Well, I enjoyed it, once it got going (there's a whole lot of needless pottering about in a train for the first half hour). Naturally it doesn't bear a huge resemblance to its real-life inspiration, though people criticising some bits might want to read up a bit:
"The firing squad trying to hit the button was ridiculous." From Wikipedia's page on the real incident: "police shot at an Emergency Fuel Cutoff switch, although this had no effect because the button must be pressed for several seconds before the engine is starved of fuel and shuts down."
"Pine is the unbalanced rookie with a heart, and Washington is the skilled veteran with the know-how and heart. Sound familiar ?" The film might make it extra cliched, but in real life there was "a crew of two, an engineer with 31 years of service and a conductor with one year's experience". Sometimes cliches are cliches cos they're true, eh.
Much of Unstoppable's building blocks come from true events, which happened in Ohio in 2001 (look up the CSX 8888 Incident), but give them to Tony Scott, and you'll reliably get a slick rip-roaring action flick out of it. Scott adds a number of incidents to make the story more exciting, and is perhaps harsher on the railway employees responsible than history ultimately was, but otherwise, engine 777 and the way it's dealt with, follow 8888's model. Along the way, we learn about the two leads' back stories, but I doubt we really care. The incident is the real star, and proceeding through various attempts to stop the runaway train before he derails and spills toxic chemicals all over Stanton, PA, is what it's really about. Casting actors who bring immediate personality to the screen is how Scott gets away with it - not just Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson, but Lew Temple, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Dunn and Kevin Corrigan all distinguish their characters quickly and efficiently. Perhaps not one of the great, memorable Tony Scott movies, but I can't deny it was an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride, and that's exactly what it was designed to be.
Fun Facts: Tony Scott's salary went from 9 to 6 million to get green light. Denzel Washington would not accept cutting 4 million of his 20 million paycheck and temporarily left production until he got even more money. The budget ended at almost 100 million.
Mildly entertaining and exciting, despite a mediocre script and uninspired acting. The real incident was probably a lot more thrilling. It's a predictable story right from the first few minutes, and the ending felt inevitable.
The final solution seemed to me like the only intelligent way of addressing the problem, and I'm left wondering the same thing as dombrewer.
The one and only attempt to put a new driver in the train fails, so they immediately give up trying. Instead they decide to derail it, a course of action that would with absolute certainty cause major environmental damage, massive loss of lives and extensive collateral damage.
I think Unstoppable was a wonderful example of an adrenaline action flick bordering on high concept which a) shows strong budget and b) doesn't feature any superhero or comic nonsense, no sci-fi, war, crime, gangs, or violence, but just an accident developing potentially disastrous consequences - try to find that, executed on a high level, in the years before or after Tony Scott's work! I'm already missing him for this fact alone.
I'm willing to excuse that things turn out maybe a bit too exaggerated by the last 20 minutes and the action scenes by then didn't look as good anymore (with the train almost derailing in the big ass curve). Some of the parts before are a masterclass for cutting a mainstream action blockbuster, starting slow and engaging a new gear every 10 minutes or so.
Also, this marks the pinnacle of one of Hollywood's most fruitful periods in history - "Tony Scott and Denzel Washington do stuff with trains" (2009-2010) I would easily have watched another one of that, hehe.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 29
badblokebob
Well, I enjoyed it, once it got going (there's a whole lot of needless pottering about in a train for the first half hour). Naturally it doesn't bear a huge resemblance to its real-life inspiration, though people criticising some bits might want to read up a bit:"The firing squad trying to hit the button was ridiculous." From Wikipedia's page on the real incident: "police shot at an Emergency Fuel Cutoff switch, although this had no effect because the button must be pressed for several seconds before the engine is starved of fuel and shuts down."
"Pine is the unbalanced rookie with a heart, and Washington is the skilled veteran with the know-how and heart. Sound familiar ?" The film might make it extra cliched, but in real life there was "a crew of two, an engineer with 31 years of service and a conductor with one year's experience". Sometimes cliches are cliches cos they're true, eh.
Siskoid
Much of Unstoppable's building blocks come from true events, which happened in Ohio in 2001 (look up the CSX 8888 Incident), but give them to Tony Scott, and you'll reliably get a slick rip-roaring action flick out of it. Scott adds a number of incidents to make the story more exciting, and is perhaps harsher on the railway employees responsible than history ultimately was, but otherwise, engine 777 and the way it's dealt with, follow 8888's model. Along the way, we learn about the two leads' back stories, but I doubt we really care. The incident is the real star, and proceeding through various attempts to stop the runaway train before he derails and spills toxic chemicals all over Stanton, PA, is what it's really about. Casting actors who bring immediate personality to the screen is how Scott gets away with it - not just Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson, but Lew Temple, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Dunn and Kevin Corrigan all distinguish their characters quickly and efficiently. Perhaps not one of the great, memorable Tony Scott movies, but I can't deny it was an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride, and that's exactly what it was designed to be.Realenur
Fun Facts: Tony Scott's salary went from 9 to 6 million to get green light. Denzel Washington would not accept cutting 4 million of his 20 million paycheck and temporarily left production until he got even more money. The budget ended at almost 100 million.dpanter
Mildly entertaining and exciting, despite a mediocre script and uninspired acting. The real incident was probably a lot more thrilling. It's a predictable story right from the first few minutes, and the ending felt inevitable.The final solution seemed to me like the only intelligent way of addressing the problem, and I'm left wondering the same thing as dombrewer.
Only in America?
Mildly recommended.
dreama
Great movie!Torgo
I think Unstoppable was a wonderful example of an adrenaline action flick bordering on high concept which a) shows strong budget and b) doesn't feature any superhero or comic nonsense, no sci-fi, war, crime, gangs, or violence, but just an accident developing potentially disastrous consequences - try to find that, executed on a high level, in the years before or after Tony Scott's work! I'm already missing him for this fact alone.I'm willing to excuse that things turn out maybe a bit too exaggerated by the last 20 minutes and the action scenes by then didn't look as good anymore (with the train almost derailing in the big ass curve). Some of the parts before are a masterclass for cutting a mainstream action blockbuster, starting slow and engaging a new gear every 10 minutes or so.
Also, this marks the pinnacle of one of Hollywood's most fruitful periods in history - "Tony Scott and Denzel Washington do stuff with trains" (2009-2010) I would easily have watched another one of that, hehe.
torkoal
Terrible story and script.nawi
The real life incident behind the movie, CSX 8888 incident, was remarkably similar to the movie.jhhayes
RIP Tony Scottjarvey
Worst or best trailer ever?After watching the trailer I feel like it's not necessary to watch the movie anymore.
mook
It has to try too hard to explain situations & maintain a level of threat - but comes together for a good finale. 6/10.Follow me on Twitter @LastFilmSeen
coalman987
Everything about this is wrong but it feels so right. Go Denzel!ecnered
Denzel Washington and Tony Scott's often partnership make the most decent and intense action movies.JosteinAsk
Let's see....Pine is the unbalanced rookie with a heart, and Washington is the skilled veteran with the know-how and heart. Sound familiar ?It's just the same enjoyable crap you would expect from Tony Scott
taylorannephotography
Not good but not bad. Needs more shirtless Chris Pine.Showing items 1 – 15 of 29