His objective is to track down Galina Konstantin, who has stolen an extremely valuable and dangerous container from the Slovak Government, and extract her to Munich by train.

After consulting with the German railway authority and quarantine specialists, Zakev announces that, should the train come close enough to Germany, they will have to destroy a bridge along its path using thermonuclear missiles.

Derailed is the sister film to Air Panic, another Nu Image transportation disaster thriller made shortly before by some of the same personnel, including director Misiorowski, writers Anderson and Gierasch, editor Jacubowicz, composer Colbert and effects men Willie Botha and Ziad Zeirafi.

[6] While Van Damme did travel to Cannes to promote his collaboration with Millennium, he focused on the later cancelled The Monk, and seemingly made no mention of Death Train during the press conference.

[7] In early October 2001, trade publication The Hollywood Reporter relayed that the film, now named Derailed, was about to enter production with Van Damme and Laura Harring starring, and an estimated $20 million budget.

[3] The Death Train title was re-used by Nu Image for a much lower budgeted 2003 film featuring their B contract player Bryan Genesse.

[8] The train's journey in the film, from Bratislava to Munich via Linz, corresponds to the central segment of the route followed by the famed Orient Express in its classic years, although no overt reference is made to that specific property.

[9] Elements of Brazilian jiu jitsu were incorporated into the fight sequences as a way to mix things up for Van Damme's regular audience.

[10] Laura Harring took self defence classes to prepare for her role, and credited the film for exposing her to a broader range of physical activities.

[11][12] Nonetheless, she was doubled by Leonsia Dokuzova, an internationally touring Bulgarian acrobat, for the most dangerous aerials performed by her character.

Van Damme considered himself to have been in the worst shape of his career on Derailed, as he spent most of his time in his hotel room to follow the latest 9/11 developments.

[9][15][20] Due to Bulgaria's relatively small railway system, only four miles of tracks located near Aldomirovtsi could be made available to the production, which forced the extensive use of green screen to vary backgrounds.

Because of the sheer volume of work required, Millenium's in-house lab, Sofia-based Worldwide FX, partnered with fellow Bulgarian studio Sokerov.

The material involving the motorcycle and car carrier was sent to Digital Film Lab in Los Angeles, who were the main VFX shop on Air Panic.

The website's consensus reads: "Derailed is one of those familiar and pulpy cautionary tales that depend largely on implausible coincidences and preposterous twists.

"[5] The film has invariably been described as one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's worst, and is seen by many as the nadir of his career since his rise to mainstream stardom in the late 1980s.

David Nusair of DVD Cyber Center and Reel Reviews called the direction "disastrous" and said "The brunt of the blame [...] falls to filmmaker Bob Misiorowski [...] Slow-motion, instant replays, grainy footage [...] his rampant overuse becomes far more distracting than anything else, turning Derailed into an overblown annoyance.

"[31] Earl Cressey of DVD Talk wrote that while he "went into Derailed with low expectations, the film still managed to disappoint" and was plagued by "a clichéd plot, jerky editing, and some really bad special effects.

[33] TV Guide was also scathing, commenting that "The title sums up the state of one-time action star Jean-Claude Van Damme's career.

"[34] Mick Martin and Marsha Porter's DVD and Video Guide assessed that "former action star Jean-Claude Van Damme continues his descent into mediocrity with this badly directed, acted and written action-thriller", giving it a zero out of five.

Eoin Friel of The Action Elite called Derailed "painful to watch", with "some of the worst visual effects you’ll ever see", and compared it unfavorably to Van Damme's earlier foray into the same genre, Sudden Death.