'Unstoppable' a heart-pounding ride

Seriously, how threatening and scary can a big, unmanned choo-choo be?

Let yardmaster Connie Hooper answer that one.

“A missile the size of the Chrysler Building!” she screeches.

OK. Now that sounds scary.

Tony Scott's “Unstoppable” celebrates the old-fashioned disaster movie where human hubris and neglect conspire to threaten the lives of untold numbers of people.

“Unstoppable” represents the cream of the disaster movie crop, a smart and compressed dramatic experience pared down to its essentials.

It bends credibility just enough to bump up the action, but treats the whole story as one big Fox TV news report with a “You are There” approach that produces goose bumps.

“Unstoppable” is also a working-class hero tale, “inspired” by a 2001 incident in which an unmanned train zipped along the tracks in Ohio before being boarded and halted.

In Scott's inspired nail-biter, a neglectful railroad engineer (“My Name is Earl” star Ethan Suplee) starts up an engine and lets it coast along while he jumps out, presumably to run ahead and switch the track.

Not being in great shape, he bumbles it and the train pulls out with nobody aboard.

How bad can this be?

Then the throttle slips into full-speed mode.

Oh, yeah, and the air brakes are disconnected.

Could anything get worse?

Maybe schoolchildren standing in the path of the train, now barreling along at top speed and carrying several box cars of hazardous materials?

Connie Hooper (played by Rosario Dawson) is the first official to recognize the true menace of the runaway train.

Meanwhile, old-timer engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) and hotshot newcomer Will Colson (“Star Trek” star Chris Pine) share a difficult working relationship on their first day together.

In quick, concise exchanges, we know that Barnes thinks little of Colson, whose bigwig daddy pulled strings to get him a job.

Barnes complains that working with Colson is like being in a nursery.

Colson replies that working with Barnes is like being in a retirement home.

See? A little class conflict and ageism to go along with the disaster about to unfold.

We know instantly that Kevin Dunn's corporate honcho doesn't have a clue what to do, and that his biggest priority is minimizing damage to his company's stock and public image.

Soon, the runaway train blows through anything caught on the tracks. As it nears Stanton, Pa., the astute Hooper realizes that the train can't handle the 25 mph curve in the middle of the city, and its hazardous cargo might well wipe the place out.

One of the joys of “Unstoppable” is that nobody really guesses the size of the danger right away. So when Barnes convinces Colson they can stop the runaway, he goes along with his idea.

Screenwriter Mark “Live Free or Die Hard” Bomback does something very clever. He doesn't dump the usual expository background information about the main characters at the start of the story.

Nope. He waits until we're sufficiently connected to Barnes and Colson, so when they tell each other their stories Colson's wife kicked him out of the house, and widower Barnes feels estranged from his daughters who work at Hooters they mean more to us because we care now.

But enough soppy stuff.

Scott ratchets up the action slowly but meticulously, raising our blood pressure in small, sure increments that set us up for a white-knuckle experience that rumbles down the tracks of our souls.

“Unstoppable” should be a blockbuster hit, because it's a perfect emotional metaphor for America's financial crisis.

The regulators and responsible people were asleep at the switch (note railroad track reference), and America's economy started going faster and faster and faster, until it got out of control and almost destroyed the country with its box cars of toxic assets.

And who steps up to the Nickleplate? Joe Engineer and his pal Joe Conductor.

“Unstoppable” isn't a feel-good movie. It's a feel-great movie.

“Unstoppable”

<P>

“Unstoppable”

★ ★ ★ ½</P>

<P>Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn</P>

<P>Directed by: Tony Scott </P>

<P>Other: A 20th Century Fox release. Rated PG-13 for language. 99 minutes</P>