Unstoppable (À fond de train)

the boxart for this movie reads "A Full-Throttle Thriller". Whoever was watching this must be easily entertained.

Was it a good movie? Yes. Was it a great movie? No.

in short form the story consists of a train that was left running without a conductor and picks up speed where the constant threat of it crashing looms. Cue Denzel Washington and Chris Pine to save the day and of course you know they will (does Denzel ever fail?)

the movie takes a while to really get going and the first 20 minutes or so are actually pretty boring containing a bunch of generic character development ideas that are quite stale. In the beginning Chris Pine's character has a fight with his "wife" over a reason revealed later in the movie. Likewise, Denzel forgot to give his "daughter" her birthday wishes so shes quite upset with him. Que the love and caring as the wife and daughter learn to care for their men once again as soon as Denzel and Chris put their life on the line...really...

Its nothing we haven't seen before but at least its entertaining

I love true stories and this movie rocks. Ir is exciting every time I watch it. The bravery of the 2 men is outstanding.

Two men risk it all to save a large city from disaster. Unstoppable plays out like an action thriller that keeps us engaged the entire time. With the train as the center of the story, in a way we get transported back to the days of great entertainment, where the storyline is simple, characters pure, and the dialogue isn't overdone. Here is an action film that stays on track and keeps you glued to the edge of your seat until the high-intensity climax is over. As we get to follow all the twists and turns of the main character, runaway train #777. It's one of those mindless thrillers that was made so well you probably will miss a lot of the detail as the movie literally sweeps you away, which is what a great action movie will do.

Unstoppable is based on a true story that comes out of Ohio where a low-level employee who fails to set the air brakes on a train while changing tracks and the issues that ensue as a result. The director Tony Scott, no newcomer to the action genre, sets the stage for the high-octane second half by letting us get to know the 2 main characters: Rookie conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) and veteran engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington). The two both have their share of family issues, which adds to the difficulty of being able to work together initially. Another dynamic we discover is that the company is forcing employees to be laid off, as evidenced by the fact that Barnes is being replaced by younger engineers such as Colson, but there is no replacement for experience. The 2 characters tension that initially exists turn into mutual cooperation to work together for a solution, and then at the end, respect.

As the movie progresses, we come to find out that this runaway train laden with toxic chemicals is headed towards heavily populated areas, and our stomach starts to sink about the devastating possibilities that may occur should everything go wrong.

It is fascinating to watch the failed attempts to stop the train, which seems to add to the power, giving the audience a realistic idea of how "unstoppable" this train truly is with it's 10M pounds of force going full-steam ahead.

In the end what we are left with is ordinary men putting on extraordinary acts of courage. Where there might be chest-pounding there are a couple of family guys doing what they felt should have been done by anyone in that situation, and a humbleness that brings a more realistic quality to the movie.