DVD
REVIEW: UNSTOPPABLE
02/14/11
OVERVIEW:
With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, all hope rides on the shoulders of two courageous men to prevent a catastrophe. UNSTOPPABLE is a high-intensity, action-packed thriller coming to Blu-ray and DVD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on February 15th.
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by actual events, “Unstoppable” is an adrenaline rush fueled by director Tony Scott’s signature mark of propulsive action rooted in the reality of ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. A veteran train engineer
(Denzel Washington) and a young conductor (Chris Pine) race the clock to stop an unmanned runaway train – effectively a missile the size of a skyscraper -- and prevent disaster in a heavily populated area.
FILM REVIEW: The
tagline says it all . . . “1 million tons of steel. 100,000
lives at stake. 100 minutes to impact.” Who better to tell
this story than the Denzel Washington/Tony Scott combo? Throw in
a little Chris Pine, a little Rosario Dawson, and others and
you’ve got an intense, thrilling nail biter. So how do you
stop an unmanned, runaway, speeding train? This no nonsense
movie takes you on that ride and it is fun, fast, and powerful.
One of the many interesting aspects of this film is the
insider’s look at the world of train transportation. It gives
it to you from a totally different perspective. The
cinematography used to present this perspective is top notch,
not only from the various angles of the trains but also with the
beautiful city, small town, and countryside shots as we roam
across the State of Pennsylvania. After all, we are talking
about Tony Scott. As far as current movie makers are concerned,
he has a unique style that is visually stunning as well as
suspenseful. When you have movies like Days of Thunder, The Last
Boy Scout, True Romance, Enemy of the State, Man on Fire,
Domino, Déjà vu, and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 under your
belt, you can’t help but to have high expectations for
whatever work that director does. Well, once again, he does not
disappoint. I wouldn’t say it’s his best work, but it is
very good nonetheless. The same can be said about Denzel’s
performance; not his best but still good. In other Tony Scott
movies, Denzel’s performance and character keep pace with the
intensity of the story and in some moments IT IS the intensity
of the story, i.e. Man on Fire (one of my favorite movies of all
time, in my opinion Tony’s best work and one of Denzel’s
best performances). In this one however, Denzel is drowned out
by the intensity of the story. In other words, the focus of this
film is more on the story than on Denzel’s character or
performance. Chris Pine also falls into that category. He does a
good job but it is shadowed by the story. The attachment to the
characters by the viewers is not as strong in this movie
compared to some of Tony’s other movies. The viewer is more
into whether or not this train is going to get stopped. Speaking
of the train, I got a kick out of the train’s number, 777. In
this case, the number 7 is not very lucky.
At only a little over an hour and a half, this movie is about as
fast paced as the train itself. That’s probably why character
development is not so strong. Actually, the script in this movie
is not so strong either. There really isn’t a whole lot of
over the top or overly inspiring dialogue. Again, the true star
of this show is the 777 train. The movie is still edge of your
seat entertaining, though, no doubt.
Film
Review
By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
DVD: Unstoppable is presented in
a widescreen format with a 1.85:1 aspect ration. The
transfer looks clean, judging from the watermark screening
received it is very difficult to determine the real quality
of the video, however I wont doubt that the final product
will be just fine. The picture is
complemented with a 5.1 Dolby digital sound in
English, French and Spanish with Spanish, French and English subtitles.
In the field of special features
DVD includes a director's commentary track an a interesting
featurette called "Tracking the Story: Unstoppable Script Development".If you want to deep
inside the making of the film you should go to the Blu-ray of
the version.
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish and French Dolby Surround
Subtitles - English Spanish French- Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Director Commentary Track
Tracking the Story: Unstoppable Script Development
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