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The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) |  | Director: Tony Scott
Actors: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzm??n, Victor Gojcaj, John Turturro
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
This item is no longer available
Rating:  122 reviews
Sales Rank: 7774
Genre: Action
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 107 Minutes
ASIN: B002MX48VU
Theatrical Release Date: August 25, 2009
Release Date: November 3, 2009
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| Synopsis:
Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is a New York City subway dispatcher whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train. Ryder (John Travolta), the criminal mastermind behind the hijacking and leader of a highly-armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train's passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages. But there's one riddle Garber can't solve: even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape? |
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 122
 Same title, different story from original Pelham 123 August 13, 2010
sancti-spiritus
I hesitated to view this latest version of "The Taking of Pelham 123", for fear of watching virtually the same movie as the original. Gratefully, that was not the case. The film was written with many changes and only the basic premise was preserved. Two things standout for me. As in the original, the primary villan character, was superbly performed by Mr Travolta as was the case in the original with Robert Shaw in that role. And, if you have your home theater sound system set up, the DVD audio with all the subway sound effects is great. Travolta's performance and the audio made the discounted price of the DVD worth while. O.K. for viewing at home, but this film would have been an absolute waste of time, in a movie theater. The original, with Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam and Walter Matthau, was a far superior dramatic piece.
Good remake August 12, 2010
Newton Ooi (Phoenix, Arizona United States)
Here we have another movie set in NYC, this time in it subway system. Denzel Washington plays the good guy and Travolta plays the bad guy. The plot is simple enough; a group of men take a subway car full of passengers hostage and hold them for ransom. They receive the ransom money and try to get away, but don't make it far due to Washington's cunning, quick thinking and craftiness. Besides the two main characters, the movie features a lot of smaller names such as James Gandolfini as NYC's mayor. I would consider this movie part drama and part action; the action part though is fairly short and not gory. There is some minimal comedy. All in all, an OK movie that didn't open to high expectations, but lived up to them.
 What a waste of fine talent. July 28, 2010
Ben Ochoa (CHICAGOLAND, IL)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved the original "Pelham 1,2,3." Despite that, I'm not averse to remakes, especially when you have a cast that includes John Travolta, Denzel Washington and James Gandolfini. How any of these 3 fine actors attached their names to this remake is beyond me. Travolta particularly has taken on choice rolls since his rebirth after "Pulp Fiction." Not all have been of that caliber. But they've at least been inspired roles. His manic role in this movie, a Tony Scott bastardization of the original, is such a disappointment. There's nothing to his performance I haven't seen before, or better. And I rarely say that about Travolta any more. Denzel's role is a snooze. And Gandolfini's role is paper thin for his capability. The Scott direction in this movie is pathetic. It tries to do with gratuitous action and dialogue exchanges what the original does effortlessly with a solid script and seasoned actors to deliver the goods (albeit in a bit dated version.) There was little suspense in a movie that had it from the start with the original. I hope this isn't an indication that Travolta and Gandolfini are reaching for a paycheck alone these days. This movie has so many like it out there, that I could see why someone reached for the rights to remake it after seeing the original story and thinking in contemporary terms-updating in technology and in general, more action given contemporary standards, etc. It's an easy template to fit your vision into today. But the results aren't as good. A weak, weak movie by any era's standards.
 Good Blu-Ray, Decent movie July 18, 2010
MiRSD
I heard a lot of bad things going into this one - I didn't think too much into them because it looked like a "stupid" (enjoyable) action movie, and I know a lot of people don't like Tony Scott or Travolta - being someone who likes both, it seemed like it a fun movie!
Unfortunately, it was filled with disappointment. Not a horrible movie by any means, but if you watch the trailer you'll think of it as a fast-paced action movie with some bits of comedy and thriller mixed in. The action movie, however, is rarely like this - almost every bit of action in the movie is shown in the trailer. The rest are negotiation/discussions between Travolta and Denzel. While both did fine, you never really cared about any of the cast - the good guys, the bad guys or the other guys. The characters were somewhat boring (Travolta seems to be going in the direction of the character he played in From Paris With Love (a great character!) but he just never gets there. Another big disappointment was Luis Guzman - normally hilarious, he has a very small (and non-comedic) role in this one - Seems like a waste!
Being a Tony Scott film it has all sorts of fast-cuts and weird edits/effects. Normally I love these (like in Domino), but this one just uses the SAME effect over and over (whenever theres a helicopter or subway driving by, it cuts to a "stop motion" type effect (slow shutter speed)). Really annoying, really overdone.
The Blu-Ray itself is pretty good though - about an hour worth of documentary/behind the scenes footage (interesting to see how much the NYC MTA helped with the film and gave them access), some of it a bit odder than others (a 6 minute video on the hair stylist?) - it also has 2 commentary tracks. Video is very good (about 4.5 - 5 out of 5 - great especially since this film is mostly filmed in dark tunnels), audio is very good as well. Movie gets about a 3/5, audio/video about a 5/5, extras a 4/5, overall about a 4/5.
If you were hooked by the trailer, just know the movie isn't quite like that. After watching the movie (and being a bit disappointed), I watched the trailer and thought "Wow, That looks like a real good movie!"
 A Remake very well done July 5, 2010
Jeff
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this movie. Of course it is a remake but they did an excellent job of updating the plot to fit our more modern times. The character development was great, Travolta does a great bad guy. It moves at nice pace. If you enjoy a movie with suspense you will want to watch this one.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 122
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