Film locations are often crucial for the plot and for all the narrative turning points a story undergoes. Some, however, are particularly unique: for example, films set on high-speed trains or subways, where the rails become a vehicle to propel the story at breakneck speed, fully engaging the audience.
1. Pelham 123 (New York Metro) (2009)
The film The Taking of Pelham 123 depicts a dramatic hostage situation aboard a New York subway train, turning the urban tunnels into a stage of tension.
In reality, Webuild has helped enhance this metro transportation network, carrying out complex projects such as the renovation of the F New York metro line, using cutting-edge techniques and solutions designed to minimize the impact on the city and its passengers.
2. Snowpiercer (2013)
With Snowpiercer, Bong Joon-ho creates a visionary allegory set in a frozen future, where humanity survives aboard a perpetually moving train. The carriages become both the physical and symbolic space of a fierce class struggle: the privileged at the front, the forgotten at the rear.
The journey toward the front cars thus turns into a revolution that spans the entire train, powerfully revealing the paradox and metaphorical strength of this dystopian narrative.
3. Bullet Train (Shinkansen) (2022)
Directed by David Leitch and based on Kōtarō Isaka’s novel Maria Beetle (Bullet Train), Bullet Train combines frenetic action with dark humor.
Set on a high-speed train from Tokyo to Kyoto, it follows a group of assassins with intertwined missions and colliding fates. Starring Brad Pitt, the film promises nonstop twists and spectacular chases, turning the Shinkansen from a well-known Japanese train (Japan’s “Bullet Train”) into an adrenaline-fueled stage.
4. Strangers on a Train (1951)
With Strangers on a Train, Alfred Hitchcock transforms the train into a place of fatal encounters and mounting tension. It is aboard a train that tennis player Guy Haines meets Bruno Anthony, setting in motion a twisted pact of exchanged crimes.
The carriages thus become a symbol of inexorable fate, the perfect setting for a psychological thriller that plays on glances, coincidences, and an atmosphere suspended between chance and inevitability.
5. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
In Murder on the Orient Express, the luxury train is not just a backdrop but a true protagonist of the story. The elegant carriages of the famous Istanbul-bound train become the setting for a mysterious murder and Hercule Poirot’s investigation, played by Albert Finney.
Sidney Lumet chose to film on the authentic Orient Express, enhancing the claustrophobic charm of the confined spaces and turning the journey into a puzzle that unfolds track by track.
6. Train de Vie (1998)
In this film, the train becomes both a means of salvation and a narrative paradox: the very vehicle used to deport Jews is transformed into a route of escape. An entire Romanian village stages a brilliant ruse, disguising themselves as Nazis to flee the horrors of war.
The carriages, used like an unlikely bus, oscillate between tragedy and comedy, turning the journey on rails into a collective dream of escaping the nightmare of history.
