RUNAWAY TRAIN RATING: 7.5/ 10 --> Re-watchable
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This movie garnered Oscar nominations for both stars Jon Voight (Best Actor) and Eric Roberts (Best Supporting Actor) at the 1986 Acadamy Award celebrations. Director Konchalovsky creates an intense thriller that takes two escaped convicts, slaps them on an unmanned train barreling down some tracks at lightning speeds, and surrounds them with the wonderful white world of winter.
PLOT: Con of steel Manny (Voight) gets let out of the "hole" after three years of solitude in a maximum-security Alaskan prison. Soon enough, he escapes the terror of the jail and its psychotic warden, alongside a prize-fighting, dimwitted prisoner named Buck (Roberts), and hops onto the nearest train. Unfortunately for either escapee, the train suddenly loses its engineer, picks up excessive speeds, and hurdles down the wintery tracks without brakes or a final destination.
CRITIQUE: Gritty, suspenseful, stylish, overlong thriller that combines chompin' good dialogue with solid acting performances by its main leads. Despite the fact that I found both performances by Voight and Roberts a little "overdone" at first, I eventually saddled into their tough guy characters, and forgot to pay attention to the actors themselves (always indicative of great performances). The story lends itself to deep interpretations, none of which I will expand upon in this review, but needless to say that the gist of the plot bleeds around freedom, and the harsh price that many people are willing to pay for it.
The directing of this picture was highly stylized and wonderfully achieved, while its cinematography was as sweet as the winter wonderland that it chillingly portrayed. The dialogue was fresh (see Little Known Facts below for possible reasons behind its authenticity), and the acting was strong by both main men. On the down side, I do think that the picture could have been cut by about fifteen to twenty minutes, with some of the later scenes dragging on a little, and the soundtrack was a little too synthesized for my predilection, but hey, it was the eighties...what do you expect?!
The final scene of the movie is also a classic shot that should stick in your mind for years to come, with the accompanying music (Very TITANIC-like (7/10), if you ask me. Hmmm...I wonder if James Horner ever watched this cool flick?) icing the somber cake over which it played. This film is definitely nacho material, and lends itself greatly to newer condiments such as sour cream and/or ketchup (for tomato fans). Overall, I would say that this movie is a little overlong, authentically acted, wonderfully shot, and quite suspenseful.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Co-writer of this script, Edward Bunker is also known as Eddie Bunker, who is also known as the actor who played Mr. Blue in RESERVOIR DOGS (9/10). Eddie Bunker is a convicted bank robber, who was the youngest convict ever to be sent to the San Quentin penitentiary at the time of this conviction. At one time, he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. He also makes an appearance in this film as Jonah. The script was based on a story written by famed director Akira Kurosawa. Eddie Bunker also acted in director Andrei Konchalovsky's 1989's film TANGO & CASH. Eric Roberts' famous sister is the PRETTY WOMAN (7.5/10) herself Julia Roberts. In February, 1995, Eric was arrested and charged with spousal abuse. Jon Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie, who in 1995 married "Sick Boy" from TRAINSPOTTING (8.5/10) Johnny Lee Miller in a black rubber dress (she wore the dress, not him :))
Review Date: September 26, 1998
Director: Andrei Konchalovsky
Writers: Djordje Milicevic and Paul Zindel and Edward Bunker
Producers: Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus
Actors: Jon Voight as Oscar "Manny" Manheim
Eric Roberts as Buck
Rebecca DeMornay as Sara
Genre: Thriller
Year of Release: 1985
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(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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