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Runaway Train

Play trailer Poster for Runaway Train R Released Jan 17, 1986 1h 51m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
83% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Escaped convicts (Jon Voight, Eric Roberts) and a stowaway girl (Rebecca De Mornay) ride an unmanned diesel speeding out of control through Alaska.

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Runaway Train

Runaway Train

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Critics Consensus

Charging forward with the momentum of a locomotive, Runaway Train makes great use of its adrenaline-fueled premise and star presences of Jon Voight and Eric Roberts.

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Critics Reviews

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Paul Attanasio Washington Post "Runaway Train" isn't just bad -- it's bodaciously bad, grotesquely overblown, lurid in its emotion, big ideas on its brain. Jan 4, 2018 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Wrenchingly intense and brutally powerful, Andrei Konchalovsky's film rates as a most exciting action epic and is fundamentally serious enough to work strongly on numerous levels. Mar 26, 2009 Full Review Geoff Andrew Time Out Somehow one leaves aside the blatant implausibilities, the coincidences, even Eric Roberts, and takes great pleasure in a breakneck ride to the end of the line. Feb 9, 2006 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a periodically effective yet predominantly tedious misfire that squanders a seemingly foolproof setup. Rated: 2/4 Nov 27, 2021 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy A rare quality credit for The Cannon Group. Rated: 3/4 Mar 27, 2021 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Unpredictably cohesive elements collaborate, unveiling an intensity and underlying poignancy that come as a great surprise considering the cliché action movie title. Rated: 8/10 Sep 7, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Bill B Longer and more violent than I anticipated, but sprinkled with some good moments. Voight, Roberts and DeMornay are all good. Not bad. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/19/24 Full Review 007tribefan B Heard about this movie from the Adam Carolla podcast. Mr Voight was interviewed, and they discussed this movie. Good watch. The weather would have kicked ALL of their butts on a train. 39 years ago! Hard to comprehend the passing of time. Need to do a dive into Rebecca D's acting resume'. She looked so young and innocent. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/10/24 Full Review Sams K Iconic one! It's a very good movie, you can't lose this one! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/03/24 Full Review ben j Much more than your average 80s action thriller (though a perfect one at that), Runaway Train is an existential meditation on what it means to be human. Simultaneously exhilarating--it's pacing is as fast as the titular runaway train--as it is philosophical. The ending is as perfect as they come. Broken, tough guy prison hero Manny is accompanied by buffoonish yet likable Buck in their prison escape, hunted down by obsessive, Captain Ahab-esque prison warden Ranken. Ranken and Manny define each other, mirror images, and their existence is defined by the game they play with one another, and who gets the final victory. Manny hysterically screaming "I won!!!" while barreling 90mph towards his demise is as about as poetic, ironic, and ultimately sad, yet somehow true, as anything I've seen. One of the best 80s flicks out there. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/24 Full Review reghuvaran s Runaway train is about a train unhinged and hurtling towards disaster through the icy wilderness of alaska. Two law breakers and a stowaway girl who unwittingly choose to ride it must share a common destiny. Aside from the simple premise of convicts making the great escape of their lives and policemen in pursuit, Runaway train engages you in an emotional roller coaster ride through brilliant acting performances from a young John Voight who plays the titular role and his accomplice played by Eric Robwrts. The movie is absolutely about the thrills that puts you in the convicts seat taking the escape ride. However in its short running span of two hours it paints good character stetches of the main protagonists without going overboard on social commentary. Technically it is an accomplished movie. Visually it is an absolute treat to watch with excellent cinematography and beautiful tracking shots in a very inhospitable and difficult terrain to shoot. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/24 Full Review DanTheMan 2 Charging forward with the momentum of a locomotive, Runaway Train is another incredible concoction by mad lads at Cannon Films. Being based on an unfilmed Akira Kurosawa script, refined and co-written by Edward Bunker (Mr Blue from fucking Resovier Dogs) and then directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, the film is a terrific mix of tightly coiled action and psychoanalysis that remains a wrenchingly intense and brutally powerful watch even now. Before viewing, I only really knew the film in passing due to its influence on Speed and now having watched it, I can confidently say that this is the full embodiment of Dad cinema, I love it. Between the nihilism and the vicious intensity of Jon Voight's performance, the endless charm of Eric Roberts, its outstanding dread-inducing score by Trevor Jones, gorgeous Alaskan photography and spontaneously odd direction, Runaway Train marks not only a high point for Cannon Films but takes great pleasure in delivering a breakneck ride to the end of the line. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Runaway Train

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Escaped convicts (Jon Voight, Eric Roberts) and a stowaway girl (Rebecca De Mornay) ride an unmanned diesel speeding out of control through Alaska.
Director
Andrey Konchalovskiy
Producer
Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus
Screenwriter
Djordje Milicevic, Paul Zindel, Edward Bunker
Distributor
MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Golan-Globus
Rating
R
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 17, 1986, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$7.2M
Runtime
1h 51m
Sound Mix
Surround
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