Unstoppable (2010)
A runaway train, transporting deadly, toxic chemicals, is barreling down on Scranton, Pennsylvania, and only two men can stop it: a veteran engineer and a young conductor. Thousands of lives hang in the balance as these ordinary heroes attempt to chase down one million tons of hurtling steel and prevent an epic disaster.
This movie had some pretty good suspenseful scenes. The acting in this film was well done and believable. It kind of makes you think on if that situation were to actually happen. This movie makes you want to go out and be a train conductor. Why that would be the case considering this is about a train out of control I really don't know but it's an interesting concept. Unstoppable is a movie that the whole family can enjoy. 7/10
The runaway train in “Unstoppable” makes a pretty threatening villain. It weighs thousands and thousands of tons. It is carrying dangerous chemicals and is speeding out of control without an engineer, or anyone. It wants no ransom, makes no demands, and not open to any negotiations. Stand in its way, and you’re on your own. An engineer and a conductor attempts to stop it before it crushes a lot of stuff. “Unstoppable”, directed by Tony Scott, is well-made, competently acted, and suspenseful. And, and, uhhh… Darn it! I had a feeling this was going to be a Quick Review.
Unstoppable is a barrel of fun. It’ll keep on the edge of your seet until you come crashing off of it.
The tension being built up in this movie works very well, as does the relationship between the two leads. You really want them to do well, and you get so much into it that you forget that your watching a fairly predictable movie, and aren’t sure if they are going to make it are not.
Unstoppable isn’t a great film, but it is a great ride, and a good excuse to go to blockbuster tonight.
Plausibility exists as a device writers and directors can use to create a foundation, play with dynamics in tension and such. In this regard "Unstoppable" had me tortuously racked by its sustained implausibility. Were railroads operated so, there wouldn't be any: they would simply have destroyed themselves along with anything nearby. Those in the industry might well mistake "Unstoppable" for a fascicle comedy. Even "Towering Inferno" succeeded in more tense action than this.
Shot me - "Unstoppable" plays out like a Tele-Movie rather than something conceived for the cinema. The sound track, affects, camera are uninspired. The story is a string of absolute cliches.
What I'm left with is the site of that dimwit character who sets the whole thing in motion (good casting I have to to admit). He sits ensconced comfortably with his co-workers, like a group of buddies watching the Super-Bowl. Plausible real life would likely see him lynched before the an army of Police descended on him - arrested on multiple counts of Culpable Negligence, Manslaughter, Public Endangerment. A movie can be great and still plausible. Better for it in fact.
"Unstoppable" is as bad as action fodder gets.
Poor Poor Denzel Washington Jnr. What was he thinking.
The movie started off a bit slow for me, but came through in the end with great excitement & action. It's a pertinent film of our times, dealing, sadly, with issues many families face today. There are a couple of swear words, but mostly the film is clean. It's very good entertainment, go see it.
As noted above, the screenplay was well written and the acting was excellent, but the background technical aspects were so over-done and un-realistic that they took away from the movie's over-all potential. Throughout the movie, emergency vehicles were routinely parked within 10 feet or less of the track as the train careened through. Evacuations of vehicles and people were being conducted along both sides of the track within a few feet of the tracks, with no time to lose, while background cross traffic was without urgency, crossing and driving away from the tracks where the evacuated had just come from. On an elevated railyard shot, firefighters were standing next to the track talking to each other, then as the train roared throught within 10 feet of them, they never evened turned to look at it. Add to this, the news helicopters repeatedly dogfighting over the engine to get the best shot, and the obligatory helicopter, ridiculously bobbing just on the other side of the train cars on the ground level side shots, and it was just to much for me. Perhaps this lack of realism is not a major concern by the massive amount of ticket buyers who are going to make this movie a huge box office success, but it certainly was a detrimental off-set to the great acting and storyline.
I really enjoyed this movie; after accepting the story line, I noticed that at the beginning of the movie, the Motor start pulling a group of cars without the Brake Pipe being connected from the lead Motor. This means that all the cars had full brakes applied, so how could the Motor pull them out of the track so easy? Also, any engineer knows that the only way that he can leave his cabin of control, is when the Brakes are set, and the Reverser is removed from the console. In this movie, the engineer should have gone to Jail, after being Fired. I'd also like to know how a train can run over the De-Railers and still stay on the track? But all things considered, I still say that I enjoyed this movie; even though the Producer or Director should have learned more about the braking system of a train, so that it could have been more like Real. I've had 35 years of working with trains so, naturally I was looking for the technical issues as well. Again I say that it was a good Movie.
Even though the ending was a given, my husband and I remained thoroughly engaged and entertained throughout the whole movie. This is a good clean movie that is worth the ticket price.
