So what do you get when you combine an unmanned runaway train, school field trip and manually disconnected air brakes? Tony Scott’s 2010 movie “Unstoppable” starring Denzel Washington.
One might think the movie is all about this multi-car locomotive racing across Pennsylvania at over 70 miles an hour. Okay, it really is. However, the movie is also about the uncharacteristic yin and yang. Washington portrays Frank Barnes and is the yin; the old timer who might be a little bitter and is being forced into retirement. Will Colson (Chris Pine) is the youngster who appears to be a know-it-all and possibly landed his job via nepotism; is the yang. Here’s the big question: How the hell does a train with tons of fuel leave the yard unmanned? Human stupidity and laziness. Does that surprise anyone? To be fair, Dewey (Ethan Suplee from “My Name Is Earl”) did his best to jump off the moving train to change the track and then jump back on. That was sarcasm.
As Barnes and Colson put-put with their overextended cargo, thanks to Colson, towards central Pennsylvania, they begin to work on their differences. In the meantime, Dewey’s train is moving along the tracks at lightning speed and unless the control room (Rosario Dawson and crew) successfully clears the tracks, the two trains will collide.
Despite an impending collision, Connie has answer to the runaway train before it reaches the very populated city of Stanton. She suggests to “the suit” that the train should be derailed around the cornfields. “The suit” isn’t interested because of the “precious precious” (think of Gollum from “Lord of the Rings”) cargo and devises a plan which the head car from another train rolling in front of the runaway to slow it down.
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Once under 40 miles, they plan to lower an Iraq vet turned conductor onto the train. Sound like a good plan? It wasn’t. The vet was knocked unconscious mid air and conductor for the train skidded off the trains and died.
“The suit” decided to try another plan, but still not Connie’s and it failed. The train kept going at its current speed, narrowly missing Barnes and Colson and heading to Stanton. Thousands would die if the train reached Stanton, so Barnes devised a plan that would involve them chasing down the runway to slow it down. How? Well Dewey was so efficient (sarcasm again) in how he connected that trains, he left one open. Barnes figured that they could pull the train in the opposite direction to slow it down. But could they?
I will say this, finding out if they could was exciting because the train traveled along this a curve which is the point of no return. They could topple over. I forgot to mention that Denzel is running on the top of the moving train. Action hero. Not to forget about Pine. He tried to connect one train to another while both are moving.
BTW, this story is based on actual events. That doesn’t mean that everything that happened it true.
