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Derailed (2002 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Derailed' is a 2002 American-Bulgarian action film directed by Bob Misiorowski, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tomas Arana, Laura Harring and Van Damme's son Kristopher van Varenberg. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on October 15, 2002.
Plot
NATO operative Jacques Kristoff is summoned into action by his superior, General Zakev. His objective to track down Galina Konstantin, who has stolen an extremely valuable and dangerous top-secret container from the Slovakian Government. and extract her to Munich by train. Kristoff is given assistance by Lars, who is working with NATO.
Jacques is able to locate Galina. After a car chase they are forced to advance to the train station on foot, having to constantly evade soldiers. They are able to reach the train and it departs.
During the trip, Galina attempts to seduce Jacques, but is rejected. After one instance, Galina goes to change. Jacques is surprised to discover his wife, Madeline, and his two kids, Bailey and Ethan, have boarded the train planning to surprise him for his birthday. Galina, unaware of the Madeline's presence, comes out of the bathroom. The kids soon leave, and Madeline, believing Jacques to have been secretly having an affair, storms out and tells him that she and the kids will get off the train at the next stop.
During Jacques' encounter with his wife, the train's engine compartment is hijacked by two men who take control of the train. They install a cellphone jammer to prevent people from calling authorities. They are working with a man by the name of Mason Cole, an infamous international criminal, who has boarded the train.
After the train has departed, Cole initiates a hostile takeover of the train, killing all of the train's engine and baggage staff, with the exception of the conductor, who hid in a cabinet after being shot in the leg. He orders his henchmen to corral the passengers to the bar room, where he reveals his intention is to locate Galina, as she has something he wants.
Jacques, upon discovering Cole's plans, takes out one of his henchmen and runs to the back of the train, where Galina is hiding. When asked why she is being hunted by Cole, Galina reveals the top-secret cargo she is carrying is a set of 3 vials containing a mutated smallpox virus that was mixed with other deadly pathogens, with the capability to kill millions. Jacques takes the vials.
The two climb on the outside of the train to spy on Cole and the other passengers. However, they are detected, and a fight ensues. Jacques is able to take out some of the henchmen before being knocked off the train, presumed dead. However, he survives and discovers Galina has been captured by Cole. Cole is able to retrieve the vials from Jacques. When Galina attempts to take the vials back one breaks, exposing everyone on the train to the virus. In the fiasco, Jacques is able to escape.
The two men controlling the train announce they need to check the hydraulics, and stop the train. While one of them is examining the parts, Jacques ambushes him, and takes out his partner, re-taking control of the train. He disables the cell jammer, but is discovered by two more henchmen, whom he takes out. He then starts the train back up after getting help from the conductor. They start the train and rupture the brake lines, preventing the train from stopping.
Soon, Madeline, a doctor, discovers that the virus that infected everyone is smallpox, and that everyone born after 1973 is likely to be infected, as vaccinations for smallpox stopped being administered due to its eradication. She, with help from passenger Angus, treats the infected passengers, including Bailey and Ethan.
Cole, now in possession of the virus, plans to be extracted from the train via helicopter. However, they miss the rendezvous point due to Jacques not stopping the train, forcing the helicopter to follow. As Cole attempts to escape while the train is in motion, Jacques ambushed him and ties the helicopter's ladder to the train, causing it to crash as the train goes through the tunnel. He also steals the remaining virus back.
Jacques hides at the tail end of the train and notifies General Zakev of the events that transpired. However, he is discovered by two henchmen. He is able to take out one of them, and evades the other by getting off the train with a motorcycle.
Zakev soon alerts the rest of NATO, along with the World Health Organization. They send Dr. Reno and a group of quarantine specialists to the German railway authority, where they meet with Zakev. Due to the deadliness of the virus aboard the train, along with the fact that everyone on board is infected, Zakev announces that, should the train come close enough to Germany, they will be required to detonate a bridge along the train's path using thermonuclear missiles.
Jacques soon re-boards the train, and discovers Cole has captured his family and threatens to kill them if he does not return the vials. He does, but Cole attempts to shoot Ethan anyway. However, Ethan is able to disorient Cole and steal the vials. He runs towards the back of the train, as a henchman follows. However, the train is hit by another train, killing the henchman. Cole is forced to fall back, and Jacques runs to the back of the train to discover it has been taken clean off. Ethan is nowhere to be found and is presumed dead, with the vials in his possession.
Jacques then meet back up with the conductor, and they attempt to separate the engine car from the rest of the train. As they are about to separate, they are ambushed by Cole, who kills the conductor and gets in a fight with Jacques. During the fight, the train detaches, and Jacques is able to kill Cole by trapping his feet to one car and his tie to another.
The train is now significantly close to the detonation bridge, and Zakev orders the train to be destroyed upon its arrival. In order to stop the train, Jacques, along with other passengers, initiate the hand brake and try to stop the train. As they get closer, the bridge is destroyed and the separated engine car falls of the bridge and explodes. However, the passengers are able to stop the train just before it is about to fall off. Realizing this, the passengers jump cars seconds before the car they were in falls off the bridge, and Ethan suddenly appears, vials in hand.
The train is then put under quarantine and everyone is removed to a medical tent, as infected people are treated. General Zakev, Dr. Reno, and Lars show up in hazmat suits to assess and treat the infected. When they approach Jacques, Jacques reveals that Lars had to have been behind the hijacking, claiming Cole's plan would have been impossible without insider information, which Lars denies. Zakev is convinced, however, and orders Lars to be arrested.
Madeline and Jacques reconcile, and they soon wonder where Galina disappeared, before quickly coming to the conclusion that she will turn up again. In the final scene, Galina is discovered to be alive and uninfected, and stealing diamond necklaces.
Cast
Production
Filming
It is set and filmed at Bolshevik and Sofia, Bulgaria, in 56 days between October 20 and December 15, 2001.Release
Home media
DVD was released in Region 1 in the United States on October 15, 2002, and also Region 2 in the United Kingdom on 11 August 2003, it was distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with 5 reviews, the film has a rare approval rating of 0%meaning no favorable reviews whatsoeverreceiving an average rating of 2.42/10. The site's critics consensus describes the film as "one of those familiar and pulpy cautionary tales that depend largely on implausible coincidences and preposterous twists."References
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