Tony Scott. The name itself evokes images of speed, danger, and action. From Top Gun and Days of Thunder to TV's Numb3rs and The Taking of Pelham 123, his knack for taking explosive action and merging it with compelling drama has only improved over the years. Now merge the name Tony Scott with Denzel Washington and you have an even more powerful pair. Films like Man on Fire only reinforce the fact that when you have the trifecta of a great director, a great script, and a great actor, you end up with a great movie. And now, with 2010's Unstoppable finally making its way to DVD and Blu-ray, Scott and Washington continue the trend.
The story is simple for this one: Man vs. Machine. You have an out-of-control train running through populated areas and you have to stop it before it causes too much irreparable harm. How does it get out of control? Somebody forgets to set the brake and leaves the train unattended. Okay, that's bad. And to add insult to injury, the train has cars containing caustic, explosive materials that could destroy entire towns along the way. That's worse. Oh yeah, and certain folks are trying to do damage control in such a way that a disaster wouldn't affect the train company's bottom line. Now you've got me pissed off.
And honestly I think that's the point. If you take the movie industry as a whole, it may seem like a giant machine trying to pump out money-making properties. But if you take each movie project separately, it's a series of statements from the scriptwriter, the directors, and the producers about events they feel strongly about. Sure, Unstoppable on the surface is about a dumb mistake by someone who just wants to get to a stopping point for lunch, but it's more than that.
I saw a brief review on G4's Attack of the Show recently from Chris Gore (@ThatChrisGore on Twitter). He said this movie was a pass because it was based on a stupid mistake and stereotypes of the working class. I get that to a point. This movie touches on the clashes between unions and corporate types, old hands vs. new punks trying take their jobs, and may appear to trivialize it a bit because it doesn't go into depth on any of it. Beneath all the action is a statement on taking a stand for what you believe to be right even if it kills you, regardless of all the political or ageist BS that might pop up.
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Article comments
1 - meena75
This is a very good article. It makes me think unstoppable is a good movie.