I don't say this to bash the movie. I enjoyed it a great deal. That is I enjoyed it in spite of the state of modern movies. I've come to expect the predictability and cliches that are rife in films like this, and am desensitized enough to that to overlook them, even though a tiny voice inside of me is screaming that I should be annoyed.
Now even though a heavyweight like Denzel Washington leads this movie, the real star is the incredibly menacing looking Engine 777 as it speeds on a collision course toward......well it doesn't matter what, because whatever IT is, IT will be obliterated. The 777 looks mildly ominous enough when sitting still in the rail yard, but each incremental increase in MPH causes the triple 7 to morph more and more into a demonic machine posessed with the intent to unleash havoc. If this is all you want from the movie, you'll be satisfied. There are enough action scenes that are thrilling enough to make up for the ones that are prepostorous.
Now, on to the real point of this post. The movie won't be getting any awards, and if I'm wrong and it does or has already, than a great injustice has taken place. It isn't because the subject matter is unbelievable though. The script writers took an entirely plausible event and added depth only in the form of 1 dimenstional drama. The setup for an event like this actually occurred 10 years ago just a few miles from where I am typing this.
Obviously this story, interesting and potentially frightening as it is, does not have the dramatic credentials to carry a feature length film. But it certainly has the right elements. All we need is to take what occurred here, imagine how it could have played out if we were less lucky, write a story about how real people would have responded to THAT situation, and make that our movie.
It is taken for granted that action movies are not award winners, so nobody bothers to try to write one worthy of an award anymore. Somebody did write an action movie about a runaway train in 1985. Now I have my problems with that movie too, but it had dynamic characters, and the incredibly dangerous out of control train served as a vehicle to deliver redemption and justice, not just cheap thrills and tidy resolution. 'Unstoppable' had the true elements to base a story on. If it hadn't suffered from a lack of imagination and correctly recognized the opportunity to capitalize on the themes that 'Runaway Train' got right, it would be a superb movie. Instead it is yet another million dollar missed opportunity.
Update:
Now THIS definitely deserves an Oscar. "Chugga chugga Choo CHOO!........BOOM!!!!" LMFAO
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