http://www.unstoppablemovie.com/
This is not going to be good publicity for railroads.
"Unstoppable, a 20th Century Fox drama about a runaway train carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals. Pits an engineer and his conductor in a race against time. They’re chasing the runaway train in a separate locomotive and need to bring it under control before it derails on a curve and causes a toxic spill that will decimate a town."
I would think the actual incident wasnt either.
What was the original incident?
“Inspired By True Events”…but embellished beyond all rational thought like only Hollywierd can do…
The John Voight & Steven Segall efforts weren’t bad enough?
The actual incident happened in, IIRC, the summer of 2001, when CSXT 8888, in yard service in Toledo, got away from its engineer (as outrageous as that sounds), and went south through Ohio, until it could be slowed by another locomotive tying onto it and an uphill grade, to the point where it could be boarded and stopped.
As MC says, the tale will be an embellished retelling, which will provide its audiences with entertainment, thrills, and a complete escape from reality.
Any connection between true events and this movie is strictly coincidental. At any rate, the few trailers that I’ve seen suggest that this movie is worth avoiding on merit.
Seen the previews, it looks like a lot of fun, how many times can you see big dismals tearing across the big cinema screen??? “Runaway Train” was the last serious effort and that was what ,1985? and I remember how people groused about how inaacurate that movie was. So what? It was a good action flick.
Isn’t that the one where the cops were authorized to shoot at the emergency fuel shutoff and hit about everything red but the emergency fuel cutoff?
I imagine they’ll be setting up 105 howitzers to accomplish the same thing in the movie…
I think in haste and excitement the police were told about the “Big RED Button” that will shut off the fuel, but something was “lost in the translation”. Unfortunately the Fuel Cut-Off button is considerably smaller than the “Big RED Fuel Cap” (that is usually just below the button). I suspect the officer was looking for a big “Mushroom” type “Emergency Off” button. The police officer shot at AND HIT! the fuel cap. I think if he had been properly informed as to the location of the “Big RED Button” he might have been able to shut off the fuel (and been the hero of the story).
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Is there really any doubt about how this ends up ? Not like it would spoil the plot or anything . . .
Like Runaway! (1973 - TV) with Ben Johnson - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070615/ , Runaway Train (1985) with Jon Voight - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089941/ , and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) with Steven Seagal - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114781/</
Speaking of train movies, Buster, The General is on TCM channel tonight at 8:00.
My DircecTV Guide says the General will play on Wednesday, the 13th at 8 ET, 7CT. Have watched it before, recorded it, had the player go bad, and thus lost it.
Time to record again.
Thanks. wanswheel!
Art
Art, you’re right, it’s Wednsday night, thanks for checking the schedule. – Mike
I think we’re missing one, wasn’t there a made-for-tv movie about an Amtrak train on the Northeast Corridor, possibly, that was lined into a bad situation but M of W crews built a crossover that was completed in the nick of time and catastrophe was avoided.
I’ve gone through search groups but I’m not putting up the right combination of words to get an answer. This movie would have been very late seventies-early eighties.
Then there was SILVER STREAK. That was a fun one. Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor.
“Hello, Chicago! Hello!”
Some trivia about the movie from the web:
Exterior shots of the train set in the rural western U.S. were filmed on the Canadian Pacific line from the Crowsnest Pass to Lethbridge, Alberta. Interiors were shot in a studio, with the sets mounted on rubber tires so they could be rocked. To simulate the train passing through the shadow of a tree, a series of crew members would successively move obstructions in front of each of a row of lights shining into the windows.
Originally meant to be filmed in the United States; however, the National Rail Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) was fearful of adverse publicity and refused to cooperate. As a result, the producers were forced to work with the Canadian Pacific Railway, using thinly disguised CPRail equipment and shooting exteriors along the CP Rail right-of-way.
The locomotive used as “AM ROAD”'s 4070, was actually CP Rail’s (formerly Canadian Pacific) 4070. For the filming, the AM ROAD decal was placed over the CP markings and “Multimark” pac-man logo. At the end on the shoot, the decals actually damaged the engines real paint job. The production company had to pay for the repainting of the engine, which took place in the CP Rail Transcona shops in Winnipeg Manitoba. The locomotive is a FP7A built by GMD in 1952. In 1982, CP sold it to STCUM, where it was re-numbered to 1300 in 1983. As of 2002, she is now sitting in “non-operational” storage in Montreal.
In the previews you see the right ditchlight burnt out on the lead locomotive. Next thing you know … the left one is burnt out and the right one is working. I mean come on, a blooper as obvious as that just floors me. That to me makes the movie worth avoiding.
Wrong coast. IIRC, it was called Disaster on the Coastliner.
An early version of computer hackers hijack the railroad’s computer system and line two passenger trains head on towards each other. One of the trains is carrying, IIRC the First Lady. The bad guy(s) also have taken control of the radio system so only they can communicate to the trains. (The trains are told to ignore signals to stop because there is a plot to kidnap the First Lady, etc.) Some kind of ransom is demanded to release control and avoid the accident. As a last resort MOW forces quickly build a crossover to avert disaster.
Jeff
Maybe the ditch lights just alternate blink really, really slowly. [:o)]
I’m sure that’s it, Jeff, very good, I could only remember the most hazy of details.
As for the ditchlights in Unstoppable, maybe they’ve simply got a short in them. Previews I’ve seen on-line make me think most of the destruction could easily be avoided but where’s the movie in that?
It was set in California but most of the external train scenes were actually filmed in Connecticut.