Unstoppable

We’ve all experienced this. The communal act of being glued to the television watching some major news event unfold. With today’s technology we get instant background data, live video, interviews, graphs and even animated re-enactments. But one thing that the news cannot provide is that personal connection. Unless we have some stake or know someone personally involved, it’s just some interesting story in a far away place. The advantage of a filmmaker is that they can give us that connection.
 
Using the same techniques of a live-action television crew, director Tony Scott (The Taking of Pelhan 1 2 3) has created a film with the urgency of a live broadcast, but the luxury of a humanizing back-story. By focusing on some of the main participants we are now invested and have a stake. We care about the outcome and therefore the story is much more exciting. We want to know how things come out in the end.
 
Unstoppable re-enacts the story of a handful of men and women who risked their lives to stop a run-away train. Due to a series of operator errors, an unmanned locomotive gets loose and powers down the tracks heading towards an eventual collision. Worse yet, if they manage to remove all obstacles, the runaway train will still derail when it banks a curve at too high of a speed. When it is discovered that seven of the cars are full of toxic chemicals the situation becomes even worse. This is a disaster waiting to happen.
 
Adding more danger to the circumstances if the train cannot be stopped it will reach a heavily populated town and derail in an industrial area full of oil tanks. The resulting explosions and toxic clouds would devastate the entire city. It is up to the railroad company to stop the train before this can happen, but they have lose-lose situation on their hands. How do they stop the train without loss of life and how do they minimize the damage to their company and others?
 
There were many men and woman who worked to prevent this disaster, but the two most visible heroes were the conductor, Chris Pine (Star Trek) and the engineer Denzel Washington (Book of Eli). Tony Scott has chosen them to be our personal connection to the story. Rosario Dawson (Seven Pounds) plays an operations supervisor and she and the other participants will remain strangers to us. Through the lives of our conductor and engineer we will experience this event fully invested, like family. The rest of the characters will remain minor players.
 
Unstoppable is a very exciting film. Using the look of modern television and jump cutting quickly from scene to scene I became so engrossed in the impending action that my entire body became tense and I found myself squeezing the heck out of a wad of napkins. The stunt work is so phenomenal and realistic that it had me on the edge of my seat and even worried for the stuntmen and actors. I don’t care how many safety features are in place; there is something ferocious and powerful about a moving locomotive. One mistake means dismemberment or death and that is why train safety is so important. But even though train safety is a component in this film, it is still about action and entertainment. So, if you board this train, plan on an exhilarating ride and not some scenic excursion through the country. This film is intense from beginning to end, all aboard for a heart-stopping adventure.
 
Rating: First Run All aboard for a heart-stopping experience