On R List of Movie Reviews
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Runaway Train (1985)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
7/07, 6/11, 4/20
7/07:
Jon Voight's Manny Manheim is a mean, hard, and tough son of a bitch to ever grace the silver screen.
Runaway Train is a spectacular, thrilling machine that never lets down. There's no question Jon Voight completely owns
everybody. He deserved the Oscar nomination. Also receiving the same is Eric Roberts who's good but annoying. John P. Ryan
is even more memorable, but Rebecca De Mornay is random.
Thanks to the incredible stunt work, especially when Ranken held to the rope ladder that's hanging off from the helicopter,
the battle between him and Manny speaks volumes to their machismo. There's a fine line separating those who can from those
who can't. It's plain through Manny and Buck.
Against the backdrop of Alaska's snow-covered terrain, the runaway train heightens the suspense of the plot which is
ingenious with twists and turns. The movie never tries to be unrealistic in terms of impossible physics.
As poetic as it can be, the ending is one of the greatest ever shot.
All in all, Jon Voight is brilliant, breathtaking, and ferocious in Runaway Train.
6/11:
Runaway Train is one of the most unusual pictures that leaves me out of breath from start to finish.
It's easily Jon Voight's show, and his thrilling performance as Oscar "Manny" Manheim comes close to topping what
he did in Midnight Cowboy. Eric Roberts is certainly a better actor than his sister Julia.
All in all, armed with one of the top ten greatest endings ever, Runaway Train is special.
4/20:
Runaway Train is still a good movie despite losing its luster this time around.
The action is kind of stale at times during the final hour. Parts of it remind me of William Friedkin's
Sorcerer.
I hate the fact that there's a woman on the train, having initially fallen asleep, because it seems random. The train
is unrealistic; you can point it out for me anywhere in the United States because that thing looks like it was built to run
in Siberian Russia.
Scenes involving the command center to control the situation take away the focus a bit because it eventually stops playing a part in
the last thirty minutes. Hence, I don't know the remedy should be because who cares what the operators are thinking
or dealing with? On second thought, the film's point of view is better off limited to the two escaped convicts.
Naturally, Runaway Train is about two hard-ass characters: Oscar "Manny" Manheim and Warden Ranken. Thus,
John P. Ryan is more memorable than Eric Roberts who's annoying by being an ass-kisser. Jon Voight is
special; it's his film, and he deserved the Oscar nomination.
All in all, Runaway Train is a must-see because of Jon Voight.