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That's how 30-year veteran engineer Frank (Denzel Washington) lays it out to rookie conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) on their first day together in charge of a locomotive. You gotta do things the right way, or else, lives are put at risk. Simple as that. But there was nothing simple on the day that awaited them.
Loosely based in real life events, Unstoppable follows the two men as they try to stop an unmanned freight train that's speeding down the tracks. To do so, they have to learn to settle their differences, work around the bureaucratic and incompetent barriers of the company, and try to focus on the job at hand. The thing is that both Frank and Will are dealing with their own personal issues which might put their concentration to the test.
This was an interestingly weird watch because, before watching the film a couple of days ago, I knew little about it other than its stars and that it had to do with trains. But for some reason, I was under the impression that it had to do with some terrorist or criminal taking control of the train, and that the man was Pine. Don't ask me why, but that's how I approached it. So imagine my surprise as the film kept going on and I was wondering, "well, what is he going to do??". In that aspect, it was nice and funny that it kept me guessing what was going to happen, even if it was for other reasons.
But putting that aside, director Tony Scott walks a fine line between excellent tension and edge-of-your-seat thrills and being too loud and in-your-face. He keeps himself in check most of the time, even if the film does spill sometimes into the latter. There's also some excess of "expository" news reels, as well as a couple of dumb contrivances and convenient occurrences in the script, but the film is mostly held together by Washington and Pine's committed performances. Rosario Dawson is also solid as the yardmaster trying to help the men.
Unstoppable was Tony Scott's last film before his untimely death. It might not be the best film, but it more than delivers in well-executed action and tension. For a man known for directing some of the most well-known action films, it seems he led his career by Frank's rule: you're gonna do something, you do it right.
Grade:
UNSTOPPABLE
(2010, Scott)
A film primarily set on a train
(2010, Scott)
A film primarily set on a train
"I only got one rule. One rule only: you're gonna do something, you do it right. You don't know how to do it, you ask me, all right?"
That's how 30-year veteran engineer Frank (Denzel Washington) lays it out to rookie conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) on their first day together in charge of a locomotive. You gotta do things the right way, or else, lives are put at risk. Simple as that. But there was nothing simple on the day that awaited them.
Loosely based in real life events, Unstoppable follows the two men as they try to stop an unmanned freight train that's speeding down the tracks. To do so, they have to learn to settle their differences, work around the bureaucratic and incompetent barriers of the company, and try to focus on the job at hand. The thing is that both Frank and Will are dealing with their own personal issues which might put their concentration to the test.
This was an interestingly weird watch because, before watching the film a couple of days ago, I knew little about it other than its stars and that it had to do with trains. But for some reason, I was under the impression that it had to do with some terrorist or criminal taking control of the train, and that the man was Pine. Don't ask me why, but that's how I approached it. So imagine my surprise as the film kept going on and I was wondering, "well, what is he going to do??". In that aspect, it was nice and funny that it kept me guessing what was going to happen, even if it was for other reasons.
But putting that aside, director Tony Scott walks a fine line between excellent tension and edge-of-your-seat thrills and being too loud and in-your-face. He keeps himself in check most of the time, even if the film does spill sometimes into the latter. There's also some excess of "expository" news reels, as well as a couple of dumb contrivances and convenient occurrences in the script, but the film is mostly held together by Washington and Pine's committed performances. Rosario Dawson is also solid as the yardmaster trying to help the men.
Unstoppable was Tony Scott's last film before his untimely death. It might not be the best film, but it more than delivers in well-executed action and tension. For a man known for directing some of the most well-known action films, it seems he led his career by Frank's rule: you're gonna do something, you do it right.
Grade: