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, who both proceeded to successful careers as "tough guy" character actors.

Plot

Oscar "Manny" Manheim is a bank robber and hero to the convicts of Alaska's Stonehaven Maximum Security Prison. After two previous escape attempts, Manny is put in solitary confinement for three years. A court order compels Associate Warden Ranken to release him from solitary. Planning a third breakout, Manny is forced to advance his plan to mid-winter after he is stabbed in the hand. Manny recruits young prisoner Buck McGeehy to help in the plan. After escaping from the prison via a sewer tunnel that opens near a freezing river, and a cross-country hike, the two arrive at a switchyard. After stealing railroad clothing, they board a train, consisting only of four locomotives.

Awards