Blu-ray Review
Unstoppable
Directed by: Tony Scott Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson Running Time: 1 hr 38 mins Rating: PG-13 Due Out: February 15th, 2011
PLOT: With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, a veteran engineer (Washington) and a young conductor (Pine) race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe.
WHO'S IT FOR? Anyone who enjoys a masterfully crafted, old-fashioned action-thriller. Fans of Director Tony Scott are sure to eat this up, as are fans of the battle-tested Denzel.
MOVIE: When I first saw the trailer for Unstoppable I asked myself, “why the heck is Tony Scott making another train movie?” He’d just completed The Taking of Pelham 123 which was a just OK tale about a terrorist (John Travolta) hijacking a train. Guess who saved the day in that one? Yep, Denzel Washington. So…I was saying…when I saw the trailer for Unstoppable, I sighed, and found myself wanting something else from director Tony Scott. His films have an extremely unique style (see Man on Fire, Domino, Deja Vu) and I’ve really grown to love him as a director, so I was disappointed with the whole “Denzel on a speeding train again” thing.
All that aside though, after learning of how positively Unstoppable had been reviewed (en masse), I went to check it out, and absolutely loved it. From the first frame to the last, this film is perfectly executed. Sure, in the end, it’s really just a simple action/thriller, but it’s so stylishly presented and so ultimately exciting, I’d call it the perfect simple action/thriller.
Thanks to the subject matter, it's not necessarily the most re-watchable film out there, but Tony Scott's visual style keeps it fresh enough to make a second viewing worthwhile. The chemistry shared between Washington and Pine makes for some very enjoyable scenes -- it's almost a buddy film, in that regard -- I found their characters to be both believable and very likable. Overall, I thought this film translated beautifully to the Blu-ray format, and highly recommend checking it out.
MOVIE SCORE: 7/10
EXTRAS
Audio Commentary with Director Tony Scott The Fastest Track: Unleashing Unstoppable Derailed: Anatomy of a Scene Hanging Off the Train: Stunt Work On the Rails with the Director and Cast Tracking the Story: Unstoppable Script Development Digital Copy