Taglines: 1 million tons of steel. 100,000 people at risk. 100 minutes to impact.
October 12 begins with the usual early morning rush at Fuller Yard in Wilkins, Pennsylvania. The night shift is eager to head home and the members of the morning crew are dragging themselves in, coffee in hand. As two hostlers take a break to wolf down breakfast, they are interrupted and asked to move one of the newest trains on the line to a different track.
It seems Fuller Yard is going to host a field trip of elementary school kids headed down from Olean, New York. Annoyed but unfazed, the yard workers begin the task of moving the 777, an absolute beast of a train, when one of them makes the ill-fated decision to take a short cut to get the job done faster. But faster is not always safer and the new locomotive outfitted with the most modern computerized bells and whistles, carrying 39 cars, transforms into a monster coaster in the blink of an eye.
200 miles down the line, at Mingo Yard in Brewster, the day begins with the same routine. Before heading off on their runs, the old guard of railroaders shares a last cup of coffee over paperwork. As they trade war stories of lackluster performances by rookie conductors and brakemen Frank Barnes discovers his conductor is Will Colson, a new political hire. Frank is none too pleased but he keeps his opinion to himself. Once aboard the 1206, a tough older 6-axel engine with lots of miles, Frank is all work, making it plainly obvious to Will that his 28 years of service will trump Will’s four months on the job every time.
Unstoppable is a 2010 American disaster thriller film directed and produced by Tony Scott in his final film as director before his death in 2012. The film stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. The film, loosely based on the real-life CSX 8888 incident, tells the story of a runaway freight train and the two men (Washington and Pine) who attempt to stop it.
The film was released in the United States and Canada on November 12, 2010. It has received mostly favorable reviews from film critics; it garnered a “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes based upon aggregated reviews, and a rating of “Generally favorable reviews” at Metacritic. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 83rd Academy Awards, but lost to Inception.
Introduction
Filmmaker Tony Scott is a master of motion picture events – such as “Crimson Tide,” “Man on Fire,” “True Romance” and “Top Gun” – which mix non-stop action with finely-tuned characters that bring audiences even further into the action and drama. His latest effort, UNSTOPPABLE, adds to that rich legacy, again demonstrating Scott’s formidable talents in blending action, character, drama and emotion.
“It’s a movie that starts out at fifty miles an hour and ends up at 150 mph; it’s speed-on-speed,” says Scott, who admits UNSTOPPABLE was the toughest project, mentally and physically, he’s undertaken. But Scott is referring to more than the logistical challenges of filming aboard a vehicle hurtling down a railroad track at 50 miles per hour or the film’s heart-stopping stunt sequences.
Sitting in the same 6 x 9 foot space aboard the blue and yellow 1206 for most of the film brought its own set of obstacles and keeping the characters interesting inside that box was one of the most daunting tasks for the director. “This was the most challenging and brilliant adventure I’ve ever encountered because I had to tell a character story inside something going very, very fast,” says Scott. “It’s always about the performances – how I look at these two characters in a way I haven’t done before and be honest to who they are.”
In keeping with the film’s realistic tone and characters, Scott largely eschewed the use of CGI, opting instead for real action and the skills of some of the industry’s most inventive stunt people.
Great drama coupled with Scott’s dramatic flair and his visual expertise makes for a wild and captivating ride. “The real challenge with UNSTOPPABLE was capturing the character evolutions of Frank [Denzel Washington] and Will [Chris Pine], who are undertaking this monumental journey trying to stop this runaway train,” says the director. “But first, they must come to terms with one another and resolve their differences.”
Before Scott put his unmistakable stamp on the project, producers Julie Yorn and Mimi Rogers presented the idea for UNSTOPPABLE to writer Mark Bomback, who began with the concept of a train as the villain of the story. “Like a lot of children, I liked trains as a kid,” says Bomback, “but I certainly wasn’t a fan. I started researching the film from a place of complete ignorance. Trains are ubiquitous, but you never think about how the entire country depends on them so it seemed like an interesting setting for a film. Trains haven’t been done in a while so I thought this might be a new way to introduce them; they’re so old school, they’re new school.”
Bomback’s chief goal in telling the story was to maintain a relentless pace. “We wanted audiences to think that Frank or Will could die at any moment and the movie would still continue,” says Bomback, “because audiences would understand the train can’t derail until, at best, the end of the film. So the question is, how do you maintain that sense of tension? I did my best to stay within the bounds of realism and not go too far.”
Bomback worked on the script on and off for two years before Tony Scott came aboard. The director says it was the first, and likely the only time, in his career when a studio took on his first draft with no notes before beginning to assemble their cast and crew. “Mark’s script was the best page-turner I’ve ever read,” says Scott. “I flew through it. The characters became stronger as the story unfolded and the action took care of itself; it has a forward momentum and it never lets up.”
UNSTOPPABLE is their fifth collaboration, following “Crimson Tide,” “Man on Fire,” “Déjà Vu” and “The Taking of Pelham 123.” Says Scott of Washington: “In every movie Denzel and I have done together, he’s always tapped into a different aspect of his personality. “Within each of us, and at a given point in our lives, are different personalities, and Denzel is brilliant in tapping into the personality right for a given project.”
“I trust Tony, who’s a great filmmaker and I enjoy working with him,” says Washington. “We have a good shorthand now; I know what he’s after and he knows how I like to work, and we leave each other alone to do the work. Tony’s very enthusiastic and his team loves working for him, so with him, it’s easy.”
Washington found much to explore in the huge gulf – encompassing age, economics, experience and attitude – between his character, Frank, and Chris Pine’s Will. “This is also a story about an age gap,” Washington asserts, “how many businesses today are caught in an economic downturn, and running the old guys out to bring in younger, cheaper labor to take the place of more experienced personnel. Basically Frank is teaching the new guy how to do his job so that he can take his place,” explains Washington. “Needless to say, Frank’s not too happy about that.”
The new guy is Will Colson, played by Chris Pine. Washington suggested Scott cast the “Star Trek” headliner, and Scott agreed, especially after catching Pine’s acclaimed work in the play “Farragut North.” As a young man whose life seems to be unraveling, Will is unsure about most everything. Reluctantly, he takes a job in the family business as a new recruit for the railroad AWVR.
“Will comes from a family of railroaders,” Pine says. “Having grown up in the shadow of a family who are now bigwigs at the railroad, Will left to make his own way, but when it turned out to be harder than he expected, he returned to his home town only to realize that coming home was even more difficult. Even though he’s hesitant, he’s going to make the best of working for the railroad… for now.”
Separated from his wife and son after his temper got the better of him, Will goes to work on that fateful day with no particular agenda. He just wants to get through it. “Will’s journey is that of a selfish guy who wanted to find success on his own,” says Pine. “He feels like he failed so there’s a lot of self-loathing going on. That, coupled with pressure from his family, and an apprenticeship with resentful guys who make the job as difficult as possible, it just becomes a volcano.”
For all his bluster about the younger generation being different, Frank Barnes is living a similar existence. Estranged from his two daughters with whom he wants desperately to reconnect, Frank just wants to put in his time at work, keep his head down and get the job done. “Like Will, Frank is someone who has stopped valuing his own worth, albeit for very different, more professional reasons,” says Bomback. “He’s amassed a lot of knowledge and skill through the years and suddenly he’s faced with the idea that maybe that isn’t worth nearly as much as he thought it was.”
“Frank doesn’t have anything against Will personally,” says Washington, “it’s just that he, and guys like him, are the reason that older railroaders are being fired. It doesn’t help that Will’s brother and uncles are all big shots in the business. As Frank describes it, Will’s just a member of the Lucky Sperm Club.
“Frank doesn’t even acknowledge the new guys,” he continues. “He doesn’t see them, they don’t exist. But as it happens, on this particular day, Frank is assigned a new kid to be his conductor. As the engineer, Frank’s just the driver, but he feels like the 1206 is his train.”
Their day together aboard the 1206 begins on a rough note, with both men focused on personal issues rather than the job at hand. But before half the day is over, they realize they must put their issues with family and with one another aside and concentrate on how to stop the powerful train heading their way. As the story unfolds and the danger becomes more apparent, the two strangers carve out a fast friendship on a deeper level than they ever would have expected. Even more unexpected and poignant is how each man takes stock of his life and comes to know himself as never before. “Frank and Will must come together in these adverse, intense circumstances,” says Washington. “They discover more about themselves because they have to decide: are they going to do something about this or not? Frank knows he has to try and help, but Will isn’t sure at first, so he’s got to man up.”
“These two guys are in the wrong place at the wrong time,” says Bomback. “It’s a do or die situation. The young conductor has enough experience to know that there is no way going after the locomotive is safe, but is he confident enough in someone who’s been working on the railroad for 30 years to believe that they can accomplish Frank’s plan? That’s where their conflict reaches a head and they both realize they have to work together.”
“When Will is thrown into this extraordinary situation, he has to decide whether to take charge, try to save these towns and be selfless,” says Pine. “That’s what Frank really teaches him. Will is so embroiled in his own internal battle that it takes an external situation to force him out of his own skin, to be active, to stop thinking about himself and do something for others, which is what actually ends up helping him in the end. “Will is pretty obstinate,” adds Pine. “He thinks he knows best, but we find out that he’s wrong and Frank is 100 percent right about everything. He finds that the old guard, or old heads as the real railroaders call them, do know a thing or two and he finally respects Frank and the very things he took for granted.”
Washington does not impress easily, but he describes Pine as someone who is going places and has a real future. Pine, in turn, took the lessons presented by watching Washington work and stored them away for future use. “Denzel pushes and pushes you to do a better job,” says Pine. “He’s complicated in all the best ways and he brings so much to the table that each take is different, each has a distinctive quality and if you’re present and paying attention, you can play off those nuances which gives the characters more depth. Denzel’s the best at what he does, so I took my cues from him.”
As Frank and Will face imminent danger, their one solace is the voice of Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) over the radio. Stationed back at Mingo Yard, where the runaway locomotive began as a simple coaster, Connie is a voice of reason and direction throughout the chaos. “Connie represents a different face of the railroad,” says Bomback. “She is someone who could eventually become part of the executive ranks because she’s extremely capable and used railroading as an opportunity to take control of her fate.”
“Connie is a strong woman,” says actress Rosario Dawson. “She is confident and assertive without being arrogant or bitchy which is an absolute necessity if you want to be successful in a traditionally male role. The train yard is definitely a man’s world.
“It was a challenge to make sure that Connie’s voice could be heard by all the men around her,” she continues. “Not just the men she supervises, but also the corporate executives. She has to be heard and accepted because lives are always at stake in her job.”
Even before Connie learns that a train has left her yard unmanned that brisk October morning, her day is off to a less than stellar start. As she arrives late for work, she encounters an insipid safety inspector from the Federal Railroad Administration sent to assist her in hosting a field trip of elementary school children learning about train safety, a time-consuming endeavor about which she is wholly unenthusiastic. When the assistant yardmaster finds humor in her misery, she’s further discouraged and realizes this day is going to be particularly long. If she only knew.
“She’s the voice of reason in very dramatic circumstances,” adds Dawson. “Even though she has to follow the protocol outlined in some dusty manual, she has to get a grip, think on her feet and move forward and make decisions with a confidence she doesn’t necessarily have when it comes to a train the size of the Chrysler Building moving like a missile into dense population.”
All three lead actors admit that the unstoppable train – the 777 – steals every scene. “The 777 is the real star of the movie,” says Washington with characteristic nonchalance. “It’s the shark in ‘Jaws.’ It’s the monster in the room that’s going to destroy people, towns — anything and everything in its path. Chris Pine and I are just side men. It’s all about the train, that’s why it’s called UNSTOPPABLE.”
“The train is also very representative of what’s happening in Will’s life,” adds Pine. “In the beginning everything looks like it’s going well and suddenly everything falls apart faster and faster.”
“We call [the train] ‘The Beast Triple-7,” says Tony Scott. “It has a voice. It’s like the shark in ‘Jaws’ or the car in [Stephen King’s tale of a haunted vehicle that terrorizes a community] ‘Christine’. We created a voice for The Beast in post-production.”
Frank, Will and Connie are not alone in their battle to stop the Beast. Connie is helped by her assistant yardmaster, Bunny, played by Kevin Chapman, and Werner, a nerdy, seemingly out-of-place safety inspector, played by Kevin Corrigan, who just happens to be visiting Fuller Yard that fateful morning.
“Connie, Bunny and Werner are looking at a wall of blinking lights,” explains Dawson. “Every one of those lights is someone’s home, a farm, a school, a business. Frank and Will are out there watching the actual houses and businesses blur past them. They’re driving backwards down the track in a train that’s rattling so much it’s almost falling apart. But they don’t need us to be scared for them; they need us to provide information so that they can make educated choices. Each group has its vision of what it’s experiencing and it’s only by communicating that the two worlds blend.”
After Connie discovers a coaster has left the yard, her immediate instinct is to call in the help of another railroader with feet on the ground, welder Ned Oldham played by Lew Temple. Ned is a social butterfly who loves to entertain the ladies with stories of derring-do, but when it comes to his job, he is all business.
“Ned’s a frustrated armchair engineer,” describes Temple. “He carries himself with a lot of bravado and style and he has the propensity to embellish what he does on the railroad but when the opportunity arises where he can actually save the day, that’s all he needs. Connie gives him his marching orders and he doesn’t stop. He goes through roadblocks, he drives off-road; he becomes the cavalry. He may be a little over the top, but at the critical time, he shows up. The ability for humans to rise above themselves, that’s what’s really great about this story.”
Unstoppable (2010)
Directed by: Tony Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Dunn, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Chapman, Lew Temple, Jessy Schram, Andy Umberger, Elizabeth Mathis, Meagan Tandy
Screenplay by: Mark Bomback
Production Design by: Chris Seagers
Cinematography by: Ben Seresin
Film Editing by: Robert Duffy, Chris Lebenzon
Costume Design by: Penny Rose
Set Decoration by: Rosemary Brandenburg
Art Direction by: Julian Ashby, Drew Boughton, Denise Hudson, Dawn Swiderski
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of action and peril, and some language.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release: November 12, 2010
