Unstoppable

Introduction

I have to admit I don't remember any films where the central antagonist is a runaway train, I'm sure they must have been some, I know there are more than a few films where part of the plot involving stealing trains or taking them over and then crashing them as part of a diabolical plot. But an unmanned train as a silent and menacing central villain? Nah... Unstoppable is the latest film from Tony Scott, brother of Ridley, and is a chase film with a slight difference and inspired by a series of (maybe unconnected) true events.

Any railway yard is a busy place with trains to be loaded, unloaded and moved between tracks in order to facilitate smooth running of the railways and to ensure that traffic can pass through unhindered. A couple of slacking railway workers are tasked with moving a goods train (number 777) between tracks to allow a train full of school kids to pass through later in the day. Not being either the brightest or the fastest workers, the duo are first instructed and then yelled at to move the train, and in the face of potentially more yelling if they don't get a move on, they decide not to hook up the air brakes on the train as it's not moving that far. This is a bad move. The air brakes are a safety feature that will activate and stop a moving train if the driver fails to keep hitting an override button, and this feature would have been quite handy when the deadly duo allow the train to keep rolling down the track unmanned.

The train is initially classified as a 'coaster' as it's thought to just be trundling along at slow speed, but it becomes clear quite quickly that something has gone wrong and the 777 is moving at over 70 mph. This would be a major problem by itself, but is complicated in that it is transporting deadly toxic chemicals..

Meanwhile much further up the track, a veteran train engineer (Denzel Washington) and a young conductor (Chris Pine) are preparing themselves for a rather mundane journey of transporting a long goods train down the line. After a near miss with the 777 and an aborted attempt at derailment by their rather inept company boss, the duo decide to chase the 777 so that they can attempt to hook onto the back of it and slow it down. They are supported by controller Rosario Dawson, who can only do so much to help but keeps in constant communication with the two via radio.

It's a race against the clock with the 777 hurtling towards a bend at the heavily populated town of Stanton that will surely be the scene of a major disaster if the train can't be stopped...

Picture

One thing you'll notice is far more aerial and tracking shots, but then Tony Scott really didn't have a choice when his main focus is an empty train. Filming the two human stars in their train cab is a bit more interesting than framed closeups as well, with sections of their train removed to allow a circular track to be placed around the cab so that the camera is always moving. Shots of Rosario Dawson in the control room move in the opposite direction so that not only is there a contrast but also a sense of urgency and movement about the whole film.

Extras

A number of extras that focus on how the film was made, the ideas behind it and the stunt work involved. Tony Scott was adamant that he wanted minimal green screen or CGI, as much as possible needed to be real and when you couple that with the demands of a working railroad, then you get the idea of how much organisation was required for the end result.

There's also a director's commentary track that I haven't listened to and the blu-ray contains move special features than the DVD version.

Overall

This film is slightly misleading as it is at different times both tension-driven and almost pedestrian. There's a definate sense of urgency around the staff in the control room but its hard to convey when all that is happening in reality is people making desperate phone calls and staring at lit boards. Its the same problem on the train with Pine and Washington, in reality they're trying to play catch up with the runaway and travelling at speeds of 70+ but they're in a cab and therefore not exerting much energy themselves.

To get over this, we get loads of aerial tracking shots of both trains and various tricks to induce a sense of momentum, particularly with the use of three helicopters that are a minor but constant element of the story and also double as cameramen, getting into all kinds of positions as they take it in turns to swoop through trees and past the trains. There is a bit of a drawback to this approach though as it can be easy to overdo it, and unfortunately on a couple of occasions Tony Scott does just that. One example that had me cringing was a huge police escort to the maverick engineer chasing the train in his pickup near the end. Quite why he needed so many police cars to escort him is beyond me but to cap it all, and for no real discernable reason I can make out, one of the cars suddenly decides to flip and roll.

Washington and Pine are pretty good in this, but in all honesty none of the actors are really stretching themselves. The back story for both main human characters is not quite the norm and Washington is also holding onto something that Pine isn't aware of but becomes of import later on, and despite both being quite interesting overall, it also feels as if it's really merely filler to give them something to discuss or think about whilst chasing the runaway train and to provide a more emotional ending to the film.

I know, all of this sounds quite negative so you're thinking I didn't like Unstoppable. I'd come to the same conclusion if someone else had written this, but I do actually. The action may be slightly OTT to give it a wider appeal but without it, Unstoppable would only be good enough as a true story movie of the week kind of thing and it's better than that. Besides there's always an air of danger when this kind of scenario happens on rails, there's no avoiding a collision or derailment without stopping the runaway train and anything in the way had better watch out. One of my favourite bits of this film actually is the expression on the face of the train driver with carriages full of school children. He's racing to get to the nearest siding to get out of the way and the tension on his face is apparent, his sense of duty and responsibility obvious - after all, he could in theory have jumped or attempted to stop the train and attempt evacuation. There's an increase in the tension in his facial expression as the runaway comes into view and then the palpable relief as he makes his siding. It's a superb sequence that may just be missed by many and not get the credit it deserves with all the other distractions.

I'm not entirely convinced though that this film will stand repeat viewings, so consider rental first...