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 (as Andrei Konchalovsky)

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

alaska | train | prisoner | freight train | fugitive | 

---

Taglines:

The Ride Of Your Death...

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Escape en tren

Filming Locations:

Anaconda, Montana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,601,480, 6 December 1985, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$7,936,012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golan-Globus Productions, Northbrook Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's key foreign artisans, original Screenwriter Akira Kurosawa, and Director Andrey Konchalovskiy, share the same initials of "A.K."

---

Goofs

When the ill-fated engineer notches out the throttle on the lead engine, the reverser handle (just below the throttle) can be seen in neutral.

---

Quotes

Sara: [tearfully] You're an animal!
Manny: No, worse! Human. Human!

---

Alternate Versions

The DVD mysteriously edits out the shot of the first helicopter policeman being run over by the wheels of the train. You see him crash into the train windshield and see him fall off, but then you see just a plain shot of the wheels. In all other versions of the film on video and laserdisc have a shot of this man's face coming right at the camera as his body is run over by the wheels of the train. Even the US TV version has a brief shot of this. This shot is present in the UK Arrow Films DVD release.

---

Connections

Featured in The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films (2014)

---

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

One of a kind!

RUNAWAY TRAIN is one of only a few films which are so great that you'll like the people involved in it for the rest of their career regardless in which movies they appear in the future. Walter Hill's underrated STREETS OF FIRE did this to Willem Dafoe, Diane Lane and even Michael Pare while RUNAWAY TRAIN did the same to John Voight, Rebecca DeMornay and even Eric Roberts.

I find it interesting that a film written by a Japanese (Akira Kurosawa!) and directed by a Russian (Andrej Konchalowsky) which features American actors can be such a coherent masterpiece. Although the story is very simple there are deeper layers of meaning which have a lot to say about the human condition and which are so universal that everyone can read the metaphors. Truly an existential action-film!

RUNAWAY TRAIN is not only one of my favorite action-movies of all times but one of the greatest films ever in my opinion. And the famous "gold"-monologue by Manny is just so true!