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User Reviews for: Unstoppable

Whitsbrain
7/10  2 years ago
I had no idea that working on the railroad could be this exciting. First and foremost, "Unstoppable" stars Denzel Washington. I don't think this guy has ever taken a misstep in a role. In this flick, he's long-time engineer Frank. He's a grizzled veteran of the railroad biz. He has two beautiful daughters but has lost his wife to cancer. On the job, he routinely has all of the answers. The guy just knows his stuff. It's impossible not to like Frank.

Chris Pine's "Will" is just a younger version of Frank, he's just not nearly as track-wise. Then you've got Rosario Dawson as Connie in a working woman role that I've never seen her do before. She is also totally likable. The three of them are portrayed as flawless heroes. They are the good guy, "workin' men" of the movie.

Kevin Dunn plays the bad guy corporate boss named Galvin who plots a couple of failed attempts to stop the runaway train. Galvin actually analyzes what the cost of derailing the train will be to his company and even discusses the effect it will have on stock prices with the CEO. When we see this conversation happening, Galvin is on the phone with the CEO, who just happens to be golfing during the crisis. Okay let's see if I understand...Corporate bosses are only worried about money and are not concerned with the safety of the employees or the people in the towns where the train loaded with toxic chemicals may crash. And, our everyday heroes, Frank, Will, and Connie are only worried about stopping the train and saving lives, their jobs be damned. Got it. But I wonder what happens if the train crashes costs hundreds of millions of dollars to cleanup and drops the company's stock prices to the point where the people that the company employs lose their jobs? You know...people like the heroes in this movie. Oh, who cares about the details! Corporate bosses are evil and everyone knows it. Hollywood constantly tells us so that must be the truth.

Now that I've once again attempted to call out another instance of Hollywood's trashing of big business, it's time to point out that this movie is a lot of fun. It is very fast paced and there are carloads of suspense. It's entirely silly but the action is shot so well. The director pushes almost all of the right buttons and I thought that the quick cutting so prevalent in movies today wasn't distracting here. I almost always understood where the runaway train was in relation to Frank and Will's hot pursuit in their own choo-choo. I don't think their rescue is feasible and it probably will have those who know something about railroads scoffing. To the layman though, it seems like things aren't entirely far-fetched.

One other thing, the "where are they now" segment at the end of this movie was totally unnecessary and really deflated the impact of the ending. It would have been just fine to leave the characters alone. We don't need to know what happened to them after this event in their lives occurred. And did I mention how cool Denzel Washington was?
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John Chard
/10  5 years ago
Tony and Denzel get back on track.

Unstoppable is directed by Tony Scott and written by Mark Bomback. It stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee & Kevin Dunn. Cinematographer is Ben Seresin and the music is scored by Harry Gregson-Williams. Plot finds Washington and Pine as Pennsylvania rail yard workers at the opposite ends of their working careers. Whilst working on their first job together, and not exactly hitting it off, the two men are thrust into a frantic pursuit of a runaway train. The runaway (coaster) is pulling tankers containing highly explosive material, and hurtling along at 70mph it has to be stopped before it hits civilisation.

Almost as if to atone for the misfire that was The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Scott and Washington jump on board another type of train movie and literally let it rip. The film is as simple as its plot synopsis suggests, it's a disaster movie on the railway, but with Scott cranking it up as much as he can, it's as much fun as you can hope to have with a modern day popcorner. Carrying all the trade mark licks of its director; roving camera, scattergun editing and ear splitting sound mix, it's also nice to report that unlike Pelham, the pace never sags. Even as the principal characters hang ups and back stories are unfolded in the narrative, Unstoppable literally doesn't pause for breath. Sure the "Bromance" development is signposted at the first stop, and yes, are we ever in doubt about where this will end up? But if you are going into Unstoppable for wry social commentary or an expose on the political shenanigans involved in today's rail yards? Well you deserve all the disappointment you will undoubtedly get.

A runaway train pursued by Captain Kirk and Malcolm X, directed by the man who brought us Top Gun. Yeah baby, it's a thrill ride for sure. 8/10
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