Runaway Train

One of the most highly regarded films produced by Cannon, this gripping thriller—though not a box office success—received excellent reviews and earned three Oscar nominations, including two for its stars, Jon Voight and Eric Roberts, both delivering performances of a lifetime. They play two criminals who escape from a maximum-security prison and end up aboard a runaway train hurtling toward certain death—unless they can achieve the impossible. Based on a script written (but not directed) by Akira Kurosawa, the film was helmed by Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, who crafted what is widely considered his finest American work. The result is a tense, emotionally resonant drama that explores themes of human nature and freedom, set against the stark, poetic backdrop of the snow-covered landscapes through which the doomed train races.