UNSTOPPABLE
Discuss elements such as what type of genre would you
eventually choose for the Unstoppable game and why?
The Genre I would for a Videogame based on Unstopable (Game) would be a
Railway Simulator/Train simulator genre. The game would be in third-person
view, using the perspective(s) from Will Coulson or Frank Barnes. It would also
incorporate a ‘Birdseye View’, in order to give the player a broader sense of
their environment and situation. In terms of plot, Unstopable (Game) have a
four months prequel (Like, Rockstars’ The Warriors) and give us insight of the
main characters’ lives before the events of the film before finally following
the film’s storyline itself after a couple of tutorial-type missions. I think
Unstoppable would make a interesting Simulator-type game because it’d allow the
players to re-live the experience from Will Coulson/Frank Barnes’ point-of-view
and allow players to do things differently.
Is Unstoppable
just a Film or is it a Book?
Unstoppable
Unstoppable is a 2010 Action/Thriller film directed by
Tony Scott and written by Mark Bomback. It has a variety of actors including,
Chris Pine, Denzel Washington, Rosario Dawson, Lew Temple and Ethan Suplee.
Unstoppable is loosely based on the real-life CSX 8888 incident aka the Crazy
Eight incident in 2001. However, the film greatly exaggerates the events; the
actual runaway locomotive went through northeast Ohio (not Pennsylvania) and
there were no casualties. Also the actual locomotive went nowhere near 70MPH,
and more like 45MPH at the most. However, two of the film’s failed attempts to
stop it were also tried in real-life-- By using derailers and shooting the
exterior stop button. The ultimate solution was similar, albeit not effected so
dramatically close to a populated area. The locomotive that did the job was driven by an engineer
with thirty-one years of experience (28 in the film) and
a conductor with a year's worth (in the movie, it's his first day). The guy who
actually got in and stopped it was not the young conductor, and he only had to
catch up with a train slowed down (by the coupled engine) to 11MPH.
Who are the Main Characters?
Will Coulson:
A rookie conductor-- Will is young and brash,
with family problems at home. He has restraining order from his estranged wife,
Darcy Colson, because of trust issues and the lack of communication between
them. He also has a son who he cannot see.
Will has only began working at AWVR, thus comes into conflict with his
senior Frank Barnes. However, the pair come to form a camaraderie when they
begin working together, get to know each other and stop the runaway locomotive,
“Triple 7”. He is played by actor Christopher Pine.
Frank Barnes:
A grizzled and veteran engineer at AWVR. But after working for nearly twenty-eight years, he’s being forced into retirement without benefits in three weeks. He has two adult daughters, Maya and Nicole Barnes. Like Will, he has family problems at home because he’s trying to support his children and missing his youngests’ birthday that day. As a result, Frank has issues with working with a fresh-faced and know-it-all rookie like Will who he believes is trying to steal his job. However, like Will, he eventually forms a bond after they work together and stop the runaway locomotive, “Triple 7”. He is played by actor Denzel Washington.
Connie Hooper:
Is the no-nonsense, efficient and overworked
Yardmaster. In the beginning, Connie has her hands full with a visiting FRA
Inspector and a tour of AWVR Locomotives organised by the local School.
However, as soon as “Triple 7” becomes a runaway locomotive she drops
everything in order do everything in her power to stop it, whilst ordering the
evacuation of local towns and railroads in order to avoid disaster. She is also
very sympathetic towards the plights of Will Coulson and Frank Barnes, and
comes to respect them. She is played by actress Rosario Dawson.
Ned Oldham:
Is a Railroad Wielder at AWVR. However, he is quick to
point out that his occupation is actually “Lead Wielder”. Little much else is
known about Ned accept that he comes across as a crass, Casanova-wannabe. Once
the action begins, Ned races after “Triple 7” with an escort of policemen but
becomes largely forgotten by the audience until he reappears near the end where
he helps out Will Coulson and Frank Barnes. He is played by actor Lew Temple.
Dewey:
Is an incompetent, stupid and forgetful Hostler at AWVR.
In the beginning, he accidentally instigates the disaster by failing to re-board
“Triple 7” after leaving it (whilst still in motion) to throw a misaligned
rail-switch. Afterwards, Dewey attempts to shift the blame on his fellow
co-workers and even “Triple 7” itself. In the end, he is fired from AWVR
Locomotives. He is played by actor Ethan Suplee.
Gileece:
He is a friend of Dewey. He is also a Hostler working at
AWVR. While he is probably more competent in terms of work then Dewey, he’s
just as hot-headed and arrogant. Gileece is the one who warns Dewey not to let
“Triple 7” get away. He is played by actor T.J Miller.
Oscar Galvin:
Is the Vice-President of AWVR. He is a no-nonsense,
greedy and selfish individual who cares more about the reputation of AWVR
Locomotives and his position, then the safety and well-being of civilians and employees.
He could arguably be called the main villain of Unstoppable. When “Triple 7”
becomes a runaway locomotive, he refuses to do anything about the train while
it's running through unoccupied terrain and then implements plans to derail.
Galvin also demands everybody do as he says and threatens to fires those who
don’t. He is played by actor Kevin Dunn.
Judd Stewart:
A twenty-six year veteran working at AWVR. He is also a
good friend of Frank Barnes, who’s implied to have worked before. Judd attempts
to stop the runaway locomotive, “Triple 7” but he is unfortunately and
tragically killed in the attempt. He is also unfortunately and largely
forgotten there afterwards. He is played by actor David Warshofsky.
Scott Werner:
Is the visiting FRA Inspector at AWVR. In the beginning,
Scott is one of the first people to quickly realise something is wrong and
points it out. Scott ends up helping Will Coulson, Frank Barnes and Connie
Hooper by giving them concrete, helpful and sound advice. He is played by actor
Kevin Corrigan.
Ryan Scott:
He is a Railway Worker at AWVR. He also happens to be a US
Marine Veteran of the War in Afghanistan. In the beginning of the film he
points out Frank Barnes to Will Coulson. Later, Scott attempts to stop “Triple
7” via Helicopter but is unsuccessful and horribly injured. It is said he makes
a full-recovery at the end. He is played by actor Scott Ahern.
Darcy Coulson:
She is the estranged wife of Will Coulson. They
split before the film because of trust issue and the lack of communication.
However, Will and Darcy reunite at the end of the film. She is played by
actress Jesse Schram.
Maya and Nicole Barnes:
They are the adult daughters of Frank Barnes.
They are eighteen and nineteen respectively. Both have a healthy,
father-daughter relationship but because of Frank’s work schedules, have fell
out with him for missing one of their birthdays. They are played by actresses Meagan
Tandy and Elizabeth Mathis, respectively.
Motivations:
Will Coulson, Frank Barnes and even Connie Hooper are all
motivated by selfless motivation and responsibility. With the disaster in the
making cause by #777, Will and Frank both feel as if they have nothing to lose
and both have similar family issues that trouble them. There need to prevent
disaster is triggered purely by their desires to save the lives of others, regardless
of their own well-being and personal safety. As such, Connie puts all her trust
in Will and Frank after she loses faith in her boss.
Oscar Galvin on the other hand is motivated purely
corporate materialism. He has more concerned about the massive financial loss
AWVR could potentially lose, rather than the lives of civilians and even AWVR’s
own employees. As a result, this puts him in direct contrast with Connie who
values the safety of innocent people and rather, take out #777 in a non-populated
area. This motivation arguably makes Galvin’s superiors see more value in
Connie’s ideas and responsibility, and then fire Galvin.
What are
the various emotional themes of all the characters?
Disaster
Perhaps the biggest theme in Unstoppable is the potential
disaster that could be caused by #777. As a result most if not all of the
characters in the film band together in order to prevent, and most do so in
their own way. However, by not working together this can make things worse it
currently is such as the case with Oscar Galvin, or even Dewey. By working
together, though, such as the efforts pooled between Will Coulson, Frank Barnes
and Ned Oldham a disaster that #777 could can be ultimately prevented.
Work
Work and the Working Class; Working is an important
factor in the everyday life in order to survive and make a living. However, if
one were to neglect their work like with Dewey then disaster could strike and
one would have to pay for the consequences. One could also be overcome by their
work by losing themselves due to anguish and grief, such as Frank Barnes. And
as such, this could lead to neglection of one’s’ responsibility and family.
Family
Family appears to be another notable theme in
Unstoppable, especially for Will Coulson and Frank Barnes. Will is obviously
still has feelings for his wife (and child), but his jealous and restraining
order prevents him from contacting them. Frank is also very fond of his
daughters but his work prevents him from spending any time with them, despite
his best interests in their well-beings and thus, they resent him for it.
However, by the end of the film both men learn the importance of family and
manage to re-connect them respectively.
Sadness
In the film the main characters seem to be depressed in
one form or another. For example; Will Coulson is upset that he cannot see his
wife or child due to a restraining order, because of his trust issues and
jealously. He is also particularly frustrated by how life is treating him. One
the other hand, Frank Barnes is struggling with the grief of his deceased wife
and thus, has thrown himself into his work in order to cope. With his up-coming
retirement, though, he isn’t sure what to do with himself and questions his
life’s decisions.
Responsibility
Throughout the film both Will Coulson and Frank Barnes
learn to trust each other and work together, in order to divert the potential
disaster caused by #777. At the end of the film, Dewey learns he needs to be
responsible and taken shortcuts are not the answer. As a result of his idiotic actions,
he is fired by AWVR and forced to work at a fast work restaurant.
Intro:
Unstoppable begins
by spanning across some idling diesel locomotives under the opening credits
whilst introducing the audience to the plot, characters and genre. We are shown
two different railyards in Pennsylvania ran by Allegheny and West Virginia Railroad
(AWVR). In the fulleryard in Northern Pennsylvania, children arrive for a
fieldtrip in regards of rail safety. Meanwhile in Stanton, Pennsylvania we are
introduced to main character Will Coulson (Chris Pine) whom is watching his
estranged wife and child from a distance, because of a restraining order. All
attempts of contacting her are ignored because of trust issues between the two.
We are then introduced to Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) who under similar
circumstances is struggling to re-connect with his adult daughters, because he
has forgotten his youngests’ birthday and has to work on the same day.
Arriving at work,
Will-- A Conductor, receives his orders for the day and learns he will be
working with Veteran Engineer, Frank Barnes. After being pointed out to a group
of older workers, he gets into a debate with them over age differences. While
he goes to punch in, the older works complain about being replaced by the likes
of Will by claiming he has ‘family connections’. Meanwhile in Fuller, we are
introduced to supporting characters Dewey (Ethan Suplee) and Gileece (T.J
Miller) -- A pair of Hostlers who are yelled at by the Yardmaster, for standing
idle near locomotive #777 and are told to move it for the schoolchildren’s
excursion. In a hurry, Dewey, decides to forego connecting the air hose between
#777 and the rest of the half-milelong train. Gileece, however, is quick to
remind him that means #777’s airbrakes will not be working but Dewey says
they’ll hook them up afterwards.
Meanwhile, Will and
Frank meet by their locomotive for the day where we find out that Will will be
in charge of the train. However, because of his inexperience he is reminded by
Frank that if there’s anything he doesn’t know, then should simply ask. At the
same time, Will also learns that a court hearing that morning did not end as he
had hoped. Back at the Fulleryard, Dewey turns the throttle to its highest
setting (idle) to enable the train's dynamic brakes. As #777 approaches a
switch, Dewey notices it is not set to the right track and against the advice
of Gileece, out of laziness jumps from the slow-moving #777 to line it
properly. Unfortunately, #777 throttle resets itself into its highest speed. As
it picks up speed, Dewey struggles to keep up and clumsily falls over. As a
result, #777 speeds away as both Hostlers can only watch helplessly and report
the recent event.
After some minor setbacks
in Stanton due to Will’s inexperience and distractions, Coulson and Barnes
finally leave for a Zinc Plant. However, the pair are initially unaware of the
on-going disaster. In Fuller, Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) informed of the
runaway #777 heading into the opposing traffic on the mainline. She immediately
orders Dewey and Gileece to chase #777, under the assumption that it’s dead
man’s switch will trigger the brakes and it will become a ‘coaster’ that’ll
stop after a couple of miles out. Connie also calls Lead Wielder, Ned Oldham
(Lew Temple) and orders him to meet the Hostlers so they can use his truck, to
catch and stop #777. By the time the three get there, however, they realize the
#777 is under power and is going too fast to catch. In response, Connie orders
dispatchers to get every on-coming trains on the mainline onto the side-lines
to avoid disaster.
After #777 narrowly
avoids a head-on collision with the train carrying the schoolchildren, Connie
reports the runaway train to Vice-President of AWVR, Oscar Galvin (Kevin Dunn).
In turn, he demands to know what is going on and what she intends on doing
about it. Unfortunately, Connie hasn’t figured out yet how to stop #777 and
begins calling the state police, co-ordinating with them to all crossings along
the line are secured after FRA Safety Inspector Scott Werner (Kevin Corrigan)
points out that #777 is carrying hazardous materials, and thus, poses immediate
danger to everyone. Meanwhile, on their train, Will and Frank hear the
dispatcher’s order to pull into a siding. However, because they cannot use the
siding assigned since the train is too long for it they ask if a RIP track
further down the line is clear. Meanwhile, #777’s story has become a massive
media event on the TV stations.
Middle:
Aware that #777 is heading
toward a stretch of the main line that runs through a fairly highly populated
area, Connie suggests it can be purposely derailed in a stretch of unpopulated
farmland before it reaches the towns. Galvin, however, overrules Connie's
suggestion out of concern for the massive financial loss AWVR will take rather
than the lives of civilians, and even employees. An emergency meeting of
railroad executives approves another plan, but Galvin refuses to tell Connie
what it is. The company’s plan to lashup two locomotive engines #7375 and #7346
driven by Veteran Engineer Judd Stewart (David Warshofsky) is sent ahead of #777
at a slower rate of speed, with the belief that the lashup will force it to
decelerate once it makes contact. Following this, AWVR employee and U.S. Marine
Ryan Scott (Ryan Ahern) is sent in via helicopter to re-take control.
Unfortunately things
go out of control once they are able to slow down #777 causing it to shove the
lashup again and horribly injure Ryan. Once his unconscious body is recovered
by the helicopter, Judd tries his best to slow down the locomotive again, but #777
keeps pushing against the lashup faster. When they try to abort this attempt by
having the lashup go into a sideline, #777 bumps into the lashup again and
causes two diesels to jump the rails, and causes them to crash. As a result,
Judd is tragically killed in the resulting explosion. #777 continues to go on
with the concerns of the danger posed to the upcoming town of Stanton becoming
a deadly reality-- As it features an
elevated curve known as the ‘Devil’s Curve’, which cannot be navigated at
high-speeds due to its sharp curvature and trains can only take 15MPH, and
should they connect would cause de-railing.
Meanwhile, Will and Frank
make it into the RIP track in the nick of time, as the runaway #777 smashes
through the back of their rear cart. As it passes, Frank notices that #777's
rear car has an open knuckle and reasons that they could uncouple the cars from
their own train. In theory, if they caught up with #777 they could couple their
vehicle, apply the dynamic brakes and slow the locomotive enough to where it
could pass through Stanton without major damage. Frank tells Connie of his plan
but Galvin tell him that AWVR plans to use a derailer near Arklow a town in
#777’s pathway. In response, Frank informs Galvin that the plan will not work
as #777 is too heavy and too fast to even derail now. Unmoved, Galvin threatens
to have both Will and Frank fired. We are then told that Frank has already been
fired and forced into early retirement by AWVR with half-benefits
Outside of Arklow,
the police attempt another plan by firing close-range shotgun blasts from a
grade crossing in order to trigger #777’s safety switch, only to abort when
they realise the switch's proximity to the fuel tank. A state trooper's radar
gun shows the train's speed to be 71 miles per hour (114 km/h). As Frank
foresaw, Galvin's plan to derail the train outside Arklow fails as the train
blows right through the derailers and sends shrapnel shooting into police
cruisers parked by the tracks. Galvin is left dumbfounded by the turn of events
leaving him with no choice but to rely on Will and Frank, who have nothing to
lose. Evacuations begin as #777 approaches Stanton, where it crosses the town
on an elevated curve where it will derail at its current speed. If it does, it
could fall into a fuel oil tank farm, causing a major environmental disaster.
Faced with the
possibility of dying, Will and Frank finally bond as colleagues and friends as
they reveal their personal and family issues to one another. Will reveals his
trust issues and restraining order with his estranged wife, because he
jealously believed that she was cheating on him with another man while Frank
reveals that his wife is dead and to cope with the grief, threw himself into
his work but began to neglect his daughters despite his best interests in them.
This combined with the forced retirement makes has made Frank question his life
and the wrong choices he has made. Within nothing left, Frank calls his
daughters and tells them that he loves them. Finally, they catch up with the
runaway #777 where Will begins to manually couple their locomotive it.
Unfortunately, things are just not this easy as we soon find out in its
conclusion.
The Conclusion:
Just as they
manually couple their locomotive to #777, Will slips and gets his foot crushed
in the process. Despite being severely injured, Will manages to get back to
Frank who manages to reduce the speed of #777 via the dynamic breaks of their
#1206. Unfortunately, #777 accelerates again since it is too heavy and they are
dragged behind it. As a result, Frank goes out and begins to engage each car's
manual brakes in a last ditch attempt to slow down #777 as it nears the curve,
in which he plans to get into the cab and stop the train from there.
Unfortunately, things go wrong when Will notices that #1206’s load ammeter goes
from motoring to zero in mere seconds and the dynamic brake is blown out,
causing them to be once again dragged behind #777. As a result, Will is
resorted to using the independent brake to keep them on the rails as they speed
through the ‘Devil’s Curve’.
As it does, there
locomotive leans dangerously to the side causing a lot of pipes to fall off and
land dangerously close to the large gas tanks. There locomotive even takes out
a couple of electrical power poles, but eventually they make it through the
curve more-or-less unharmed. Regardless, #777 is still out of control and Frank
encounters a gap too wide to cross. Thus, Frank cannot get to the cab. Worse
still, #777 is heading towards Stanton’s yard where disaster is waiting to
happen. Fortunately, Ned from earlier in the story arrives in his truck with a
police escort. Pulling onto the parallel road next to the line, Ned humorously
encourages Will to jump onto the truck and then drives Will to the front of
#777. There, Will jumps onto the #777 and is finally able to stop the train.
Will, Frank and Ned are celebrated as heroes, and the two reuniting with their
families.
In a short epilogue
it is revealed that Frank was promoted is now retired with full benefits; Will
got back together with his wife is expecting a second child; Connie was
promoted to vice-presidency and that Galvin was possibly fired from the
railroad for how he mishandled the events; Ryan Scott recovered fully from his
injuries; And Dewey "is now working in the fast-food industry".
What is the relationship of the two main characters and does it
change and why?
In the beginning Will Coulson and Frank Barnes initially
disliked one another because of their rookie-veteran relationship and the
obvious age differences between the pair of men. As the plot of Unstoppable
begins to unfold, the pair slowly but surely open up to one another with Will
revealing the reasons behind his trust issues and restraining order and Frank
revealing how he used work to cope with the death of his wife, but neglected
his two daughters regardless of his best interests in them. As a result, the
two build a working relationship and aide one another when they pursue the
runaway locomotive #777. This is because when one is put in a life-or-death
situation, one’s perspective and responsibility is changed and when grouped
together with others in the same situation, a bond of teamwork and camaraderie
is formed in order to get them through the mess and fix it before it gets
worse.
What’s the plot of the film?
On his first day of work, newbie railway company employee
Will Coulson (Chris Pine) is teamed with seasoned engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel
Washington). While they're out picking up a cargo shipment, another rail worker
Dewey (Ethan Suplee) ditches a heavy train full of combustible material,
causing it to go at full speed without anyone on board to man it. The
responsible train yard supervisor, Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson), attempts to
work with her greedy corporate manager Oscar Galvin (Kevin Dunn) to come up
with a solution to stop the train before it hits any other trains or reaches a
dangerous above-ground curve that will definitely derail it. Since Will and
Frank are on the same track as the runaway train, they start working on a plan
to slow it -- but there's no room for error, or an entire Pennsylvania town
could be decimated.
What significant differences does a game version of Unstoppable have
to the film and why?
The first difference would be that Unstopable (Game)
would use 2D Graphics or 3D Graphics from a Game Engine, like the Proprietary Engine,
PhysX Engine, Gamebryo Engine or even the Unreal Engine 4. A lot of time and
effort would be put into the Game version than the Film version, because of the
programming, animations and other technical details. Unlike the Film version,
it would also be altered in terms of storyline, gameplay and the amount of
freedom it’d give players.
