Runaway Train (1985) Review

[@nicholasozorak2931]

Runaway Train is an absolute masterpiece. It's a film with a unique and strange poetry with themes going beyond what one expects for the genre. Its conclusion is one that, without giving anything away, is unlike any other.

[@StsFiveOneLima]

I saw this first in the theater when I was 12 (don't ask). I was and is haunting. The non-colorful almost gray-scale cinematography is consistent and appropriate in a way which few films achieve. The description here of the train as a 'monster' is absolutely apt. When it first comes through the mist and smoke in the train yard, it causes chills. And the end sequence...simply has to be seen.

[@trumjohannsmancave]

Yes awesome movie!

[@delavalmilker]

I just love these "lesser-known" movies. The ones that aren't the big Hollywood blockbusters. Thanks for posting this!

[@Justyburger]

What an awesome review of a real masterpiece of a film. To this day, Runaway Train is still one of my favourite films. It's so atmospheric. It makes you feel like you are right there in the gloomy cold of Alaska with all the pain and suffering of the story. As it happened, when i first watched it, i was in an Australian summer and i went outside into the bright sun and was so thankful that i was not really in an Alaskan winter on a train to hell :) Also just a note about the animated scenes in the control room. I thought they also added to the movie, showing a chaotic and almost child-like nature of those who are supposed to be mature and seasoned in looking after a train network. It was another angle into the general rot of life. The prison, the corrupt warden, the escape, the faults of the train, the death of the engineer, the Woman caught in the middle and the bureaucracy of the rail corporation. It all adds into what i think is a near perfect mix.

[@Sash77....oldmanradic]

Excellent review but you missed a couple of very important topics. The music (especially at the end) is amazing. It adds to the movie so much and also the final scene standing up on the train is haunting

[@porflepopnecker4376]

Yes to both.

[@craigsmith2030]

Absaloutly love runaway train, classic 80's. Great cast, for me there was something about the train. Menacing, had a great noise to it, hard as nails, out in that freezing wilderness. I love it, When it rams through the oncoming train at granville 12 without leaving the rails its showing its a real heavyweight tough puller. John P Ryan, john voight, eric roberts all nail it. The scenery is beautiful. Im so glad it was made. And i do prefer the uncut version. Hate it when words get dubbed.

[@W4RR3N-AX]

10000000% true

[@southwest1988]

Just saw this movie last night and I was jaw dropped it has to be one the best films ever John P. Ryan is priceless !!!!!!

[@homersimpson8414]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpympIqCl6yVnKc (GERMAN)

[@CaminoAir]

I didn't realize Alan Hume was the director of photography. He shot 'Return of the Jedi', 'For Your Eyes Only', etc. While I did realize the train interiors would have had to be sets, when this was actually stated in your review I still balked for a second, because those sets still look, sound and feel genuine.

[@catherineehlers8115]

The Alaska scenery is gorgeous.

[@wazza33racer]

theres something about all that steel and sheer power............running amuck, and the hum of those giant EMD diesels thrumming along sets the tone.

[@deadairconversion]

God Bless Cannon Films. They 80’s wouldn’t have had a lot of the great little movie gems it had, if it not weren’t for those guys.

[@kevinclark8356]

A really great film, which more people need to see.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

Kurosawa was king of 1985. The two best films of the year were Ran (directed by him) and Runaway Train (conceived by him). This was a great review, and I've always wanted to know more about the Golan Globus enterprise since it pretty much defined the VHS video store experience of the '80s and '90s.

This movie is a masterpiece.

[@PaulKyriazi]

Excellent information on a unique movie. You showed the right speech of 'oh, you missed a spot', for Jon Voight. One of my favorite movie speeches. "If you could do that, you could be president of Chase Manhattan."

[@thorazine666]

"Win lose what's the difference?" - Manny #Masterpiece #Bestendinginfilmhistory

[@TheForceOfMusic101]

thorazine666 Couldn’t. Agree. More!!!

[@fatwalletboy2]

Voights transformation into the monster was just off the scale. Shows just how much of a craft and art both acting and costume are. Go watch runaway train behind the scenes videos here too......the loco scenes filmed in an LA studio set are fascinating and couldnt be further from the illusion of the frozen wastes of Alaska.

[@porflepopnecker4376]

I like the control room scenes.

[@AltaMirage]

My favourite film of all time.

[@andrew_owens7680]

Everything I love about cinema involves Akira Kurosawa. I love his movies, I love this movie, I love Tora, Tora, Tora and all the Westerns based on his stories. And if I include all the directors that were influenced by him? Well, that's a pretty big pool to pull from.

[@deadairconversion]

Great upload. Couldn’t agree more with everything you said. It’s not a perfect film- but it’s got heart. Lots of it. And it’s on my top ten!

[@gieselats]

Great movie. Great music. Thanks for your review.

[@djp6191]

WOW. Wonderful presentation of this classic amazing film. I first saw this when my mom taped it on VHS one night that they showed it on TV, back in 90s. I was just a kid then and loved it then and I love it NOW, 30 years later

[@vinnyjamea96]

Totally agree.. This is a master piece film .. When ever i watch it .. i can feel the emotion of the actor . A nd don't forget the amazing soundtrack that adds all the completeness

[@gamepad3173]

I'd recommend this movie and the 2010 film Unstoppable.

[@eswnl1]

I would only recommend this movie.

[@amari3881]

9:42 looks like a train i would never want to be hit by

[@UnlessRoundIsFunny]

Joel, this was a spectacular review. I just sent the link to a friend of mine who never saw the movie. I hope he feels compelled to check it out.

[@blkbelt203]

One of the best movies ever .

[@oakrail8100]

THIS IS SO GOOD

[@finstersrc30]

Awesome review of this truly great movie you are right on point on every aspect.

[@homersimpson8414]

Runaway Train is what I call ... art!

[@Mekratrig]

Do a review of anothar somewhat similar film of the same era - Emperor of the North, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and a very young Keith Carradine. A hidden gem.

[@Darthbelal]

"Runaway Train" was simply an awesome film. Got swept up in it when I was a kid watching HBO back in the day. Makes you wonder who else has a brilliant idea for a movie just waiting for the opportunity to flesh it out......

[@jscottupton]

From my first viewing I KNEW there was something special about this movie. I just couldn't put it into words like you do in this video.

[@omnipop4936]

The girl licking the ice cream cone at 0:40 - what movie is that from? (asking for a friend)

[@thelastshogun3913]

It's from The Last American Virgin (1982), and the actress is Diane Franklin.

[@kyleb8268]

This is one of my favorite films of all time and I had no idea that Roberts' opponent in the fight was Danny Trejo. This movie is a masterpiece from the cast right down to the soundtrack. Gloria in D minor is such a hauntingly masterful piece.

[@therandomytchannel4318]

Very good movie and all. Classic. I had also heard that during filming the Rankin hanging off the helicopter scene, the pilot and stuntman were killed when they hit the side of a mountain.

[@rodcharade5919]

The stuntman, Rick Holley, died when he fell off the train and was cut in half under the wheels. You won't find that scene on the DVD it's on the VHS which has since become a collector's item.

[@tomhaskett5161]

The scene where Manny gets his hand trapped in the coupling...

[@611_hornet5]

That was a pretty gruesome moment.

[@lucase.garcia8026]

It is said that the actors were strictly forbidden to unhook the last locomotive, because doing so would end the movie. Either that or let's just say that with so many dire problems, they didn't realize that unhooking the last locomotive would be the simplest thing to do. Still, it's a movie I love. The final scene of the train disappearing into the snow is brutal... it's like it never crashed.

[@ryandavis7593]

Why didn’t the PCS work? Non FRA compliant locomotives.

[@tim3172]

The engineer hit the emergency brakes when he was intending to reduce throttle. It kept the brakes hard on until they ultimately failed not far into the film.

[@longcastle4863]

A forgotten masterpiece

[@GOINGCRAZYINTHEKITCHEN]

I think this was a film that Andrei Konchalovsky brought from Russia, and that the original script was about an escape from a Siberian prison? Had no idea that the film originated from Kurosawa. How is that possible? And how did he then get his share? Are you absolutely sure Joel? I love this film. It´s a game changer for action films. Do agree: Jon Voight, Erik Roberts acting is out standing. Rebecka de Mornays charactere is a bit flat already in the script. And the office scenes a bit disturbing not reaching the same level of naturalism and intensity as the rest of the film. An attempt to portrait "ordinary people" though, "just another day at the office".

[@cosmodrome9478]

0:33 "Whatever the intergalactic heck is this.". That's "Hercules 2 - Le Avventure dell'Incredibile Ercole" directed by Luigi Cozzi (Lewis Coates)

[@bryanpalmer9660]

Have this 💎 on DVD,an excellent movie with a great cast and crew Auckland New Zealand 2023

[@Contemplativeman101]

Nicely made guys

[@georgeecheveste6545]

This is one of the best movies of all time. I saw this movie when I was a little kid and it was one of my favorites. Now, 40 years later, I saw it with my wife and she and I loved it.

[@traingp7]

Does anyone have the script for the movie because I have been looking for it for a long time.

[@Terraceview]

You did a good review boss, but this film has so much more going for it it's just insaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaane

[@bigjuice7020]

Best movie ever!

[@cyberserk5614]

When it comes to movie villains, 6'2 John Voight's "Manny" is still one of the scariest mf'rs out there.

[@DavidLEzell]

In general, I think this review is spot on. I don’t think the control room sequences are a problem. I have seen the film many times and never felt those moments disrupt the rhythm of the story. And with regard to the development of Rebecca De Mornay character, I think that knowing less about her makes sense. We are following the story of these two men, and in the midst of that, she drops in and suddenly becomes part of their lives and eventually an equal player. We discover bits and pieces about her in the same way that they do.

[@martinsorenson1055]

The clip from the Dick Cavett show is amazing. I recommend anyone interested in film to view it. Frank Capra, Robert Altman, Mel Brooks and Peter Bogdonavich discussing the film business back in the early 70's.

[@rajurajamani7171]

Good film/ strong emotional ending.

[@ickeyshufflin1288]

Love your content guys! Well done!

[@troygreen9321]

This is great movie a real Man's type of movie

[@steviemcdonut]

Great video Hope you do more

[@railsofthenorthland1181]

I would say the whole prison scenes are the worst part of the movie, I thought the dispatch scenes were great.

[@TheAtlantaRailfan]

My favorite part about the movie is its soundtrack

[@ReadingAreaRailfan]

If u look closley at the begining of the movie the leading loco is a GP38-2 and after the crash scene it switches to a GP40-2

[@CaptainColdyron222]

The intergalactic scene at 0:34 is the finale of The Adventures of Hercules starring Lou Ferrigno. It’s the second movie in which Ferrigno played Hercules. It needs to be seen to be believed. I. Fact I recommend both of the Hercules movies. They’re so awful they’re good.

[@jaronburstyn1997]

Loved this can't watch it enough

[@jpinguela]

Fui assistir esse filme com minha nova namorada em 85. eu gostei do filme. ela não gostou do filme de depois de mim. Mas 35 anos depois eu ainda gosto do filme.

[@adamrabern3178]

Great job 👍

[@michlo3393]

The thing that would have made the dispatching scenes more realistic would be if there were a Corridor Manager standing behind them with his thumb up his ass leaving crews stuck at their away from home terminals collecting HAHT time for days while the boards at home are shot to hell with trains tied down in every siding. But I digress.

[@huntinglightning3507]

Not only "Runaway Train" was shelved due to Akira Kurosawa's and the America team's creative differences, but a terrible blizzard hit the location the were supposed to film, making it impossible to lift the project off the ground. Also, I wonder if Akira Kurosawa saw Andrei Konchalovsky's version of "Runaway Train", and what he thought of the final film product. 🤔

[@ArchTeryx00]

In a sense, the movie really didn't HAVE any villains. Both Manny and the Warden were very, very, very black anti-heroes and anti-villains. Manny was a serial killer and a monster, but he also knew how life worked and eventually (with great reluctance) took Buck under his wing to try and pull him off the shitheap. And the Warden was just as much of a monster as Manny, but he had a prison full of stone cold killers and assorted violent criminals to deal with. The prison scenes, as a result, looked like Hell on Earth. There was some bits of "Just Train Wrong" in it, such as the lack of a deadman's switch in a modern diesel (which would have stopped the runaway cold) and ability of the engine lashup to annihilate anything in its path without so much as jumping a rail. But some of its railroad action is dead on - the collision with the mainline train at the siding actually has happened like that in real life (though the engines did derail) and runaways definitely have happened. The "Crazy Eights" incident is a good example of that. And Rankin assaulting the lead dispatcher, while satisfying to watch, would have gotten his ass thrown in jail faster than your head can spin. He may be God in his prison, but outside he's just another LEO, and assaulting innocent civilians like that tends to be looked poorly on. All that being said, the locomotive lashup, black and icy, was a character all its own. Watching it bust right through a snow shed and rush straight at the camera, you got the impression of a completely unstoppable juggernaut, something with as much life as the people trapped on it. No other movie's done quite so well giving a train such character - and that's not even scratching the surface of the human characters. All the performances were just incredible.

[@ZombieSlayer-dj3wb]

A cut scene in the railyard al weighed the deadmans peddel down

[@ArchTeryx00]

@@ZombieSlayer-dj3wb Which actually was very common among crews so they could rest their legs, but as the movie shows can be very dangerous. Nowadays they use a button system that's much, much harder to fool.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Arthouse and Cheesyjunk under the same label. Who's not in? "He's a loser. He needs to be in with the winners." Okay, WHO'S NOT IN? Also: Manny's description of "a job a convict could get" is a metaphor for society. The film is set around a prison--real life. So, you're not getting it: _reality crashes the party._

[@22Tesla]

You know, this whole film is kinda like another film, Emperor of the North. Manny is the lifer who understands the criminal life like A1, the greatest hobo who can ride any train he wants whenever he pleases. Buck is the young punk who idolizes Manny, just like Cigarette in Emperor of the North idolizes the easy living that A1 enjoys and the fame that comes from it. Both want to be just as bad as their idol. but when push comes to shove, they can't live up to their idol period. Rankin the man of the system who hates Manny and will do anything to keep him locked up, just like the conductor (The Shack) in Emperor of the North is dead set on making sure no one rides his train for free. And both films end the same: Manny beats Rankin, (A1 beats The Shack ), Manny leaves Buck in the dust off to his uncertain future (A1 travels into the distance after knocking the whiney brat Cigarette off the train at the end) and each one ends with no clear ending, but it's enough that we know how the story ends

[@perfectionbox]

one of the finest statements on the human condition ever put to film

[@petesly5032]

Review doesn’t start til 4:24

[@johnmontoya2398]

Thereality to the prison scenes are due to the assistance of Danny Trejo. He plaid a big part in that. He also trained the actors in boxing.

[@peternewman1179]

Easily up there as one of the best drama, suspense, action, and at times great comedic moments, in no way is this film a comedy, however there is plenty of passive laugh moments in balance with the serious drama. I have watched this film numerous times, and I enjoy it more and more each screening!.

[@ole9421]

Love and hate this movie. The drama, action on and around the locomotives is out of this world fantastic. While the station dispatch scenes are some of the worst acted and edited in B - Grade movie history. When they cut to those station scenes it rips me right out of the movie immersion experience. Although these jarring transitions are terrible, after watching it multiple times, I have in a weird sense, come to welcome them as comedy relief to the ultra intense scenes on the locomotives. Imagine this movie made with those station scenes filmed using better actors, better direction and better editing. It could have been one of the block buster movies of the 80's like Jaws was to the 70's.

[@jackbedient]

Spectacular review!

[@ReaverLordTonus]

Wait a minute, Korusawa wrote this movie?

[@sherry8444]

Runaway Train is one of my favourites but I thought Voight couldn't manage the role. Maybe nobody could do it better but he had to really push his voice to sound tough so it comes out a bit fake and awkward - to the point of comedy. Probably not Voight's fault. A lot of the directing/camerawork feels overdone. Like that big zoom into the warden's serious face just as he asks the guy whether he ever saw a riot at a max security prison (we saw it earlier, just some burning rags getting tossed about). It should be a meme where you zoom in expecting some really profound statement but you get something banal instead. Nevertheless, I thought the warden was a great cast and the movie had very memorable scenes.

[@hughjass1044]

Fantastic movie!

[@stephenmarsh8269]

Thanks

[@jeffreysnow2640]

What A great movie !!!

[@trumjohannsmancave]

Amazing movie, love it!

[@deadairconversion]

I subbed! Great content 👍🏼

[@the.sketch.projekt8851]

Eric Roberts went from a punk criminal just trying to escape to a Gotham City mob boss who partially teamed up with The Joker.

[@amschelmayer.7092]

Let it be clear that most human beings are nothing like those two brutes!

[@natasastanojevic]

I know that according to the story of the film, character of Buck didn't kill anyone, but his dumb, violent, pretentious wannabe rebel disposition reminds me of Charlie Starkweather.

[@timoteirad009]

Andrew Kancelovski :))))))))

[@rexyoshimoto4278]

Most brutal.

[@davidrayner9832]

The film might have some great acting by Voight and Roberts and it might be full of action and suspense but like Unstoppable, The Last Passenger, Atomic Train, Final Run, The Cassandra Crossing, Tough Guys, and every other train film ever made, it throws operational reality out the window. A train is the most fail-safe, protected machine there is and the stuff depicted in all these movies is simply not possible. In Unstoppable, we have a loco that takes itself out of dynamic brake and puts itself into full power with no one at the controls, in Tough Guys we have two recently paroled convicts who know how to run an oil burning steam loco and here, we have an engineer that is moving locos around the yard and puts the throttle straight to notch 8 and leaves it there, then promptly has a heart attack and dies. For fuck's sake! Just before he croaks, he moves some lever which in the next scene is shown to apply the brakes which throw off a shower of sparks even though the shoe doesn't touch the wheel. If that were the independent brake (which it is not), it'd suppress the VC (alerter, call it what you will) and burn the brake shoes off which would allow the locos (BTW, 4 locos with no cars is not a train) to keep on going. That's fine but to get to that point, the engineer had to put the throttle to 8 and then drop dead. Then we get to Rebecca DeMornay who works as a conductor (we assume). She should know a dozen ways to stop the locos. They can't get to the lead cab but putting any automatic brake handle into emergency will drain the brake pipe and cut out the engine control switch which returns the engines to idle. That won't stop it because the brake shoes have burned away but it'd begin coasting and any uphill grade would stop it or at least slow it down enough to jump off. When control realizes that eastbound 12 will have a head-on with the runaway train (I mean locos), instead of putting it onto the other track they stop it at the switch and wait for the conductor to call them. What if he waited 5 minutes to call? Then the engineer crawls onto the other track like he has all the time in the world and even when he sees it coming still doesn't speed up. The controller comments on that but he can't see how fast EB12 is travelling. In the impact, the chances of the brake pipe not being torn off are a million to one. Had it been, the brake pipe would drain to zero, oh, we've already discussed that. Rebecca (who looked much cuter in Risky Business) says the emergency fuel shut-off doesn't work on trailing locos. Crap. Finally, she comes up with pulling the jumper cables (bus line, as she calls it) saying the engines will shut down. More crap. The trailing engines will go back to idle and that's fine but the lead engine will remain at full power and pulling three others won't slow it one bit. Oh, and control never tries to call the train (shit, I did it again) when every loco would have a radio. Finally, Manny makes it into the cab of the lead loco and at 1 hr 40 m and 7 secs we see the throttle is at idle. That's because that scene would've been filmed on a stationary loco but you'd think that because this whole thing is happening because the engineer put the throttle to 8, they would've had it there the one time we get to see it after that. Also, all the shots of under the loco are wagons, not locos. The axles have no traction motors. When Manny pulls the pin and the lead loco uncouples, the brake pipe would come apart which drains it to zero. Notice the trailing locos begin coasting and slow down as they should but the lead loco powers away? Remember what happens when the brake pipe is drained? The brake pipe did come apart but no air came out because for the film, the taps were closed. If pulling the pin was that easy, why didn't he do it when they were back on the forth loco? The trailing locos stop way quicker than they should've given the speed they were going and that they have no brakes, unless they were going uphill and if they were, they'd start rolling backwards right away. In case you're wondering, yes I'm an engineer. Nothing to do with trains now but when Rankin tells the controller that if he doesn't get his convicts back the prison will riot, I would've thought the inmates would want them to escape rather than be captured. And why would Rankin risk his life to board a train (shit) that's going to crash? Why not just let it crash? It can't be to save Rebecca because he doesn't know how to stop it. And in the closing scenes, the prison is not rioting even though they never got their escapees back. In fact, they all look pretty subdued to me. Yeah, I knew Rankin was wrong about that.

[@jimskelton7531]

It's a movie. You can pick apart most movies for unlikely or impossible things that happen in them. BTW have you found a publisher?

[@tiemanmalcolm]

You must have watched a different movie to me, I had a privilege of watching one of the greatest movies ever made, every part of the movie from the acting, plot, photography and soundtrack was wonderful, it’s up there with Citizen Kane and Bladerunner

[@davidrayner9832]

@@tiemanmalcolm It's probably a great film if you're not a railroad engineer.

[@haro82]

I'm guessing you're not able to let all that go and just enjoy the film.

[@davidrayner9832]

@@haro82 The film was quite enjoyable but I just wish they'd have someone on the set who knows about trains. I read somewhere that The Big Bang Theory has a mathematician on hand to write the equations you see on Sheldon's white board. Good enough for math geeks, good enough for railroaders. At work one night, the track was closed for maintenance so no trains came into the yard and we all watched Unstoppable. You should be in a room with a dozen engineers watching that film.

[@har9020]

Sounds like someone listened to the film's commentary track.

[@careycarson7629]

Steinbeck on rails.

[@srocks94]

Holy Man! This video crashed my phone! 😡😡😡🤬

[@tim3172]

Not at all how anything works...

[@N00N01]

Canon: junk for the mass,so few can enjoy gormet masterpieces

[@CubanPete1990]

You know what back in the 80’s in 1985 Cannon films should not made Runaway Train how about they should made there own Dinosaur Movie with Time travelers in it like Menahem Golen will be an Executive Producer Music by Brad Fiedel even producer by Joseph Zito Writer by Ray Bradbury and Directed by Kenneth Johnson Make up artist by Stephan Dupuis Special effects by Richard Edlund Dinosaurs Stop Motion by Jim Danforth Stephen Chiodo and Charles Chiodo and even Hollywood Stars like Patrick Stewart as Dr Lucas Zach Galligan as Travis Ryer Bo Derrick as Sonia Rand Brook Shields as Jenny Krase Ernie Hudson as Payne Jeff Bridges as Charles Hatton and Ron Perlman as The Missing Link Trib Leader in Ray Bradbury’s A Sound Of Thunder or Journey To The Prehistoric Time (1985) From Cannon Films Not That Boring Old Movie Called Runaway Train!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@LGTheOneFreeMan]

FFS go put on your helmet.

[@trainsbangsandautomobiles824]

*PATLABOR!* ok sorry...

[@Youtuber-yc4uo]

"I thought we was friends Manny! I thought we was friends!!"