Runaway Train (1985)

Two escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a train with no brakes and nobody driving.

Director:

Andrey Konchalovskiy

Writers:

Djordje Milicevic (screenplay), Paul Zindel (screenplay),

Stars:

Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Voight	...	Oscar 'Manny' Manheim
Eric Roberts	...	Buck McGeehy
Rebecca De Mornay	...	Sara
Kyle T. Heffner	...	Frank Barstow
John P. Ryan	...	Warden Ranken
T.K. Carter	...	Dave Prince
Kenneth McMillan	...	Eddie MacDonald
Stacey Pickren	...	Ruby
Walter Wyatt	...	Conlan
Edward Bunker	...	Jonah
Reid Cruickshanks	...	Al Turner (as Reid Cruikshanks)
Dan Wray	...	Fat Con
Michael Lee Gogin	...	Short Con
John Bloom	...	Tall Con
Hank Worden	...	Old Con (as Norton E. 'Hank' Warden)

Storyline

A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.

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Plot Keywords:

train | prison | prisoner | escape | heart attack | 

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Taglines:

Once it starts, nothing can stop it!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Escape en tren

Filming Locations:

Montana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$7,936,012 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golan-Globus Productions, Northbrook Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marlon Brando praised Runaway Train in his autobiography, and said that he in some ways identified himself with Jon Voight's character.

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Goofs

When the prison guard from the helicopter lands on the train and crashes through the train window and falls off the train he is not wearing his goggles. In the next shot, when he is getting run over by the train wheels, he is wearing the goggles.

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Quotes

[Ranken and his team are about to pursue Manny]
Ranken: God, don't kill him. Let me do it.

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Connections

Referenced in Seinfeld: The Mom and Pop Store (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Gloria in D Major"
by Antonio Vivaldi (as Vivaldi)
Performed by The USSR Academic Russian Chorus and the Moscow Conservatoire Students Orchestra

User Reviews

a knock-out!

Everything about this film has a surreal, visceral, in-your-face quality; the anguished, violent intensity of the prison scenes, the frozen wastelands of the lands outside the prison (gee, a metaphor?), the train -- not just a lifeless machine but a huge, juggernaut-like beast -- that the title refers to, the fierce, animalistic performance by Jon Voight, who plays the character of Manny with such raw emotion and conviction that at no moment do we doubt that he is anything other than what he appears to be on screen.

It's based on a screenplay by the legendary Akira Kurosawa -- knowing this makes a lot of the elements a bit more familiar; the snow, the hopelessness, the apocalyptic atmosphere -- and it's directed by Russian Andrei Konchalovsky, who after this film directed two Hollywood embarrassments called "Homer & Eddie" and "Tango & Cash" (apparently trying to corner the market on ampersands), and most recently helmed the acclaimed Armand Assante mini-series "The Odyssey" for television. "Runaway Train" is not a perfect film, some of the minor supporting performances are really awful and some viewers may find Eric Roberts to be irritating, but the sheer kineticism, among the other stronger elements, makes it worthwhile. Often called an intellectual action picture, it's more of an existential one, i.e. man versus a indifferent/hostile universe, etc. Everything in the film has a greater, more universal meaning, and it's not rocket science to figure out what stands for what. The simplicity of its metaphors doesn't dull the impact of "Runaway Train" as a sensory experience, though, because it's still pretty potent stuff. Provided you're not completely close-minded, this is one you'll remember for a long, long time.