From the gothic/new romantic/vampire trappings of The Hunger to the overblown Americana of Top Gun, Tony Scott never really did things by half, but I have to say, for the man who once had Bruce Willis put a goons nose through his brain with a single blow, his belated attempt at a disaster movie was surprisingly low-key.
Of course, when we’re talking about low-key, I obviously mean low-key for Tony Scott, because Unstoppable may be a celebration of blue collar grit in the face of imminent distaster, but it’s still dealing with a runaway train that, with 39 carriages trailing behind it, measures about half a damn mile long. Yep, even though this is a day that has to be saved by regular guys, Scott has no time to dwell on the kitchen sink drama of their personal lives when there’s a gargantuan locomotive to be shot at all manner of speeds from every conceivable angle know to man.
And yet, while I’m obviously teasing Unstoppable about its directors famously flamboyantly slick style, we had no clue that this would ultimately be the final offering the director would be able to give us.
The day gets off to something of a shitty start when a lazy worker at a train yard tries to half ass a switching operation and ends up with a huge, powerful locomotive 777 heading down a main track at full power with nobody behind the controls to stop it. Worse yet, 8 of the 39 cars it’s hauling is packed with highly toxic and flammable chemicals and with this act of idiocy, it’s soon explained in hyperbolic Hollywood terms that this out of control train is basically a missile the length of the Crysler Building. Now that the threat has been adequately explained, it’s down to no-nonsence yardmaster to start alerting everyone while trying to come up with a plan to stop the barreling bomb.
Meanwhile, rookie conductor Will Colson and veteran engineer Frank Barnes are butting heads about the politics of the job and the corporate ousting of long term employees in favour of new ones when word comes through of the runaway Triple 7. This news is especially relevant to them at they’re on the same track as the offending locomotive, and have to speed their way to the closest sidings before the trains collide, but matters get all the more hairy when incompetent managerial decisions not only fail to stop the train with fatal consequences, but it puts more built up areas at risk as the Triple 7 barrels ever closer.
With no choice left, both Frank and Will have to put aside their differences and pull off a daring rescue mission to try and bring the out of control engine to heel, but to do so they’ll have to risk their lives by having to reverse right up to the end car the Triple 7 is hauling, connect their train to it and start pulling in the opposite directing in the hope that it’ll kill the speed and hopefully nothing else.
Not to put too much on a pall on a movie that sees Denzel Washington pit his wits against a speeding train while once again being the most confidently contrary man on earth, but two years after Unstoppable was released, the famously bombastic filmmaker tragically took his own life meaning that this hugely enjoyable, blue collar disaster movie was the final thing he ever made. While no one was ever expecting it to be his farewell opus, the movie proves to be quite a fitting ode to his dedication to storytelling as a form of irresistible forward propulsion. Much like the Triple 7 itself, every aspect of Unstoppable is directed to keeping the story moving with the same momentum of that out of control locomotive with the movie devoting virtually all of its energies towards focusing at the main threat at hand with everything else acting as garnish. As if to prove my claims, Scott starts the movie with the bone headed act of unprofessionalism that sets the train (read: the plot) in literal motion and ends it barely five minutes after the roaring vehicle has finally been brought to a stop. Nothing matters beyond the rampaging engine and while co-stars Washington and Chris Pine get ample wiggle room to verbalise their personal problems, Will’s marriage issues and the fact that Frank’s daughters are working in a Hooters (classic Scott) are only there to give our heroes a sense of dimension.
Much like a capsized Posidon or a certain towering inferno, it’s the train that’s the true star here and there’s probably more establishing shots of it’s massive, red ass hurtling down a track than there is of any of its stars. Similarly, we’re constant shown just how big, powerful and imposing these locomotives are as they rumble and clank across the tracks and the danger element to these things is clearly put across even if they wasn’t surging down a track towards a populated area. In fact, to further show how dangerous (eg: evil) the Triple 7 is, Scott takes the same track as Steven Spielberg’s Duel and slams in some growling monster sounds on the soundtrack to make the thing virtually sentient as it spectacularly shrugs off all attempt to stop it.
Of course, with this being Scott, it all looks appropriately spectacular with anything up to three helicopters crisscrossing the sky at any given time. Elsewhere he adds even more scale with numerous other failed attempts to wrestle the Triple 7 into submission ending the train in question messily blowing through things like a diesel powered battering ram or even causing another train to awesomely derail. But he still remembers that we puny humans have a part to play to and so gets his main characters to tag team the thing so neither of them get left out with Frank running along the top of the thing like he’s a trainrobber in a western, or having Will lashed with grain when one of the back cars ruptures while he’s trying to connect shit up. It all works because Scott keeps thing simple – relatively speaking – by avoiding vast amounts of obvious CGI and just doing things old school with real trains featuring real people dangling off the back.
Speaking of old school, while most of the movie moves at breakneck speed, you can’t help but notice that for most of the film, the cast are comfortably nestled in various chairs, yelling orders or retorts down various speaking devices and Washington in particular somehow spends most of his disaster movie role in a seated position, but while the verbal fireworks that happen between Washington, Pine and a screen watching Rosario Dawson are hardly of the quality you’d see in the likes of, say, Crimson Tide, no one does screen based yelling quite like Top Gun’s Tony Scott.
Enjoyably undemanding, yet undeniably up lifting, Unstoppable is a movie that dedicates its runtime to doing exactly what it says on the tin in the manner of a classic, 90s style blockbuster with all the frantic editing and strange music choices you could hope for (“Work” by Ciara plays you out as you leave the cinema for some reason). However, even without the truly sad fact that this turned out to be Tony Scott’s final film, his engaging style means that you remain bolted to the movie even if you already can guess what’s going to happen. Thank you Mr. Scott, your movies always were awesomely off the rails figuratively, and with Unstoppable, now literally too.
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