Movie Unstoppable

I enjoyed it too, one of the best action flicks in recent years IMO. Now the "real railroaders" will say how rediculous it was...........or you can just do a forum search to find the outrage on previous threads.

 

 It wasn't a documentary, it was a " fictional action" movie and no more inaccurate or unrealistic than any other "fictional action" movie.

 

It was certainly better than that..... Johnny Depp...playing Keith Richards..... as Jack Sparrow..... as Tonto.... Lone Ranger movie.

"Unstoppable" is based upon an actual event.  Several years ago, a CSX freight train got away from its engineer while switching in a yard in Toledo.  The train went south on the Western Branch (old PC line) unmanned.  It went through several cities and towns before a local switcher was able to couple to the rear of the train and slow it down enough that a railroad employee could board the train and shut it down.  I listened on a police scanner as the whole event transpired.  There were actually shots fired at the emergency fuel shut-off in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the locomotive.  For about an hour, everyone in the office at work was on the edge of their seats listening to the police reports.  If the train had made it through Kenton, it probably would have made its way to Buckeye yard in Columbus, OH.  Then things would have gotten interesting. 

 

Having listened to the events as they unfolded and comparing them to the movie was fun.  I took it for what it was worth, a Hollywood drama about a runaway train.  The actual events just planted the creative seeds in the writer's minds.  Creative license was definitly used to its fullest extent in this movie.  One thing that must be kept in mind is that a majority of the people have no idea how a locomotive operates.  I know more than the average guy and admit that I know nothing compared to the guys that actually work on the railroad's for a living. 

 

Tom 

Definitely not the most realistic action movie, but then again there aren't many that are, unless you count ones like Argo. Nonetheless, it's a brilliantly directed, effectively tense thriller with some great acting by Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.

 

It also just happened to be director Tony Scott's last movie he made before his suicide in 2012. RIP.

It was a good movie for the majority of the public. 

I saw it again last night[about 6 times now] on the graveyard shift. I enjoy the action, fantasy or not, and some of the acting is actually pretty good.

I thought it was a well made action film.  Lots of gaffes and such but as Al HItchcock used to say: " it's only a movie".

One of the odd things they did in the movie was to show a clip from an episode of "Family Guy" that was a parody of the movie "Stand by Me", but the clip used was not of the scene where the Steam Locomotive pulling the train across the railroad bridge. That would have been a more fitting scene. It was like they were trying to constantly throw people off of their expectations in this movie.

 

Andrew

good action movie, I liked it

Having watched several scenes of the movie being filmed, it truly is amazing how the movie makers turn those shots into something that looks realistic.  Yes I know it violates several laws of physics and the laws of plausibility,  but like most people, the movie is quite entertaining.  What really got me was the scene where they try to derail 777 and all those people and police cars are right there.  If 777 derailed, carnage and mayhem would have ensued.

 

Larry 

I have not heard of this movie. I just looked on my cable guide and FX has the movie available now as a "free movie". 

 

Im 20 minutes into the movie and it definetly is an edge of your seat kind of movie. Very good so far. I live in PA so I recognize the town names.

 

Thanks all for bringing Unstoppable to my attention. Great way to spend a quiet Sunday morning.

We had a number of threads on 'Unstoppable' before it came out, while it was in theaters and when the DVD hit. If you have never heard of it......how did you mis it here!!!!

 

I like it. It's far from perfect....but decent. It seems train folks either love it or hate it. But I like that Lone Ranger movie too.....so how knows what one will or will not like....

I didn't get to see it int eh theater, but I got it on Blu-Ray as soon as I could.  You can ask my wife, I keep pointing out the "errors" but I still really enjoyed it.  It's a fun watch.

Strictly entertainment based on an incident that was greatly exaggerated for Hollywood.

The common event in both the film and real life is that a complete train somehow "got away" from an engineer. In the movie it was because the guy operating the train was an idiot. What happened in the real life event?

That pretty well covers the "real life event" too.

ROFLMAO.

Has anyone ever noticed after Denzel couples to the runaway and the conductor is trying to get the pin to drop, in one view, you can see the air hoses are actually connected between the engine and the first car?  Man that is good acting if he can connect air hoses while moving.

 

Rick

Here are a few pics from the days they were filming here in Bellaire, Ohio which was Stanton, PA in the movie.

 

 

I saw the air lines too. But here is reality,  they were filming with real equipment and safety of operation is the rule. It is still a good movie. If you want to get real picky. The laws of physics and forward motion, Triple Seven would have derailed on the Stanton curve. If you noticed,the engines and the rolling stock inside wheels were off the track and at the degree of the angle would have caused the cars to flip.   Personally. I would like to read about the incident it was based on.

You absolutely right. I was horrified when I went to Hooters and could not find Meagan Tandy working there ....

 

 

 

 

Suzukovich,  I disagree.  It would never happen to 777.  That's God's number.

 

Rick

Contrived Hollywood-action-thriller-stuff aside, I thought the in-cab dialog between Denzel and Chris Pine was well-acted and heartfelt, especially when talking about personal lives, relationships, etc...

Liked the movie.  Entertaining and fun.  Gladly don't know enough about real trains.  Knew it was based on real events but the names and places had been changed.  

Favorite RR movie - Emperor of The North - A #1

 

Larry