Not sure if anyone has ever seen this. I’ve stumbled across it today but seems ok so far. It’s hidden on Disney plus.
Here’s a little bit about the incident that inspired the film. It’s a little creative in places but some really good footage and Denzel Washington doesn’t disappoint. Films a bit like me on sand patch at times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSX_8888_incident TrainSim-Matt do we have 8888 in game ?
It's an enjoyable movie. It's also a Tony Scott movie, so expect some ridiculousness of both the bad (a fatal accident early on that couldn't happen as shown) and good (a stunt near the end that's equally impossible, but all in good fun) kinds. Also, the runaway engine is of course an AC4400CW, while those sent to stop it are SD40-2s, making this a classic underdog battle.
I actually enjoyed it. I did a little digging after to see the artistic license but it made me watch . I sometimes say we should have more interesting scenarios. Maybe this one needs creating in sand patch as a quirky one
I saw that movie on the premiere. I believe its one of the best about trains made by Hollywood. Of course there are lot of not so real "issues" . Even the "runway" moment, could be easily stopped from the beginning, in the real world. Or even after that on several situations. But of course it is a movie, so it has to be entertaining for at least one and half hour, and have a happy ending. There is a long time now - 10 years - without a new train movie.
I think the bit that I picked up in was when Denzel ran the train into the other track and the runaway clipped the last metal wagon it appeared to explode into wooden pieces. I did think the raised railroad at Stanton looked really smart though. There was som really good camera shots. id be intrigued to know what happened to matey that decided to hop out his train on notch 8
I thought the movie was fine, a bit too Hollywood in some parts in my opinion. Just the whole scene of the SD40-2s trying to stop the train, some guy crashing through the windows of 767, and the SD40-2s derailing in a siding causing an unbelievably large explosion while the runaway continues on the mainline completely fine, it was a bit much for me. But what I really liked from the movie was the trains themselves. I personally really like the designs of the AWVR trains, having a nice variety of colors, and the black and yellow stripes at the front. Most of the AC4400CWs used in the movies kept the black and white stripes on their plows after being returned to Canadian Pacific, which I thought was pretty cool. I wonder how many of them still have that.
Runaway Train is tremendous, but putting Tony Scott up against an Andrei Konchalovsky/Akira Kurosawa team-up is just unfair. Another great one for train action: John Frankenheimer's The Train (1964) starring Burt Lancaster.
As to Unstoppable the SD40 main used it had this blue and yellow paint scheme: When I saw the movie, that payed my attention due to some kind of "similarity" of the locomotive scheme compared with the one of the locomotives in my country: What do you think? Please notice that paint scheme was defined in 1993, when those locomotives where purchased brand new. So far before the movie!. That is a GE C-18 7i model. They were built in Canada's GE factory at that time. But there is a very interesting fact: those were the last locomotives built there! The factory unfortunately was closed after it!
Sorry for resurrecting a very old thread. I just watched this movie on Disney Plus, and I have questions. First, the "mistake". In the real life situation, the driver of #8888 put the SD40-2 train in notch 8 thinking it was Dynamic brake mode, but instead it was Power mode. He didn't change the selection lever to B position. Perfectly valid as a human error. In the movie, the guy used Power notch 8 because it was a large train? That didn't seem credible to me. So, he forgot the power lever in notch 8, he applied the independent, which then moves on its own? Does anyone buy that?! Next, when they coupled the tandem of SD40-2s to the front of the train, I thought "OK, this is over now". You can literally walk from one loco to the next, reach the #777 and take control of it. But no, they want to slow it down to put a guy from a helicopter on top of it? Who wrote this script? Have they seen these locomotives in real life? Finally, once again we are shown that in 'Murica being a hero solves all family problems. You might remember similar scenes: "Mommy, that salesman is on TV!", "That is your daddy!" (we love him now, because he's a hero). I loved the acting, and, if you turn off your brain, the movie is thoroughly enjoyable, as with many Hollywood movies.
One of the best I have watched is ‘Atomic Train’. It’s still very Hollywood but I think it’s a little more realistic and there are less clichés. Spoiler: Movie ending spoiler: Unusually for this sort of movie, the impending disaster eventually occurs which was quite a nice change. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Train
I watched that movie a long time ago & promised not to revisit it EVER again. Neither do trains nor atomic warheads or EMPs work the way they are depicted here... Scriptwriter be like :- We have a train, we have a nuke. Let's combine them and blow up Denver ( not matter how ). And let's add some family drama & couples that will undergo the test of their love & life... So much is wrong there... What TF is a Soviet nuke doing on a Class II American freight train ? What has sodium got to do with a nuclear fission ? Impart doesn't cause nukes to explode. Just dump the BP or unhook the wagons, The President will thank you for that !
Yes, as I have mentioned that movie it has several "real world errors". I mean there were lot of opportunities to stop the train. The first one, when the train start moving alone it was at low speed. Why the engineer tried to step up to the locomotive at the front end one? He can easily get up the rear end one? This is Hollywood and it is not the real world. Despite of that is one of the best train movies I have seen. Showing also some real operation of the trains.
Haven't seen the movie so not 100% sure on the contexts, but a) Metallic sodium is _highly_ (as in explosively, in the right ratio and purity) reactive when it comes in contact with water (such as that being dropped from a water-bomber to try and extinguish a fire) b) Depending on the type of bomb, nukes are designed to detonate by having a relatively small conventional explosive set off the chain reaction which causes the actual nuclear event. In reality the safety systems should prevent an actual accidental nuclear event, but detonation of the conventional explosive as a result of external forces (such as an explosion or impact) can and have dispersed nuclear material in to the environment - check out the Palomares and Thule B52 crashes during Operation Chrome Dome (the continuous airborne-alert flights of nuclear-equipped bombers during the Cold War)
