12. Bail! Bail! Bail! - Stopping the Unstoppable Unstoppable (2010)
Unstoppable comes with the liberally applied precursor, inspired by true events. When 20th Century Fox needed a director to make a film a little more exciting than the actual story may have been, guess who got the call? Unstoppable would ultimately become Scotts last film and its basically one long action sequence, but a masterfully crafted action sequence at that. The premise is a half-mile long train has been accidentally been set in motion and as speed increases so does the danger to those involved. Somehow it needs to be stopped. Thats it. Despite a paper-thin premise, Scott ensures it warrants its 98-minute running time. The most exciting scene comes not from our heroes played by Denzel Washington (in his 5th and final teaming with Scott) and Chris Pine, but from an earlier sequence involving preliminary efforts to bring the train to a stop. Aboard a separate train, veteran driver Judd Stewart (David Warshofsky) attempts to slow down in front of the runaway, reducing its speed so that a helicopter chasing overhead can lower someone onto the moving train and bring it to a halt. As the train in front slows it becomes evident that the plan may not be foolproof and the attempt ultimately fails causing the lead train to derail and the death of Judd. What makes this scene so good is the real peril Scott is able to convey because not only are the stars not involved, but when shooting the scene Scott did everything for real, refreshingly very little CGI was used. In a DVD extra Scott is seen planning out the scene with models revealing that 22 cameras were involved including one in a helicopter above the helicopter being shown in the scene. Ultimately the end justified the means, once masterfully cut together the scene is suspenseful and visceral, just as Scott would have planned all along.