Unstoppable was so exhilarating I just about had an asthma attack! And I am only prone to asthma when I encounter a particular little white flower in a campsite, in the middle of nowhere, late at night when my inhaler is 90km’s away.

Tony Scott has gone back to the roots of good (action) filmmaking. The camera work is choppy and the colour of the film grungy. The dialogue is minimal and to the point. The scenes change really fast and they are all relevant to the impending disaster.

The use of sound – it goes from quiet dialogue to screeching brakes, from chopper blades whizzing past to absolute silence – is dizzying, but never over the top or an indiscernible noise.

The plot unfolds quite quickly. Scott shows you quick glimpses into each characters background, sets up the events leading to the train cutting loose and then bullets ahead with disaster looming around every corner.

In a nutshell

An unmanned train races through the Pennsylvania countryside.

Mood of the film

An asthma inducing high-speed thrill ride.

Best one liner

“We’re gonna run that bitch down!”

Yeah, not really high art, but classic.

Best scene

Where the runaway 777 and 1206 trains play chicken.

Best performance

Denzel is the obvious choice as he brings the much needed human element to the film which makes us bond with and relate to the characters. Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson, however, compete for Hottie of the Day. As Rosario is a bit of an Amazon warrior (and I am writing the review) she’ll take Chris out.

What makes this film relevant today?

It is a fast paced, well acted, well scripted action flick that should set the bar for all other action movies.

FYI

A train used during filming accidentally derailed. No one was injured. Production was halted for the rest of the day.