The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
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.
- Tony Scott
- Sarah McKaig
- Chiemi Karasawa
- Karin Anderson
- Alexander Witt
- John Godey
- Brian Helgeland
Rating: 6.4/10 by 3074 users
Alternative Title:
O Sequestro do Metrô 123 - BR
Asalto al tren Pelham 123 - ES
Pelham 123: L'ultime station - CA
骑劫地下铁 - CN
骑劫列车123 - CN
The Taking of Pelham 123 - US
Metrodan Kaçış - TR
Únos vlaku 1 2 3 - SK
Pelham 1-2-3: Ostaggi in metropolitana - IT
Únos metra 123 - SK
Die Entführung der U-Bahn Pelham 123 - DE
Assalto ao Metro 1 2 3 - PT
Escape del Metro 123 - AR
Rescate del metro 123 - MX
Country:
United Kingdom
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 46 minutes
Budget: $100,000,000
Revenue: $150,166,126
Plot Keyword: new york city, hostage, motorcycle crash, remake, new york subway, subway train, stock market, subway tunnel, aftercreditsstinger
Saw this one many years ago, probably when it came out on Blu-ray, and decided to give it another watch at random, and... pretty much lined up with from the first go around. Nothing amazing nor has any great twists, but the performances from Washington and Travolta made the movie worth the time. On the downside, as with many of his later films, Tony Scott's choppy direction was a bit annoying. **3.5/5**
Having seen (and truly loved) 'Unstoppable', it's impossible not to see 'The Taking of Pelham 123' as a rather pale incarnation of that 2010 flick (which also has Tony Scott as director and Denzel Washington as lead!). How strange that those two came together to make two very similar movies so close together. In the end, here, there is enough done to separate them, but early on especially I felt like I was watching the same film almost. For the record, that other release is so vastly better than this... so I'd recommend that more if you want a train-centric production from Scott and Washington. With all that noted, this 2009 film is still a fairly enjoyable 1hr 40mins or so - despite some questionable editing choices. A big reason for my positive rating is the aforementioned Washington, who gives as good a performance as he always tends to give - which is why he is probably my favourite actor, him or Leonardo DiCaprio anyway. John Travolta does well though, even if I kept getting 'Face/Off' vibes throughout. Here, he made me laugh a few times and the guy has some good dialogue/delivery of said dialogue. Even if that latter element is hit-and-miss elsewhere. The rest of the cast are alright-to-meh, nice to see James Gandolfini though. It's, taking everything into account, all worth a watch, I'd say.
