A formulaic entry which marked the sadly premature end of Tony Scott's directorial career.

The plot that is as simple as you could get - an unmanned out of control train races towards a city and only 2 men can stop it. Throw in your staple action film characters - a veteran and a rookie each with their own back story, an expert in the control room, a boss who only believes in playing by the rules and worried relatives watching it unfold on the TV screens.

It never threatens to deviate from being a mindless, silly piece of a fluff with the script drifting from stereotypical male banter to the cloyingly sentimental in its quieter moments. Scott does an adequate job devising as much adrenaline fuelled action out of one plot strand yet they won't live long in the memory, much like the film itself.

Its one advantage is Denzel Washington who even in weaker efforts such as this remains an worthy screen presence.