| Runaway Train | |
|---|---|
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Runaway_trainposter.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Andrei Konchalovsky |
| Screenplay by | Djordje Milicevic Paul Zindel Edward Bunker |
| Story by | Akira Kurosawa Hideo Oguni (uncredited) Ryūzō Kikushima (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Menahem Golan Yoram Globus |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Alan Hume |
| Edited by | Henry Richardson |
| Music by | Trevor Jones |
Production companies | Northbrook Films Golan-Globus Productions |
| Distributed by | The Cannon Group, Inc. |
Release dates | |
Running time | 110 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9 million[2] |
| Box office | $7.7 million (US)[2] |
Runaway Train is a 1985 American action thriller film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay and John P. Ryan. The screenplay by Đorđe Miličević, Paul Zindel and Edward Bunker was based on an original 1960s screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, with uncredited contributions by frequent Kurosawa collaborators Hideo Oguni and Ryūzō Kikushima. The film was also the feature debut of both Danny Trejo and Tommy "Tiny" Lister,[3] who both proceeded to successful careers as "tough guy" character actors.
The story concerns two escaped convicts and a female assistant locomotive driver who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska. Voight and Roberts were both nominated for Academy Awards. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Kurosawa intended the original screenplay to be his first color film following Red Beard, but difficulties with the American financial backers led to its being shelved.[4]
- ^ "RUNAWAY TRAIN (18)". British Board of Film Classification. January 16, 1986. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
- ^ a b Andrew Yule, Hollywood a Go-Go: The True Story of the Cannon Film Empire, Sphere Books, 1987 p 189
- ^ Boone, Keyaira (December 11, 2020). "Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr. Dead At 62". Essence.
Lister's appearances as Deebo in "Friday" and "Next Friday" had a lasting effect on black film cannon.
- ^ Kurosawa, Akira (2009). Dodes'Ka-den (Akira Kurosawa: It's wonderful to create – Kurosawa Uses Color) (DVD). The Criterion Collection.