A waste of 90 minutes of my life

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

A total waste of time. The whole movie is full of absurdities. What impressed me most of all though, is the scene when they tried to drop off an afganistan veteran (why did they mention his war experience anyway? I guess, for the same reason as why Denzel's daughters are mentioned to work at Hooters). A super duper experienced train driver looks at a man on the roof and boom! crashes into the train. Was he out of his goddamn mind?

Tony Scott's Unstoppable was the maverick's last directorial outing before his heartbreaking and untimely death. It's ironic because the film's title is a descriptive term I would have applied to the man's career, life and approach to filmmaking. But it was not to be. This is some swan song of a film to go out on though, a pleasing juggernaut of an action drama that greases the tracks and goes full steam ahead. Any film about trains run amok will inevitably be compared to the 1984 masterpiece Runaway Train, and although this one is vastly different in both story and tone, they just seem to be sister films. The mournful, resolute nature of Jon Voight's character in it just seems to echo the sadness surrounding this film, and the fact that it was Tony's last. But that's just my strange intuition talking. The film itself isn't really melancholy or downbeat, in fact it focuses largely on human triumph in the face of gross error. There is in fact a runaway train on the loose here, but the stakes are upped when we find out that it's packed to the brim with highly toxic and flammable chemicals, and hurtling unchecked towards a densely populated metropolitan area. Denzel Washington is the Everyman veteran railroad worker, in danger of having his job devoured by greedy corporate development and ready to have a meltdown. Chris Pine is the hothead rookie swaggering through his first month on throb, and together they have to deal with the disaster, and prevent any further outcome. Rosario Dawson is the frantic control station operator, trying to coach two other workers (Lew Temple & Ethan Suplee) and help as best she can. Kevin Dunn is the abrasive company CEO, unwilling to get his hands dirty and callously looking for the first readily available solution, even if it results in mild casualties that he doesn't have to witness. It's all been done before, no doubt, but not by Scott, and you can never write off a formula, trope or act n cliché as dead until the maverick has had a good crack at it. The scenes involving the train are breathless and edited with a glass shard explosiveness, never to shaky or chaotic, always in control and bursting from the frames like the speeding locomotive they encompass. Look out for Jeff Wincott as Pine's older brother, as well as Kevin Corrigan, T.J. Miller and David Warshofsky as well. It's not a bad little flick for a director to put the final seal on his career with, and stands as a wrecking ball of an action flick. I just wish we got to see more from the guy. RIP Tony.

The plot of this film is simple but highly effective; a driver shunting freight train 777 leaves the locomotive to change the points ahead of the train. While he is off the engine a control slips and the train powers out of the yard and onto the main line. The first concern is a train carrying school children but that is moved out of the way in the nick of time. The next worry is a freight train controlled by driver Frank Barnes and conductor Will Colson; it is heading towards 777 and it is uncertain whether they will be able to get to a sufficiently long siding before a collision occurs. As these trains head together the railway company attempts to stop 777 by positioning a locomotive in front of it and gradually slowing it to a speed where a driver can be lowered onto 777 from a helicopter… a plan that ends in disaster and doesn't stop 777. Frank and Will get to the siding just in time and after 777 passes Frank comes up with a plan; they will disconnect from their train, pursue 777 from behind and then attach to it before attempting to bring it to a halt. To make matters worse 777 is carrying volatile, toxic chemicals and is head towards a very sharp bend in the middle of the town of Stanton… it is travelling at 70MPH and the safe speed limit is 15MPH!I hadn't heard of this film before picking it up but figured it couldn't be too bad if it starred Denzel Washington and was directed by Tony Scott… I wasn't wrong in my assumption. The drama starts quickly and the tension is maintained from the moment 777 runs away till the gripping finale. If it wasn't for the fact that this was inspired by a real event it would be hard to believe that it was possible for train to run away like this let alone be caught and stopped by a pursuing locomotive. There is a slightly tagged on plot whereby the company refuse to derail the train, before the attempt to get a driver on board, for financial reasons is a bit unnecessary but doesn't detract from the drama. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine do impressive jobs as Barnes and Colson; this is very much their film. As one would expect from director Tony Scott the action is dramatic and looks very real… with the possible exception of when the train tilted while doing round a very sharp bend; not something that could have been safely done without special effects! Overall I'd heartily recommend this; I was gripped from start to finish.

I say this movie is an inspiration for me to write movies that are action and drama. What I love about this movie is the amount of suspense that it builds up, how Tony Scott managed to get 777 to sound like it was communicating, and of course, the derailment scene. Holy crap. Where did Tony Scott get the explosives to get that explosion? Wow. The part where Judd Stewart's train is used as a lash-up to slow down 777 is idiotic on Galvin's part, and Connie of course didn't like the plan. But, when Ryan Scott landed on 777, 777 made a weird noise like whale. It probably said, "Nope." Then, it hit Judd, knocking Ryan into the other engine's window, and eventually derailing Judd. When it started to derail, it was over. However, when the explosion occurs, you'll find yourself saying, "Wow!" You'll love this movie. It does have its flaws, but if you see this movie more than once, the first time you see it, you think, "This is the greatest movie I've ever seen." But, when you watch it again to examine any areas Tony Scott may have erred in, I did that, and I saw some timing goofs. Regardless, it's must see movie.