RUNAWAY TRAIN (1985), a great American film, by Russian-American director Andrei Konchalovsky, is now available for instant Netflix streaming. If youre too young to remember this film, or saw and forgot it back in the day, check it out. This is brilliant filmmaking--a modern myth compressed into the context of a prison break film (SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, borrowed from this). Academy Award winner Jon Voight (father of Angelina Jolie) and Eric Roberts (brother of Julia, and in my opinion, the better actor), play two convicts who escape an Alaskan maximum security prison on a runaway train, headed toward an untimely end when railroad officials steer their train onto an unused siding. Rebecca de Mornay is terrific in a supporting role as a railroad worker, trapped on the train with them. Voight, a murderer just released from solitary confinement, is being pursued by a ruthless prison warden (played by John P. Ryan). The warden considers Voight an animal; but Voight, a hero to his fellow inmates, demonstrates the indomitable power of the human spirit in unendurable circumstances. The subtext is communicated visually, through Alan Humes brilliant cinematography, and through the performances of Voight, Roberts, and de Mornay. The runaway train stands for life: a struggle to the death against overwhelming odds. This film will leave you powerfully reminded of how our struggle again chaos and death has powerful meaning, and is well worth fighting for.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 00:39:29 +0000
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