The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers (WGA):

Brian Helgeland (screenplay)
John Godey (novel)

Release Date:

12 June 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | 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 Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime. |

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Hostage | Subway | Train | Subway Train

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Denzel Washington	...	Walter Garber
John Travolta	...	Ryder
Luis Guzmán	...	Phil Ramos
Victor Gojcaj	...	Bashkim
John Turturro	...	Camonetti
Michael Rispoli	...	John Johnson
Ramon Rodriguez	...	Delgado
James Gandolfini	...	Mayor
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)
Jason Butler Harner	...	Mr. Thomas
Gary Basaraba	...	Jerry Pollard (Motorman)

Also Known As:

The Taking of Pelham 123 (UK) (promotional title) (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and pervasive language.

Runtime:

106 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 | New Zealand:R16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Mexico:B15 | Japan:G | Argentina:13 | Iceland:16 | Taiwan:R-12 | Australia:MA | India:A | Germany:16 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

John Travolta's character (Ryder) wears a Breitling watch. Travolta is a spokesperson for Breitling.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the money car is struck and rolls over, the light bar is knocked off the roof. When the car is shown flipping through the air and when it falls to the street, the bar is back on.

Quotes:

Ryder: You know we all owe God a debt... and I'm a man who pays his debts. Are you a man who pays his debts?
Walter Garber: Yeah, yeah, sure... TV, cable, uh and my mortgage. That's a little like dying once a month.
Ryder: Oh, you're married... you're a married man?
Walter Garber: Maybe.
Ryder: Oh, no... you're married, man. Married men have mortgages.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 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.