England's sensational Great Train Robbery of 1963 has been previously dramatized (memorably in 1988's Buster, starring Phil Collins) and referenced in other films, but this British TV miniseries, based on the 2010 novel Signal Red by Robert Ryan, bids to be the definitive retelling, presenting the story in two feature-length episodes. The jazzy "A Robber's Tale" recounts the unfolding of a scheme to rob the cash carried in the Glasgow-to-London Royal Mail train, with ambitious London hood Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) renting a countryside lair and assembling co-conspirators having inside knowledge to help stop and loot this lightly defended locomotive—a caper that gains the gang an unexpected windfall of £2.5 million. The more formal "A Copper's Tale" takes up the aftermath, almost entirely from the point-of-view of the Scotland Yard police investigation, which is headed by bulldoggish Detective Tommy Butler (Jim Broadbent), here portrayed as obsessed with nabbing the last Great Train Robber to elude justice: Reynolds. The compare-and-contrast format equates nemeses Bruce and Tommy: two business-like types from opposite ends of the law, who each assemble crews for what will turn out to be the assignment of their lives. Extras include cast and crew interviews. Recommended. (C. Cassady)
The Great Train Robbery
Acorn, 2 discs, 181 min., not rated, DVD: $39.99 March 9, 2015
The Great Train Robbery
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