru, She).

Original Music by Stelvio Cipriani (won Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Score Award for Anonymous Venetians; also scored Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, The Tony Blair Witch Project, Blindman, The Bermuda Triangle, Queen’s Messenger, Rage of Honor, The Lickerish Quartet, Desperate Moves, Reazione a Catena, Orgasmo Nero, Cani Arrabbiati 187 other films).

Cinematography by Adolfo Bartoli (Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge, Trancers II, Leapin’ Leprechauns, Prehysteria, Queen’s Messenger, Seed People, Demonic Toys, The Horrible Dr. Bones, The Pit and the Pendulum, High Adventure, five episodes of Carabinieri and 51 other films and TV projects).

Production Design by Giovanni Natalucci (From Beyond, I am David, Dolls, Troll, Ghoulies II, Dolls, Robot Jox, Queen’s Messenger, Compagni di Scuola, Saving Grace, TerorVision, 22 episodes of Conan, 16 episodes of Don Matteo and 32 other movies and TV projects.)
Links:
Internet Movie Database entry for Orient Express