You've never been to Pennsylvania, have you? The trains run through major population centers because they used to carry steel for the mills. And I mean RIGHT through. Pittsburgh is basically a glorified terminal, with all the tracks running through. The entire movie is based around a curve in the tracks that's in a population center. If a train hits it too fast, it'll derail and cause major shit to go down.FarSpace said:But since this movie is STUPID, yes lets admit it, lol, It looks like some one placed and entire 'Town' on the tracks, LOL...jamesworkshop said:Atleast volcanoes are unpredictable, a runaway train has almost no variablesFarSpace said:True, and besides they can just have some old action hero jump off a helocopter on to it and its done, or just dump a bunch of pennies onto the tracks, lol.jamesworkshop said:
This move's like an old man & why are they doing that and does anyone care what that business guy says or thinks anyways and trians are all run by the government anyways and its a ruse that the government would want to do someone nicer then anyone else after all the government is people same as everyone else.
the thing were someone wants us to believe the government is better then any one else is crazy talk and just some way to get suckers to vote for em, there all bad and everyone should know it... hahaha
Escape to the Movies: Unstoppable
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Anyone else surprised that Movie Bob knows who Thomas is? My four year old son wandered into the room at the end of this and said
*GASP* A new Thomas movie!.
*GASP* A new Thomas movie!.
I laughed so hard at that, I almost had beverage come out my nose.thatguy1 said:You silly great missle the size of the chrysler building, just look what you've done to our breakfast!WolfmanNougat said:As soon as it was mentioned that the train goes at high speed, without a driver, headed for a crash into civilisation, I just KNEW there was a Thomas the Tank Engine joke to be made! I wonder if any station managers' breakfasts get spoiled in the process...
Anyway, the movie looks like a heap of fun, so maybe I'll go see it.
I so want to see this.
Also, it's actually easy to stop situations like this because railroads have been around for over 150 years and it's not like this would be the first time it's happened; derail the train. There are numerous ways to do it in a less catastrophic way then letting a runaway train crash into it's terminus.
Also, it's actually easy to stop situations like this because railroads have been around for over 150 years and it's not like this would be the first time it's happened; derail the train. There are numerous ways to do it in a less catastrophic way then letting a runaway train crash into it's terminus.
Ok! Train-nut interlude!Caliban1972 said:I went as saw "Unstoppable" yesterday. It's actually a decent movie, mainly because of Denzel Washington and Rosario Dawson. And for those simpletons going "just make it go in a circle, lol" or "turn it off, duh" - that's not how trains work. They do a good job of explaining why in the movie.
It's diesel engine that left the yard under full throttle, carrying 39 cars, 8 of which are carrying a toxic chemical used for industrial purposes. It cannot be shut down remotely, and there isn't a "big circle of tracks" you can put it on once it has left the yard. The tracks pass through several towns close together, and if it derails the chemicals will essentially make the town unlivable, in addition to killing anyone within a few miles of the scene.
Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen, and they show the failsafes that are supposed to prevent it, and how those failed, and how it got away. (Due to human workers not following proper safety guidelines, even as people are yelling at them to do so.)
It's intersting just as much for the glimpse into the train industry as it is for the disaster drama. Because you know they'll find a way to stop it before the movie is over, the only question is how.
This kinda thing is actually something that to me is pants-wettingly scary. What if the end of the line was Grand Central Station? heart of New York? a train crashes there, head on into the buffers the wagons will keep moving, causing a massive pileup, releasing the chemicals. BOOM disaster!
For those saying "This is just atomic train" I ask, How many films were released about a comet/asteriod hitting the earth? Well two were released at the same time. How about volcanoes? I can think of two. Plane crashes happen all the time so why would a runaway train film automatically be a remake because they are both "trains carrying dangeruos substance" That doesn't make a remake, they sound like entirely different films.
Anyway.... This film would be better with Thomas the Tank Engine, or maybe set in the old west.
Now that I've seen it, I can say it was quite enjoyable. Certainly worth the $7.50 I paid for it.
And actually, I want to point out that I actually don't the Bob is quite right about the the corporation being portrayed as evil and willing to sacrifice human life for profits. All the choice he made were actually quite believable, things I could see a perfectly normal person agreeing with. That doesn't mean that all the choices made were the best possible, but it's pretty rare for someone to always choose the best choice, especially when under pressure in an emergency.
Oh and one last thing. The nickname for train number 777 was.... "Triple Seven"? Really? I would have called it High Roller.
And actually, I want to point out that I actually don't the Bob is quite right about the the corporation being portrayed as evil and willing to sacrifice human life for profits. All the choice he made were actually quite believable, things I could see a perfectly normal person agreeing with. That doesn't mean that all the choices made were the best possible, but it's pretty rare for someone to always choose the best choice, especially when under pressure in an emergency.
Oh and one last thing. The nickname for train number 777 was.... "Triple Seven"? Really? I would have called it High Roller.
I just thought the idea for this movie was stupid, it's an easily solved problem; just direct the train onto an empty line and cut the power to it. It will stop.
I think that a lot of commenters might be losing sight of the fact that this was (very) loosely based on a real event, the "Crazy Eights" incident of 15 May 2001, so named for the CSX locomotive #8888 involved. http://kohlin.com/CSX8888/z-final-report.htm has a good overview. The real incident had no explosions and no injuries, unlike the movie, but the high-level plot overview is roughly the same: an engineer making a movement of a train in the yard misconfigured his locomotive controls, dismounted to realign a switch, and inadvertantly set his train free in the Ohio countryside. It ran for 66 miles over a period of about two hours with nobody at the controls.
I actually think that the real story would have made a pretty good movie without being sexed up. Here's a news story comparing movie to reality: http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20101112/ART09/101119863
Contra the movie, the company apparently tried to derail it as their first option. The movie's final solution, which the company boss chews out their renegade locomotive crew for even suggesting was the second and successful attempt. The movies "stupid" first solution was Plan C in real life (though without the helicopter). Plan D was apparently to take up the tracks.
I actually think that the real story would have made a pretty good movie without being sexed up. Here's a news story comparing movie to reality: http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20101112/ART09/101119863
Long distance trains in the U.S. are all diesel-electric locomotives; their power source is entirely self-contained. No power to cut.k-ossuburb said:
Contra the movie, the company apparently tried to derail it as their first option. The movie's final solution, which the company boss chews out their renegade locomotive crew for even suggesting was the second and successful attempt. The movies "stupid" first solution was Plan C in real life (though without the helicopter). Plan D was apparently to take up the tracks.
Oh, right. It's not the same as in Britain then, most of our are electric, some are diesel but only a few scattered freighters. To be honest, I wish they were still powered by steam, I've been in a steam engine once and it's a very nice experience, but that's off-topic.CatCube said:
I stand corrected. Thanks.