Turns out Captain Kirk can drive a freight train every bit as well as he can a starship. “Unstoppable” is a summer movie in a winter slot because it is good enough to hold its own there — a thrilling, suspenseful, pulse-pounding adventure made all the more exciting because it is true.

In May of 2001, an engineer climbed off a slowly moving 47-car train bearing toxic chemicals to run ahead and switch the track, when the train unexpectedly sped up and left the rail yard without him. By the time the runaway was stopped, it had traveled 66 miles through three counties. “Unstoppable” borrows this storyline and fills in the gaps: Who were the men who risked their lives in a race against time to stop the train before it derailed and decimated a populated area (that would be Chris Pine, who played Kirk in the new “Star Trek,” and Denzel Washington) and what heroics did they employ to make it happen?

Tony Scott is a director who constantly has to fight the urge to go with style over substance. It is a battle he doesn’t fight all that bravely and, indeed, often loses spectacularly. Though “Unstoppable” begins with all his trademark overindulgent flourishes, he actually settles down as the story races on. This is a simple story and Scott realizes, better late than never, that it works best simply told.

Early on, Scott sets up the action, innocuously laying out the details of the rail yard, the swath of track, the towns in between, and the men who live and work in them, so that when things begin going haywire, we never forget where we are or where we’re going.

The train on which most of the action takes place should get a spot in the credits alongside its human stars. The 250-ton behemoth takes on distinctly human personality traits and, thanks to talented sound engineers, growls menacingly as it gulps in track.

We are used to stories of man vs. nature — lone individuals pitting themselves against a vastly more powerful and ultimately indifferent foe. “Unstoppable” manages to capture some of that feeling and isolate it, creating an adrenaline rush that equals the speed of the runaway locomotive it features.

details

UNSTOPPABLE

Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson

Director: Tony Scott

Rated: PG-13 (for sequences of action and peril, and some language)

Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Photo by TMS