Unstoppable Review

 There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, a veteran engineer and a young conductor race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe.


THE GOOD: Story. Unstoppable is inspired by a bizarre incident in Ohio that is now known as the CSX 8888 incident. The train, led by CSX Transportation SD40-2 #8888, left its Walbridge, Ohio rail yard and began a 66-mile journey through northwest Ohio with no one at the controls. All this after the engineer got out of the originally slow-moving train to correctly line a switch, mistakenly believing he had properly set the train's dynamic braking system. This is exactly what the engineer's movie counterpart did in the film, too. In the movie, this all takes place in Pennsylvania and a ton of other aspects are thrown into the mix to add drama and tension. It's much needed and creates an incredibly dramatic and tense experience. Speaking of...

Tense. Unstoppable was another one of the most suspenseful experiences I've had in a movie this year. Director Tony Scott definitely uses his skill to improve the storytelling here. Good camerawork, editing, and action sequences.

Acting. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine are an unlikely duo, but they worked together so well in this movie.


THE BAD: Anti-big business. There are a couple moments in the film where the executives of the train company, the fictional Allegheny and West Virginia Railroad, choose to sacrifice personnel safety over money. It's a small anti-big business message and a needless one at that. I don't know why this had to be included in the movie. I doubt that it actually happened in the CSX 8888 incident.

THE END: The great thing about Unstoppable is that you don't expect much from a movie about a runaway train, but it surprises you and keeps you on the edge of your seat the majority of the time. It's a ticking-clock movie, but replace the bomb with a 1,000,000 ton train carrying chemicals that could destroy a small town. It's not going to win any awards or anything, but it will entertain you for over an hour. Check this one out soon.


DISCUSS: What did you think of Unstoppable? What did you dislike about the movie? What were your expectations going into the movie?