Home Video: 'Murder on the Orient Express'

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"Murder on the Orient Express" is one of two movies based on Agatha Christie detective novels made for release in 2017. Starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh, "Orient Express" made a ton of money, let Branagh show off his outrageous accent and will likely spawn a sequel. The other one, "Crooked House," went straight to video in the United States.

Guess which is the better movie?

"Murder on the Orient Express" is still pretty good, even if you've seen the 1974 version directed by Sidney Lumet that featured an all-star cast that included Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Michael York.

 

This one also features Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer and Daisy Ridley in addition to Branagh as detective Hercule Poirot. Everyone's good, everyone's having fun, no one's doing any super-serious acting.

The murder plot is one of Christie's most famous. You may be actually surprised to learn who commits the murder if you don't know already.

There are some documentary bonus features about Agatha Christie and the making of the movie, but there's nothing here that will surprise or enlighten the author's loyal fans.

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