Never abandon your moving locomotive
Be still, my beating heart! I am running on adrenalin, riding my unstoppable armchair. Sorry, that’s a blended confusion between my life and this afternoon’s movie feature.
I’m a train junkie, with my own copy of Train Simulator and everything. You know, just in case I ever have to land control a speeding locomotive. It could happen, although I’d have to follow a scenario like the one in Christopher Hyde’s novel, Maxwell’s Train. That’s why my personal video library contains a copy of Runaway Train. That’s why I chose to watch Unstoppable (aka Runaway Train). Those that can’t, watch.
I don’t care if some of the footage is fantastic (as in beyond belief). I don’t need to know that things like this “don’t happen in real life”, because they do. Check into some of the better accident report documents available to the curious on the web. Trains don’t always follow orders (that’s a joke, peanut!).
People get careless. People who get careless around really big machines can cause real headaches for the rest of us. This movie wants the viewer to realize that sh*t happens. It does a decent job. Right now, I promise: if ever I have to bring my locomotive up to a switch point, I will set the brakes and bring the throttle to a rest before jumping down from the cab. Otherwise, you can make a movie about me. A sequel, evidently, since the real thing has already happened.
All in all, I give this one two thumbs up, and I’ll watch it again some afternoon. Just because I can.
