Review of Unstoppable (2010) by Jeremy B — 14 Jun 2016

After directing movies about planes, cars and a submarine, Tony Scott's last two efforts have involved trains. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 used a train as a setting, but Scott goes a step further in Unstoppable, making a train one of the movies' stars. Trains are big. Scott has Washington walk in front of a few at the start of the movie to show us just how big they are.

An irresponsible worker makes two mistakes that set events in motion, deciding to move a train without connecting the air brakes and then leaving the cabin to pull a lever at the side of the track. The train is moving too fast for him to get back on and pulls away under full power.

Will Colson (Pine) has been a conductor for four months. He reports to work and faces resentment from the older workers. They assume he's inexperienced and think that younger, cheaper workers may be a threat to their own job security. He's assigned to work with Frank Barnes (Washington), who has similar feelings. Colson makes a couple of mistakes and Barnes thinks his fears are justified.

The runaway train is initially thought to be a "coaster," but it soon becomes clear that it's under power and capable of traveling at approximately 70 mph. An early effort to board it fails, so a decision has to be made. Yard Master Connie Hooper (Dawson) suggests derailing it before it reaches populated areas. Her bosses disagree because they are worried about the financial cost.

Various other attempts fail to stop the train and it's left to our heroes, Barnes and Colson, to try their own solution. They give chase in their train and plan to link up with the runaway and use their own brakes to stop it.

Other factors are also thrown into the mix. A group of children on a school trip are on a train on the same line as the runaway and the threat of a collision is high. The runaway is pulling half a mile of freight cars and several contain volatile chemicals. The track leads to a curve which has a speed limit of 15 mph and it's close to a heavily populated town.

Just enough time is given to establishing the back stories of Barnes and Colson and it explains their motivations for chasing down the runaway. The tension builds throughout the second half of the movie and the action rarely allows us to take a breather. Failed attempts early in the story show us that our heroes are in danger if they continue the pursuit, but the alternative is a potentially huge disaster should the train derail.

The story doesn't sound very complicated and it isn't. The action takes center stage, but what did you expect? I found myself engaged throughout and the three main actors put in good performances. I'm rarely disappointed by Washington and I also liked Pine and Dawson here.