The movie is set in the “heartland” of Pennsylvania and centers around an unlikely pair of train engine partners constructed of rookie conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) and 28 year veteran engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington). From the start, there is definitely some tension between the two considering their gap in work experience and the younger (and some believe privileged) Colson being the “shot caller” of the duo. During this struggle for understanding, a major mistake is made at another train yard on the part of hostler Dewey (Ethan Supee) who attempts to control the half mile long Train 777 while flipping it off of the main track. But during this “hop off/hop back on” move, the train’s throttle is thrown into power and gets away from Dewey. Shortly after, yardmaster Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) arrives at work to learn that they have what is believed to be just a “floater” that can be ran down rather effectively in a “no harm, no foul” situation. She calls on wild-man welder Ned Oldham (Lew Temple) to burn rubber down the road to switch the train to a RIP (repair in place) track to get it off the main. But when they realize that the train is moving much faster that originally thought, the situation becomes dire, which gets superior Michael Galvin (Kevin Dunn) involved, who decided to execute a plan that will slow the train, but this fails miserably (in a pretty cool action sequence!). Upon this, train inspector Werner (Kevin Corrigan) reveals that Train Triple Seven is transporting many cars of molten phenol, a hazardous and combustible chemical. When all seems lost, Colson and Barnes are at the helm of lone engine 1206 left on the main that has an opportunity to save thousands of lives in the town of Stanton, where a derailment is said to occur. What follows is a blood pumping “thrill ride” that features a host of folks pitching in, while the two most capable “game changers” must overcome their differences and work together to prevent certain disaster from happening.
While the idea of running down a speeding train may seem like it would get convoluted, or even boring (considering trains can only go two different directions on a definite track) director Tony Scott and editors Robert Duffy and Chris Lebenzon do a fantastic job of of simulating action through the first act while events ramp up as the narrative really gets going. Jump cuts from 1206, to breaking news reports, back to Triple Seven are done with good pace to keep your interest peaked. And when the story may seem like it may get a little ridiculous or “unbelievable,” the script is good enough to give meaning to things and allows you to stay on top of everything that is going on in the movie (from the battle of power between Washington and Pine, to the tug-of-war of decision making between Dawson and Dunn, to the barreling freight train itself). Also, the cinematography creates a great illusion of making the trains seem like they’re flying like a “bat outta hell” with sheer wreck less abandonment. This has a lot to do with keeping the movie “action packed” and interesting up to its big, final action sequence. It is also worth noting that while no one performance is head and shoulders above the rest, the collective talent is very good, especially the tandem of Washington and Pine. And as Denzel said, the real star of the show is the train! The presentation of this film is pretty solid in all: while the picture quality is “on par” with Blu-Ray but nothing special, the audio is really something sweet with a masterful DTS 5.1 track.
Just as good as the movie is its special features. Each one of these featurettes are in full 1080p and “do the deed” of taking you behind the scenes to give you a much better understanding of how things came together, how certain aspects worked, ect.
-“The Fastest Track: Unleashing Unstoppable” tells how the movie was shot to make everything come together as well as it did and what some of the “finer” points were in the production as well as the extensive rewrite process the script went through with comments from Scott, Washington, and Pine.
-“Derailed: Anatomy of a Scene” goes in depth of a derailment in the movie, and how exactly it was prepared, executed, and captured.
-“Hanging off the Train: Stunt Work” features Tony Scott and stunt coordinator Kevin Collins as they tell how some of the more memorable stunts were done and shot while using editing to create seamless moments.
-“On the Rails with the Director and Cast” is an intimate chat with main players Scott, Pine, Washington, and Dawson who give very candid comments about doing the film.
The Blu-Ray also offers commentary with Tony Scott, “Tracking the Story: Unstoppable Script Development,” and a theatrical trailer.