i sort of liked this movie.it's about a crack team of government agents who must stop a madman who has hijacked a freight train and holds some of the crew hostage.complicating matters is that there is a nuclear bomb on board.that sounds like many other movies.and it is true,the premise is very familiar.the only difference here is that this movie is much more realistic.there not a lot of death defying stunts which strain believability.also,the characters act more like they would in this kind of situation.the bad guys are smarter than normal,usually a step ahead of the good guys.the good guys are more like real human beings.they make mistakes that you believe could really be made.they're not super human.i thought the cast was good for this movie.you have some really good actors here.Patrick Stewart is the head honcho of the agency,while Pierce Brosnan and Alexandra Paul are the two main agents.Ted Levine is the crazy in this one,along with Christopher Lee.i've always liked Patrick Stewart and Pierce Brosnan. both are very credible in their roles.but Alexandra Paul really impressed me here.i also liked the fact that her character was a strong woman,not a damsel in distress.the supporting cast was also very good.i also think the way they depicted events had some realism.i think the same thing could happen the same way in real life.having said all that,i have to say the movie was pretty slow,not quite too slow to watch,but pretty close.that's really the only complaint i have about the film.otherwise i didn't find too much wrong with it.that one little problem lowers the rating a bit though,from my point of view.for me "death Train" AKA "Detonator" is a 6/10

Anyone watching this film because Alistair Maclean's name is on it will be sorely let down. A weak plot involving stolen nukes is nothing you haven't seen before, done better. Some of the acting (Brosnan, Stewart and Paul) is good, but Ted Levine is simply laughable as the secondary antagonist. His silly redneck character weakens any threat to his scenes with Brosnan. The venerable Christopher Lee is rather miscast as an evil Russian mastermind.

Action scenes and photography are OK, but the editing, music and direction are dull. I also found it funny that it is some sort of UN team that goes after the nukes, where in real life it would be the Navy Seals or Delta Force that would be sent to deal with this train (and would certainly do a better job).

I loved reading the UNACO books ( based on the Alistair Maclean storylines), and found Death Train a riveting read, and though this adaptation of the aforementioned thriller doesn't follow the book's plot closely, it is still enjoyable and has some nail biting action sequences. The characters are developed well, especially the ones played by future ( two years more) 007 Pierce Brosnan, Patrick Stewart, Christopher Lee, Ted Levine and Alexander Paul. The train sequences are particularly eye-catching, the European look of the railroads is interesting ( ok, I am a bit of trainspotter). It does have that typical TV movie look, well it is one, and music can be robotic, but it delivers in suspense and action.