Upon first glance, you would think there was no baddie in Tony Scott’s Unstoppable. But how wrong you would be!  The villain comes in the form of train 777, which -- following a conductor error -- goes speeding off unmanned. The technicians at the command centre realise they are powerless to stop it. This train is “under power,” becoming like a runaway missile which will ignite an oil tank depot if it ends up skipping the curve in the railway line at Stanton (Pennsylvania). Making matters worse, the train carries molten phenol, a hazardous compound. So what can be done? That is where old school railroad engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) and the relatively inexperienced conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) come in. Guided by train yardmaster Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson), the two men initiate a plan to prevent the locomotive from causing the biggest environmental disaster the city has ever seen.

Initially, one may compare Scott’s picture with Speed (1994). However, this approach may result in disappointment with the former and a greater appreciation of the latter. Still, Unstoppable manages to work on its own terms.

At each dramatic moment leading up to the halfway point, sound designer Mark P. Stoeckinger gives the locomotive a bear growl effect in order to illustrate the power behind this man-made creation. Much like what Steven Spielberg achieved with his low-tech Duel (1971), Scott makes the wise choice of using little or no computer generated imagery to fake the action. Explosions are real, and when train 777 crashes into another locomotive that appears authentic as well.

Editorially, Chris Lebenzon (a veteran of Tony Scott films) and Robert Duffy walk the fine line between showing just enough build-up (the film is very short) and keeping the action flowing along smoothly. The key to their work is variety, not being predictable. The picture never stops moving, literally or metaphorically. With a premise based on motion and appealing to the audience’s pulse rate, the duo never disappoint.

In terms of character development, there are some wonderful observational touches. Pine’s character faces a restraining order from his wife following a misunderstanding while Washington’s Frank Barnes has recently been given the boot by his employers. Apparently, he has less than three weeks to pack his bags. All of this intermingles with the objective of stopping the train.

Screenwriter Mark Bomback follows in the footsteps of contemporaries Graham Yost (Speed) and Daniel Kunka (12 Rounds). Yet, the engine behind this particular picture is not Bomback or even Ben Seresin operating the camera. That honour belongs to composer Harry Gregson-Williams. Through his sly musical sense and experience at propelling the plot forward, he has crafted a most memorable score.

Unstoppable proves to be an experience of the visceral kind. Scott has clearly been practicing and honing his craft in order to unleash this action-packed extravaganza upon us. Even Andrei Konchalovsky’s Runaway Train (1985) – with its anti-climactic, philosophical ending -- fails by comparison.    

(Released by 20th Century Fox and rated “PG-13” for sequences of action and peril, and some language.)