First and foremost, thank you to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for allowing me to review The 15:17 To Paris Blu-Ray Combo Pack!
I was surprised by The 15:17 To Paris. I liked it. I didn’t know a whole lot about the movie outside of the marketing that was done by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie starts off with the events that took place on August 21st, 2015 on Thalys train #9364 headed for Paris. A Moroccan named Ayoub El Khazzani exited a bathroom on the train with weapons in his waistband, carrying an AK47 assault rifle and also had a bag containing over 300 rounds of ammunition. The first person to see him walk out of the bathroom, a 62-year old British man named Chris Norman, who lived in France. He immediately tries to disarm Khazani, Stone notices the commotion and his first instinct is to try to put a stop to things. Norman. During the fight with Khazzani, Norman is shot in the neck. Stone restrains Khazzanni and then being the closest thing to a doctor, with extensive training in the Army, stops the bleeding by plugging the gun shot wound with his finger.
The movie then goes back to the beginning, explaining the individual lives of the three young men (Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler and Spencer Stone.) and how they became friends and the journey to the moment they are currently living out. All three are from Sacramento, California. Alek and Spencer were friends because their mothers were also friends. They take their sons out of public school and move them to a private, religious school where the boys meet Anthony, who has similar issues of being a constant visitor to the principal’s office. The boys engage in what is viewed as normal teenage behavior, acts of rebelling, playing war in the wood with air soft guns and eventually toilet-papering a house down the street that is owned by one of the mother’s friends. After getting in trouble one too many times, the principal suggests the boys be raised by their fathers. Alek moves to Oregon to live with his father. Anthony changes schools. But the trio keep in touch throughout the years. Alek and Spencer enlist in the military.
The trio plan a trip across Europe. Spencer meets up with Anthony in Rome. Alek joins the group in Germany, visiting a girlfriend before meeting up with the trio. There’s a LOT of selfies being taken, some partying and the normal touristy things that people do while vacationing.
There’s something that can be said that the trio play themselves on the big screen. Clint Eastwood took a risk and to me, he made it work. You can tell they’re not professional actors, but that’s what brings you in for the story, not action sequences or CGI.
The screenplay was adapted from a book co-written by the trio along with Jeffrey E. Stern by Dorothy Slyskal
The biggest thing I can tell you, I usually have one of my kids watch movies with me to get another opinion. This time was no different, my 12-year old son watched it with me. My 14-year old daughter was going to get something out of the kitchen and plopped down on the floor. My 19-year old son was walking by headed to the bathroom to shower, took care of his business and asked what we were watching. He started on the part where Stone was working in the smoothie shop. He could relate to Stone’s story, so we started the movie over for him.
GRADE: B+
THE 15:17 TO PARIS Home Release Info:
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has announced the home release info (Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital HD/4K Ultra Digital HD) for Clint Eastwood’s The 15:17 To Paris!
From Academy Award winning director* Clint Eastwood comes “The 15:17 to Paris,” which tells the real-life story of three men whose brave act turned them into heroes during a highspeed railway ride.
The heroic trio is comprised of Anthony Sadler, Oregon National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Spencer Stone, who play themselves in the film. Starring alongside them are Jenna Fischer (“Hall Pass,” TV’s “The Office”), Judy Greer (“War for the Planet of the Apes”), Ray Corasani (TV’s upcoming “The Long Road Home”), PJ Byrne (“The Wolf of Wall Street”), Tony Hale (TV’s “Veep”) and Thomas Lennon (“Transformers: Age of Extinction”). Paul-Mikél Williams plays the younger Anthony, Bryce Gheisar plays the younger Alek and William Jennings plays the younger Spencer.
Eastwood (“Sully,” “American Sniper”) directs from a screenplay by Dorothy Blyskal, based on the book by Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Jeffrey E. Stern. Eastwood also produces the film, along with Tim Moore, Kristina Rivera and Jessica Meier. The film’s executive producer is Bruce Berman.
Behind the scenes, the creative team includes frequent collaborators Tom Stern, who served as cinematographer on 13 of Eastwood’s previous films, and Deborah Hopper, who has served as Eastwood’s costume designer on 17 prior films, editor Blu Murray, who most recently cut “Sully,” and the film’s composer, Christian Jacob. Veteran art director Kevin Ishioka, whose work can be seen in “Sully” and in “Dunkirk,” serves as production designer.
Cast:
Judy Greer, Jenna Fischer, Bryce Gheisar, Thomas Lennon, Jaleel White, Tony Hale, P.J. Byrne, Sinqua Walls, Lillian Solange Beaudoin, Helene Cardona, Gary Weeks, Steve Coulter, Sarah Fawaz, Robert Pralgo, Ethan Rains,
Synopsis:
In the early evening of August 21, 2015, the world watched in stunned silence as the media reported a thwarted terrorist attack on Thalys train #9364 bound for Paris—an attempt prevented by three courageous young Americans traveling through Europe. The film follows the course of the friends’ lives, from the struggles of childhood through finding their footing in life, to the series of unlikely events leading up to the attack. Throughout the harrowing ordeal, their friendship never wavers, making it their greatest weapon and allowing them to save the lives of the more than 500 passengers on board.
Trailer:
“The 15:17 to Paris”Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following special features:
- Making Every Second Count
o Join Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler – the three Americans who stopped the attack – as they take us moment-by-moment through the real-life drama, just as they lived it.
- Portrait of Courage
o Join Oscar® winner Eastwood and his creative team as they reveal the aspects of the story that moved them and why they took the bold step of casting the three Americans to play themselves in the film.
“The 15:17 to Paris”Standard Definition DVD contains the following special feature:
- Portrait of Courage
Stills:
