{"id":3805,"date":"2024-09-03T21:43:08","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T21:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=3805"},"modified":"2024-10-12T22:17:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T22:17:18","slug":"the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/09\/03\/the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 <\/strong>(2009)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia-MGM\/Action-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 106 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, pervasive language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Tony Scott\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Brian Helgeland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Harry Gregson-Williams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Tobias A. Schliessler \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Release date: June 12, 2009 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, Luis Guzman, Victor Gojcaj, Robert Vataj, Michael Rispoli, Ramon Rodriguez, James Gandolfini, John Benjamin Hickey, Alex Kaluzhsky, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Frank Wood, Gary Basaraba, Jake Siciliano, Aunjanue Ellis, Jason Butler Harner.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $65.4M (US)\/$150.1M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0As far as remakes go, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3<\/strong> is one of the better ones as long as you don\u2019t compare it too closely to the original. There is no comparison. The 1974 film starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw and Martin Balsam is the better movie. Whereas that one was gritty and rife with tension, the newer version is louder and flashier. It\u2019s definitely the work of Tony Scott who imbrues it with the same hyperkinetic energy as Beverly Hills Cop II. It took a minute for me to warm up to the 1987 sequel and while I still don\u2019t think it\u2019s a great film, it is a fun ride. I feel pretty much the same about The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3<\/strong>. It\u2019s flawed but fun.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The plot is pretty much the same. Four armed men hijack the titular subway train and demand a hefty ransom for the 18 passengers (including a motorman) they\u2019ve taken hostage. If they don\u2019t receive $10 million in one hour\u2019s time, one hostage will be killed for every additional minute they have to wait. The thing I miss most in this remake is the color-coded nicknames (e.g. \u201cMr. Blue\u201d, \u201cMr. Green\u201d) used by the bad guys in the original. In fact, they don\u2019t call each other anything. The lead heavy (Travolta, Pulp Fiction) identifies himself as \u201cRyder\u201d to MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) dispatcher Walter Garber (Washington, Training Day) who finds himself in the role of negotiator. More about him in a moment. Of the three accomplices, the only one the movie concerns itself with is Phil Ramos (Guzman, Boogie Nights), a former motorman fired by the MTA for a reason that resulted in imprisonment. The remaining two are simply muscle whose roles are limited to looking scary while pointing guns at the frightened passengers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Okay, back to Garber, the hero of the story. He used to be a big shot in the MTA until bribery allegations caused him to be demoted to dispatch during the investigation. Did he or didn\u2019t he? He denies it, of course. Others, like his supervisor (Rispoli, Summer of Sam), think he\u2019s guilty as hell. In any event, he\u2019s the one dealing with the hijacking crisis at Ryder\u2019s demand. When NYPD ESU officer Lt. Camonetti (Turturro, The Big Lebowski) tries to take over negotiations, it does not end well for one of the hostages. Ryder only wants to deal with Garber, nobody else. It\u2019s like he\u2019s found a kindred spirit of sorts.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of the biggest changes in the remake is motive. Yes, they\u2019re all in it for the money ($2.5M each). Yes, Ramos wants to get even with his former employers (including New York City). Ryder, on the other hand, has higher goals in addition to his own beef with NYC. His bigger picture involves manipulating the stock market to his own advantage- i.e. extreme greed. Interesting, but I prefer the simplicity of Shaw\u2019s villain in the OG. He was a mercenary, in it only for the money, plain and simple. He had no personal stake in the matter.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The original Pelham has a great cast, no question about it. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3<\/strong> has bigger names including two-time Oscar winner Denzel and two-time nominee Travolta. They deliver what they usually do in terms of performance. Denzel plays a noble, nice guy hero determined to make things right while Travolta overacts like crazy as the villain. Guzman\u2019s character isn\u2019t developed nearly enough. Turturro is good as the cop backing up Denzel. James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) is very good as the mayor with a public image problem. His deputy tells him paying the ransom and rescuing the hostages will go a long way towards restoring positive public opinion. Hey, it\u2019s New York; did you really think politics wouldn\u2019t play a part? Get a clue.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3<\/strong> is one of those hyper, noisy, overedited jobs that seem to please modern audiences. Ordinarily, I\u2019m not a big fan, but it didn\u2019t bother me so much this time. I enjoyed this contemporary version of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3<\/strong> despite its flaws. Here\u2019s one I didn\u2019t mention. We don\u2019t really get to know any of the hostages too well. Whereas in the first movie we had an idea of who they were (e.g. a pimp, a hippy, an old guy, a mother with two kids, etc.), the hostages in the new movie aren\u2019t all that distinctive except for an ex-soldier, a mother with her kid and a guy who can\u2019t take a piss with others watching.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Despite its shortcomings, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3<\/strong> is a decent Friday night action flick. It has plenty of action although I can\u2019t say I love the CGI. It\u2019s fast-moving and even exciting in parts. I guess it\u2019s best not to get too hung up on details. A movie like The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3<\/strong> doesn\u2019t require analysis. It\u2019s out to entertain not edify. My advice, check your brain at the door and enjoy the ride.\"\"<\/p>\n

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The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia-MGM\/Action-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 106 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, pervasive language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Tony Scott\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Brian Helgeland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Harry Gregson-Williams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Tobias A. Schliessler \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Release date: June 12, 2009 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, Luis Guzman, Victor Gojcaj, Robert Vataj, Michael Rispoli, Ramon Rodriguez, James Gandolfini, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action-adventure"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/The-Taking-of-Pelham-1-2-3-.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3805"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5596,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805\/revisions\/5596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}