Runaway Train

From the Editors

Tearing up the track at 100 miles-per-hour, Runaway Train features hair-raising footage (Leonard Maltin) and spectacular, OscarÂ(r)-nominated* performances by Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. Packed with action, suspense and a powerful climax that will sweep you away (The New YorkDaily News), Runaway Train is an intense...stunning...astonishing (Roger Ebert) super-thriller! Manny (Voight) is the toughest convict in a remote Alaskan prison who, along with fellow inmate Buck (Roberts), makes a daring breakout. Hopping a freight train, they head full-steam for freedom, but when the engineer dies of a heart attack, they find themselves trapped, alone and speeding toward certain disaster. Until, that is, they discover a third passenger, a beautiful railroad worker (Rebecca DeMornay) who's just as desperateand just as determined to surviveas they are! *1985: Actor (Voight), Supporting Actor (Roberts)
Description

Customer Response

I always wondered what made this movie seem to be so great!
I saw this movie in its theatrical run in 1985 or so and had seen it on cable a couple of times and finally decided to buy it. Being a cheapskate, I bought a used on from an Amazon vendor and of course watched it and once again was amazed at the storyline, the visuals, the setting, the acting, you name it, it is one of those "perfect" movies.
At the start of the DVD I found out one reason for the quality of the storyline anyway. The original screenplay was written by the GREAT Akira Kirosawa.
Just a "prison escape" movie, this is not. It may be the best movie made in the 1980's! It also reminds everyone once again what a treasure we have in the great actor John Voigt, hell even Eric Roberts can act if he is given the opportunity (see "Pope of Greenwich Village" for more proof of that. Mr. Voigt though has been in treasures for well over 40 years now. From "Midnight Cowboy" to stealing the "National Treasures" franchise from the tax troubled Mr. Cage. The man is a master as of course is the original screenplay writer of which you don't need me to tell you about.
Want to add a GREAT movie to your collection? Buy the best copy of Runaway Train that you can find!

Not even Eric Roberts could ruin this.....
If you're a "trainspotter", don't even think about watching this movie. It ain't something where you're going to jot down what year that Elco is, or be outraged that the consist is put together incorrectly. It's just intense, and thrilling.
Our anti-hero, Jon Voight, is a very nasty con, and chews the scenery with the best of them here. His co-escapee, Eric Roberts, will usually turn me off to any film he infests, but he's actually the comic relief, with his whining and bitching, and hare-lipped enunciation. Rebecca de Mornay, as a young prison guard(yeah, right!)actually has dirt all over her face, keeps her clothes on, and gets pushed to limits we've only seen her approach in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
Runaway Train is just an exciting ride, and not a movie for just kicking back and relaxing to.

Excellent movie with a message over time.
This is an excellent movie. In it Manny, John Voight's charactor, reveals to Buck, Eric Robert's charactor, how to live life on its own terms that can apply to anyone of us.
Rebecca DeMornay's charactor helps to reveal and for us to understand the true nature of Manny in an intense few minutes of drama.
In the final showdown between the Warden and Manny we come to understand the price of Manny's freedom.
The closing quote from William Shakspeare's "Richard the III" is perfect and thought provoking about these two charactors.
This is yet another excellent work from Akira Kurosawa.

"Mind-Blowing"
"Runaway Train" depicts the story of two escaped convicts from a maximum security prison in Alaska who take refuge on a train. Unbeknownst to them the driver of that train dies of a heart attack and they are left to defend for themselves as the train barrels through at break-neck speed. The only other passenger is a female train worker. What makes this movie work, along with the amazing stunts and special effects, are the superb acting by the leads played by Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. They play the convicts to the hilt as Voight displays moments when his character is nothing more than an animal who has no regard for human life. Roberts plays the more gentler convict who looks up to the Voight character as his idol. Rebecca DeMornay also stars as the female aboard the train in one of her most unglamorous roles. She pulls off the performance as a tough woman who must defend herself against these convicts while at the same time trying to save her life. The DVD is barebones, but the film comes in both widescreen and full screen formats and the theatrical trailer is included. The single disc is double-sided. Unfortunately "Runaway Train" is now out-of-print, but there are some copies available by private sellers on Amazon. The movie was nominated for three Oscars including Best Actor for Voight, Best Supporting Actor for Roberts, and the film was up for Best Editing.

Voight's Performance Memorable
This used to be one of my favorite films until a language issue here kind of turned me off, but it's such an interesting story and character portrait that I still look at, just not too often.

Jon Voight's character is the main reason I remember this movie so well.
Voight, as "Manny," provides about as intense and good an acting performance as you could ask for. He's riveting in here. As tough as he is - a hardened criminal who escapes from prison with "Buck" (Eric Roberts) - he gives Roberts a little lecture during this story about being humble enough to serve, even in the most humiliating circumstances. I've never forgotten that intense short speech.

This is an action-packed, rough film with rough people and very rough - to the point of crude - language. The language is actually ludicrous at times with over-the-top characters like the ones played by John P. Ryan and Kenneth McMillian. Being a Golan-Globus film of the period ('70s and '80s), this film is overridden by low-life characters, a trademark of those filmmakers.

Back on the positive side, the story features great suspense, and a real feel for the bleak, snowy Alaskan terrain. The last 30 minutes is the best, because of less dialog, a pounding music beat and a terrific, memorable ending.

Overall, if you can take the blaspheming assault on your ears, this movie is worth it for the great adventure and if for nothing else, Voight's fabulous performance.

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