Runaway Train (film)

Runaway Train
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrei Konchalovsky
Screenplay byDjordje Milicevic
Paul Zindel
Edward Bunker
Story byAkira Kurosawa
Hideo Oguni (uncredited)
Ryūzō Kikushima (uncredited)
Produced byMenahem Golan
Yoram Globus
Starring
CinematographyAlan Hume
Edited byHenry Richardson
Music byTrevor Jones
Production
companies
Northbrook Films
Golan-Globus Productions
Distributed byThe Cannon Group, Inc.
Release dates
  • December 6, 1985 (1985-12-06) (Limited)
  • January 17, 1986 (1986-01-17) (Wide)
Running time
110 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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]

  1. ^ "RUNAWAY TRAIN (18)". British Board of Film Classification. January 16, 1986. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Andrew Yule, Hollywood a Go-Go: The True Story of the Cannon Film Empire, Sphere Books, 1987 p 189
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Kurosawa, Akira (2009). Dodes'Ka-den (Akira Kurosawa: It's wonderful to create – Kurosawa Uses Color) (DVD). The Criterion Collection.