Trailer Wednesday: Unstoppable, Skyline teaser
Two distinctly opposite methods of transportation are the focal point of the two trailers on hand this week. The first is a train and the second is some kind of alien spaceship. They are two November films: Tony Scott’s “Unstoppable” and the sci-fi flick “Sklyine” from the Strause brothers.
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Unstoppable
I’m beginning to think Tony Scott played with train sets as a child. After last summer’s “The Taking of Pelham 123” featured John Travolta as a wicked criminal holding hostages on the NYC subway, the prolific and much-loved action/thriller director now brings us “Unstoppable,” an inspired-by-true-events story of an unmanned locomotive barreling its way along at a ridiculous speed and carrying tons of hazardous chemicals that could do some heavy damage, or as Rosario Dawson’s character calls it, “a missile the size of the Chrysler building.” Interested?
Scott re-teams with his favorite actor, Denzel Washington, and “Star Trek’s” Chris Pine co-stars. “Pelham” was a disappointment by my Tony Scott standards, but “Unstoppable” is at least original. Regardless, I’ve never not been entertained by one of his films, which might not be the equivalent of “all of his films are good,” but it’s more than most directors achieve ever and certainly warrants a spotlight on this film, due out November 12.
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Skyline
It’s hard to endorse a film made by the brothers who brought us “Alien v. Predator: Requiem,” but I hold out hope for “Skyline,” an independent sci-fi film that features in-house special effects. The following is just a teaser but it gets the job done in terms of drawing you in, oddly in the same way that its story focuses on aliens dropping giant blue pods that draw in humans and animals like moths to a flame. Donald Faison of “Scrubs” stars.
The teaser seems like something a la “Cloverfield” but consider that the marketing strategy they’re going for, not necessary the type of film this will be. Also, I’m not sure if the audio is supposed to be this way or not, but I apologize for the crackling either way.
1 Comment
Unstoppable looks quite intriguing. Denzel always manages to bring emotions to surface in each film he is in. As for Chris Pine, for me he needs to prove himself, showing that he can be more than a younger Sylvester Stallone (ie a bland action star, since his previous movies include Star Trek and Smokin’ Aces). Yet I can’t help but think that the cast aren’t quite going to make up for an unstable plot (see The Taking of Pelham 123).
As for Skyline, judging on the trailer alone, I have mixed views. It looks like a good premise, and as you said, reminds me of Cloverfield and District 9. However, at the back of my mind, I don’t think CGI is enough to stop this being a bad film a la Alien vs Predator: Requiem. Something tells me it won’t quite live up to the standard of Cloverfield.