Unstoppable: Blu-ray (2010)

See train, see train run, run train run. That's pretty much the gist of Unstoppable. I'd love to tell you that the movie is an allegory for the financial crisis or a deep exploration of corporate greed and it's affects on the common man. It'd be great to say that the characters are wholly developed people who's emotions and plights you will live and die with. All those things have their place in a deep and serious film. Unstoppable is not that film. What it is, is a highly entertaining movie about a fast moving, unmanned train and our everyman hero's attempts to stop it.

I won't lie, I rather enjoyed Unstoppable. Director Tony Scott is not known for high art films but the man knows how to direct an action sequence. His mix of fast-cuts, faux documentary shots and hyper camera movements can be overbearing at times but in the context of a runaway train movie, they work great. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine are likable actors and that likability is another key to the success of the film. It's not as if the roles they're playing are overly challenging -- and I suspect that Denzel in particular could play this role in his sleep -- and without the characters being overly developed it's important to have actors that the audience is pre-disposed to caring for. Likewise the supporting cast is full of recognizable actors (Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Dunn) who really aren't given much to do except stand around and watch the train in action. Talking about these types of things seems a bit superfluous (just like using superfluous in a movie review!) as really the train is the star and its acting is tremendous.

Unstoppable seems to be tailor made for blu-ray. Scott's overblown visual style generally works very well in high-def and this is no exception. The stylized color's pop, detail is excellent and the films grain structure is always present but never overbearing. It looks fantastic. The audio track is equally impressive. The LFE is in full force almost constantly. My house shook plenty and the dog got freaked out on multiple occasions (always a good sign of a high end audio track). Surround sound is also in a constant state of usage with superb directionality and high fidelity. Dialogue is never buried and always clear. The whole blu-ray package is fantastic.

Assuming someone is not expecting high art when attempting to view Unstoppable, I can't imagine anyone coming away disappointed. It's a fun popcorn film with acceptable acting, stylized direction a really fast train and a kick-ass blu-ray presentation. Really there's not too much more to say.

Ratings:

Movie: 3.5
Blu-ray: 5