Josh Olson on EMPEROR OF THE NORTH

The ghost of Jack London hovers over Robert Aldrich's gutsy evocation of depression-era hobo gangs riding the rails and being targeted by sadistic railroad bulls. Keith Carradine's character name, Cigaret, was the one used by London when he was on the road.
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[@michaelspilman5220]

Ernest borgnine is terrific in this film . he absolutely terrifies me. from Yorkshire and proud of it.

[@60Cascade]

Waiting for this to come to Blu-Ray! One of my all time favorites since I first saw it at the drive in in 74.

[@dirkbogarde44]

Great movie. Hard as nails.

[@B.B.Digital_Forest]

There are so many reasons why a film like this couldn't be made today. But just focusing on the actors it's the difference in standard of living from today's actors and those before the Boomer generation. You can really believe in the rugged appearance of Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. You can truly see they understood what their characters were like because they were both growing up around the film's time period.

[@frederickburke9944]

Narrator of the trailer was Ted Cassidy (Lurch of the Addams Family)

[@quesoblanco444]

Really? That is some great trivia. (Just watched Poor Pretty Eddie as well)

[@doct0rnic]

Even if someone wanted to make this, just finding a vintage railroad with all the old operating knowledge displayed in this film would be impossible.

[@jamessimms415]

Only place I can think of is the Union Pacific Steam Program

[@ronaldkrurk3424]

I know an actor who could have played shack, Brian dennehy could have played shack.

[@mariofilippi3539]

One of my favorite movies. Thanks.

[@FCSchaefer]

A movie too few have seen.

[@p47thunderbolt68]

Norman Jewison said the 1960s and 1970s where the best time for movies .

[@Ifoughtpiranhas]

There would be no way to cast this movie today and still justify calling it by the same name. Besides not being able to replace classic tough guy actors such as Borgnine and Marvin, and Keith Carradine as the weasly Cigaret, you really can't replace the supporting character actors such as Matt Clark, Vic Tayback and Charles Tyner. This movie is a classic that is better off being left alone without a remake. No CGI, no flavor-of-the-month "hip" actors, no feminists, and no cheesy references to modern pop culture.

[@ButThatsShacksTrain]

I only hope your right. Any kind of "remake" would shurly fail, just like "Dark Shadows" and all the rest.

[@mikeytrains1]

You probably couldn't use the same locomotive today, it's up in Ohio being restored by the Age of Steam Roundhouse under the same guise as it wore in the movie. You probably couldn't either on the line it was on, as it's long gone into the pages of history, much of it is a "Rails to Trails" now.

[@GuyjKite]

This was A+ movie. Great action and all star cast. 😊

[@markbarrera6807]

One late night viewing, in high school, and the film has stayed with me- especially Marvin's great last line!

[@ianbauer4703]

Only two actors could play these roles today: Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine.

[@kleetus92]

You could probably get Liam Neeson to be Shack, Chris Pine as Cigarette (or maybe even Ryan Reynolds he can bring some of that pain in the ass from Deadpool not as a comedy, but the attitude), A#1 I'm struggling with a bit, maybe Mads Mikkelsen? I don't think the Hogger, and Coalie are quite as critical, but Cracker is another interesting character... he's a bit of a paper tiger, but when Shack is around, he tones down his balls... Maybe Colin Firth from Kingsman? The hobos you could have a real field day with Akroid, Bill Murry, Chevy Chase, find some older guys that are still with it, and have them hobble around a bit... Could be an interesting project as long as it doesn't go woke...

[@ianbauer4703]

@@kleetus92 The actors named MIGHT work. I think Mel Gibson could play Shack. Maybe Jeff Bridges could play A#1; I thought Bridges did a good job as Rooster Cogburn in the "True Grit" remake. However, today's Hollywood would screw up any remake of "Emperor of the North" with too much CGI and green screen usage; there'd be no authentic train-fighting hobo scenes and probably no real trains at all.

[@kleetus92]

@@ianbauer4703 Those are two interesting choices as well... never thought of Mel as Shack!

[@ianbauer4703]

@@kleetus92 Yeah, I think Mel -- who's a greatly underrated actor -- has that tough, leathery look now that he's grown a bit older.

[@kleetus92]

@@ianbauer4703 And he can definitely nail that I am certifiably crazy look too! I'm thinking about some of the stunts he pulled in Lethal Weapon.

[@tomasbenedictomaza]

que recuerdos me trae esta magnífica película que pude ver en TVE 1 hace mucho tiempo hoy la tengo en DVD

[@jackgrattan1447]

Besides being a great director, Robert Aldrich seemed to like using the same people repeatedly. DP Joe Biroc, composer Frank De Vol, and editor Michael Luciano go WAY back with him, not to mention Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine.

[@Ifoughtpiranhas]

+Jack Grattan Getting Bette Davis and Joan Crawford to act together in 'What Ever Happened To Baby Jane' was another accomplishment for Aldrich.

[@AnthonySmith-ty7ij]

The film is a true Robert Aldrich style with fine performances by both Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Aldrich followed this with an enormous hit the football prison flick, The Longest Yard starring Burt Reynolds.

[@monkeyboy4746]

I heard him mention Ace In The Hole (1951), a fantastic movie.

[@kamuelalee]

Fantastic film...been looking for it on Blu Ray, haven't found it yet.

[@sherikeller8417]

Stephen Lang as Shack..Russell Crowe or Tom Hardy as A#1

[@maxthepupp]

Steven Lang..! Solid choice! But, no, they should never redo this one.

[@film79]

Well done

[@monkeyboy4746]

It's a wonder no one got killed, the actors are running around on top of the cars while they are moving.

[@professorjamesmoriarty5191]

There used to be catwalks on top of freight cars for just that purpose, back then we didn't wrap people in cotton wool.

[@kleetus92]

@@professorjamesmoriarty5191 Yep. the profession was run by real men, not pussies afraid to crack a nail. Not going to deny it was dangerous as hell and many men got hurt, but my grandfather did it to retirement, you just had to be careful, and always know your surroundings.

[@lylegorch5956]

John Hawkes, Will Patton, Harvey Keitel, Jimmi Simpson for the kid.

[@madgigahz]

“Ya coulda been a meat eater, kid.”

[@mikeytrains1]

Christopher Gifford “You had the juice, but not the heart! And those both go together! You’re all gab, and no chew!”

[@Imintune...]

Both ex military ppl that served during the wars. Can't say that about today gen

[@quesoblanco444]

I hope to get to see this someday, seems really hard to find.

[@billythekid3234]

Queso Blanco I just bought it off Amazon for 9.95 ! March 20th 2021

[@quesoblanco444]

@@billythekid3234 Thanks for hipping me to that dude!

[@1060michaelg]

A film I CANNOT pass up when I happen upon it, which is far too seldom. Your point regarding "Look at those faces...who could play these guys today"--paraphrased, sorry. It's true, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine are from the generation that lived through the Great Depression and fought in WWII (Lee's service is well known, Ernest, I have never heard one way or the other), and their faces reflect it, man do they ever! I have come up blank with ANYONE to play A#1 and the same goes for Shack ("Say I heard this cat SHACK is a baaaad muth--" Shut yo' mouth! "Hey, I'm just talkin' 'bout SHACK..." Then we can dig it!)-- Indeed we can...dig it...yes indeed.

[@johnminehan1148]

Borgnine spent about 15 years in the US Navy before and during WWII. He was a CPO, who served in China on the Brown Water Gun Boats in the '30s.

[@Sodiumreactor]

"who could possibly play these guys today" Here is my suggestion. Brendan Gleeson as Shack, and Liam Neeson as A No. 1. Would love to see a remake!

[@frankkolton1780]

No, no, NO! Absolutely not.

[@carolinarailfanproductions]

@@frankkolton1780 Why?!?! What’s the reason why the film cannot be remade?

[@TheRadivoje]

Russel Crowe as Shack,Bruce Willis as old No 1 .With hair grow here and there and beard of two week.

[@johnminehan1148]

I think eitherman could have played either role.

[@maxthepupp]

Heck, Marvin played a great version of thenastiest SOB alive in Liberty Valance. Man, he STOLE that one from Stewart,Wayne, AND John Ford.

[@johnminehan1148]

@@maxthepupp A talented actor. His other major role for Ford was radically different, "Boats" Gilhooley in Donovan's Reef; a comic lead he handled well.

[@tomcooper6108]

A remake is in order.

[@clobbyhops]

I tell ya if they did a remake of this movie say late 80's or early 90's, the shack would have been played by Paul L. Smith the warden of the prison of midnight express movie hands down, as for A number one, I'm thinking Armand Assante or maybe giving Brian Bosworth a shot at the title.

[@1060michaelg]

Jeez, I just wrote how I came up blank for the casting of A#1...Armand Assante is an inspired pick! Wish it would have occurred to me!

[@zzuiderzee9309]

Harrison Ford--A#1, Brendan Gleeson--Shack. That's who I'd look for if casting a remake. If Ford sounds too old, Hugh Jackman.

[@johnminehan1148]

Or, probably, Russel Crowe as either. Vin Diesel could do Shack, but you would need to explain that the guy is Greek, Sicilian or Lebanese/Syrian (Too big a guy to play a hobo or any other type of itinerant worker). Barry Pepper could probably play A-1, but you would have to set up the character as someone like the guy he played in Saving Private Ryan, a tough, skinny, undersized Audie Murphy kind of guy. Another guy who could play Shack would be Neil McDonaugh, who usually plays more buttoned-down tough guys. After the Battle of LA, I wonder if Arron Eckert couldn't handle A-1. He often plays weaselly-bad guys but the SSgt who was getting ready to retire when all hell breaks lose makes me think he could do it.

[@richieray3382]

Woo Woo, BRIDGR NAAMED AFTBERN GPAA. TOOBEE ORR NOTe TooBIN

[@ftalker11]

There are plenty of actors who could play these roles, just not in Hollywood.

[@jeffreycoogan09]

George Clooney as A-No.-1 and Gerard Butler as Shack.

[@MrLimborace]

+Jeffrey Coogan Not even close.

[@MrLimborace]

+Jeffrey Coogan Not even close.

[@jeffreycoogan09]

sewwwwwwwwww That's close enough for me and for lot of other people. Those are the two actors I would cast for the roles. If you can think of a better cast for them, I would love to hear it.

[@MrLimborace]

Leave well enough alone, Millenial...it's been done to perfection, stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

[@jeffreycoogan09]

sewwwwwwwwww I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I was just saying who I think would be a good fit for those characters if they were to do a remake of Empire of the North. BTW. I was born in 1978. Which does not make me a Millennial.