The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers (WGA):

Brian Helgeland (screenplay)
John Godey (novel)

Release Date:

12 June 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garbe into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime. |

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Subway Train | Hijack | Train | Subway

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Denzel Washington	...	Walter Garber
John Travolta	...	Ryder
Luis Guzmán	...	Phil Ramos
Victor Gojcaj	...	Bashkim
John Turturro	...	Camonetti
James Gandolfini	...	Mayor
Michael Rispoli	...	John Johnson
Ramon Rodriguez	...	Delgado
Saidah Arrika Ekulona	...	Dispatcher One
John Benjamin Hickey	...	Deputy Mayor LaSalle
Alex Kaluzhsky	...	George
Gbenga Akinnagbe	...	Wallace
Katherine Sigismund	...	Mom
Jake Richard Siciliano	...	8-Year-Old Boy (as Jake Siciliano)
Gary Basaraba	...	Jerry Pollard (Motorman)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and pervasive language.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44271) | UK:15 | South Korea:15 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | South Africa:16LV | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/12 | Denmark:15 | Netherlands:16 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

The IND Hoyt-Schermerhorn station in Brooklyn was used in the scene where Garber enters the tunnel to deliver the ransom money.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When the subway cars are stopped at the beginning they are supposedly just north of 42nd st. Then they split the train and back up the other cars. Then the passengers walk to the Grand Central to exit. They would have to be at 51st st station.

Quotes:

Ryder: We all owe God a death!
Walter Garber: That's not true Ryder!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

99 Problems

A good, tense heist thriller

A surprisingly enjoyable and tense thriller. While it does have a good bit of the kind of silly excess that ruins most summer blockbuster movies anymore, those flaws are overshadowed by the tightly-wound script and a couple of good performances from Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Director Tony Scott seems to have spent a good bit of effort trying to channel the spirit of 1970's American movies, and often this pays dividends as the focus on grittiness over spectacular action sequences ups the suspense. It's interesting that as the movie approaches the end you can feel the director's 21st century comic-book instincts straining against the genre he's working in as the story becomes increasingly less believable and more "heroic."

Nevertheless I can recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a suspenseful action movie that doesn't beat you over the head with histrionics from beginning to end. Admittedly I've never seen the original, and I can easily imagine those who love it might be substantially less enthusiastic about this remake.