Everyone pack your bags, do your hand-stretches and file this one under “trope talks that could easily be bingo cards”! Today let’s talk about that oh-so-spectacular staple of setpieces, the marvelous Train Fight!
MUSIC: Kevin Macleod, “Scheming Weasel”
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I always forget that one shot from Spiderman 2 where he gets thrown into the air, smoothly goes thorough the pedestrian bridge, and reengages in the same action. That's just such a good shot and it always gets overshadowed by the bit where he's stopping the train a little later.
I was hoping you'd sing "Downtown Train" at the end 🙁
Also in favor of trains: they are the supreme mode of transportation
im upset Red didn't use any shots from RDJ's sherlock as its 1 the very few train fights that never have them go on top the roof
A little surprised you didn’t talk more about the narrowing of character choice on a train. Characters can really only go forward, backward, or up on top, which gives them choices but also gives the writers some helpful boundaries to work in.
My favourite train fight is in Sherlock Holmes: A game of Shadows. Since it wasn't an example in this video I had to go watch the scene myself XD
I find it fascinating how you discuss the tropes so broadly. The first third of the video is about the concept of transportation in fiction in general.
One of my favorite examples of "heroes must stop the train before it reaches a dead end" is in Trigun (it's called a sand-steamer, but it's functionally a train with no tracks and still on a set route)
I think the main reason trains have such a specific set of tropes built around them is simply that they're much older than all other modern forms of transportation. There are actually a bunch of tropes around carriage travel, but nobody uses carriages anymore. Some of those tropes made their way into cars, but a lot of them don't work in that format and have been lost.
Spirited Away is the one time nothing happened on the train.
First thing I did was hover through the video to find if she included the Weevil vs Yugi overkill duel.
I was not disappoint.
Train fights can either be some of the coolest or lamest scenes in a story or game
Peak vehicle performance: train
Peak animal: crab
Here before the Alan Fisher or Adam Something comments
I’m bummed that Railroad Wrath isn’t playing over this
Idea: Character gets sucker punched right after they're exhausted from stopping a train
When I saw the topic I was expecting two things: Murder in the Orient Express and Baccano!. Sadly it did not deliver on the Baccano! front.
I think one thing you missed when you were mentioning the Goldilocks zone of trains is that their mobility is limited. Sure, they can get from Point A to Point B quickly, but it’s hard for them to make turns and there’s no way for them to explore unknown areas. Most forms of transportation don’t have that limitation.
But limitations breed creativity, and many writers have found ways to turn that into a strength. Trains and what can happen on them are so thoroughly explored precisely because there are fewer options available.
Trains also have the advantage of the characters not being able to have total control on where it’s going as well, like once a character gets control of a car or boat or plane they can take it wherever they want. Not a train though they can change a direction every once and a while but the train is on one track it frankly only has one destination which for better or worse isn’t going to stop even without the taking out the breaks thing trains don’t typically stop in media. This gives even more of a sense of urgency cause now are characters aren’t in full control of the train stop starting how fast it’s going or even where it’s going which adds more tension
I first i thought FMA:B was a good example of a show where characters can get on a train and nothing bad happens, and then i remembered a certain assassination attempt near the end. Definitely not the classic fight on a train roof, but still a trope filled moment. (Not that thats a bad thing.)
trains are basically min-maxed transportation.
there is nothing better for transporting a lot of stuff safely, quickly, and cheaply.
they hold more people than cars, require less staff than ships, wont kill everyone if something goes wrong, dont need constant checks on where they're headed, its great!
you went through all of this without showing any clips from Bacanno!
That is a crime