67
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertRunaway Train is a reminder that the great adventures are great because they happen to people we care about.
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliRunaway Train belongs to a rare genre: the intelligent thriller.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThe action in this superlative film is relentless and gripping from beginning to end.
- 70Time OutTime OutSomehow one leaves aside the blatant implausibilities, the coincidences, even Eric Roberts, and takes great pleasure in a breakneck ride to the end of the line. And Voight has finally found his niche, abandoning all those wet-eyed liberal roles and playing to the hilt a hideous, raving beast, with scars. Great ending, too.
- 63Chicago TribuneGene SiskelChicago TribuneGene SiskelAlthough the film isn't an empty picture, it is too much of a good thing. Voight delivers a wonderful speech to Roberts about survival, but it's only one of many such monologues. Similarly, Roberts is tiring in his frantic reactions.
- 63Miami HeraldBill CosfordMiami HeraldBill CosfordThe movie comes to rest on Voight and, to a lesser extent, on the views of the train itself, which looks great thundering through the snow. Voight is nearly as impressive in appearance, tricked out with some menacing scars and a gold tooth, and he gives his part a reading quite unlike his previous work. [22 Jan 1986, p.D7]
- 60The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinWhat is well worth watching here, much more so than the train itself, is Jon Voight, who gives a fiery performance in an unusually hard-edged role.
- 60NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenNot every movie -- even one based on an unproduced Kurosawa screenplay -- has to be about Life itself. Oh well, enjoy it for the thrills, and don't worry about trying to keep a straight face. [30 Dec 1985, p.62]
- 60Washington PostPaul AttanasioWashington PostPaul AttanasioRunaway Train isn't just bad -- it's bodaciously bad, grotesquely overblown, lurid in its emotion, big ideas on its brain. And anyone with a taste for camp will have a glorious good time. [20 Jan 1986, p.C4]