The plot revolves around a brother and sister, who are staying with their aunt and uncle. There world is forever changed when a Cambodian boy comes to stay with them until he is able to be placed with a family permanently. The trio quickly become friends and daily they venture off into the woods near their home. One day they meet a crippled man who used to be a railroad engineer. They get this man to help them restore and teach them how to drive an abandon train they discover in the woods. The trio plan to take the train to Cambodia, so Hoang their Cambodian friend can reunite with his mother.

Throughout the film ‘the brother’ character, who’s name is Toby. He often day dreams and these are some of the most entertaining moments in the film. He becomes a racer driver, a performer in the circus and a super hero in space. This film’s stand out performance comes from Mickey Rooney (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), who is cast in the role of a retired railroad engineer who is crippled. There is a child like quality that he brings to the character that makes the character all the more endearing. Ultimately Treasure Train is easily Fernando Arrabal’s gentlest film. In fact it is a film that is heavily geared towards children and the young at heart.

The BluRay:

Treasure Train comes on a 25 GB single layer BluRay. The film is presented in a 1080 progressive anamorphic widescreen. This film was previously released on DVD by Cult Epics under the alternate title The Emperor of Peru and the source for that transfer was in great shape. That transfer was a PAL to NTSC standard conversion and there were some issues with combing. This new release corrects all the issues that plagued that aforementioned release. It is safe to say that this new release is vastly superior to that aforementioned release in every way.

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English and a DTS-HD mono mix in French and removable English subtitles. The subtitles are easy to read and follow and error free. Both audio mixes are in very good shape as there are no problems with background noise or distortion. Also dialog always comes through clearly and everything sounds balanced. Range wise these two audio mixes are rather limited at times.

Extras for this release include a eight minute interview with actor Mickey Rooney, who discusses how he got involved with this film, working with director Fernando Arrabal and children movies. Overall Treasure Train gets a strong release from Odyssey Moving Images.

Note: Odyssey Moving Images are also releasing Treasure Train on DVD.