I Eat Movies #33: Panic on the 5:22 (1974) / Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)

Back from their springtime slumber, cohosts Mike and Dino find themselves in the world of small-screen thrills with I Eat Movies #33: Express Local, Central & Mountain - Panic on the 5:22 (1974) / Disaster on the Coastliner (1979). Released by ABC and later Good Times Home Video, Panic on the 5:22 examines urban crime and class disparity in a tense tale where a trio of armed men take over a private railroad car carrying society's elite. Starring a bevy of talent including, Bernie Casey (Hit Man), Andrew Duggan (It's Alive), Lynda Day George (TV's Mission: Impossible), Robert Walden (TV's Lou Grant), Laurence Luckinbill (The Boys in the Band), Reni Santoni (Dirty Harry), James Sloyan (The Sting) and countless others, this economical TV-movie offers more through quality character work than one might anticipate. Next up, enhanced by an extra strength dose of suspension of disbelief, Disaster on the Coastliner plays for sheer entertainment value as a vengeful rail employee orchestrates a devastating collision of two trains, one of which is occupied by the vice president's wife. Starring Lloyd Bridges (High Noon) as a tech skeptical secret service agent a year before appearing in Airplane!, E.G. Marshall (TV's The Defenders), Raymond Burr (Rear Window), Pat Hingle (Maximum Overdrive), Paul L. Smith (Popeye), Yvette Mimiuex (Dark of the Sun) and William Shatner (Kingdom of the Spiders), who hijacks the show as a charismatic conman turned unlikely hero, support this efficiently handled thrill ride enhanced by impressive stunt set pieces. Kick back and relive the glory days of TV Guide and virtually forgotten capsules of toob-tainment with us in I Eat Movies #33: Express Local, Central & Mountain - Panic on the 5:22 (1974) / Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)!