The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1998)

In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. Even if it's paid, how could they get away?

Director:

Félix Enríquez Alcalá

Writers:

John Godey (novel), Peter Stone (earlier screenplay),

Stars:

Edward James Olmos, Vincent D'Onofrio, Donnie Wahlberg

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward James Olmos	...	Det. Anthony Piscotti
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Mr. Blue
Donnie Wahlberg	...	Mr. Grey
Richard Schiff	...	Mr. Green
Lisa Vidal	...	Babs Cardoza
Tara Rosling	...	Mr. Brown
Kenneth Welsh	...	Caz Hollowitz
Lorraine Bracco	...	Det. Ray
Ben Cook	...	Older boy on subway
Bobby Boriello	...	Younger boy on subway
Bobby O'neill	...	Homeboy on subway (as Black Katt)
Ingrid Veninger	...	Graduate student on subway
Alisa Wiegers	...	Office worker ["Shaky"]
Peter Boretski	...	Old man on subway
Stuart Clow	...	Jogger

Storyline

Four hijackers led by Vincent D'onofrio seize a subway train in the middle of a tunnel and hold 14 hostages for a $5 million ransom. Edward James Olmos and Lorraine Bracco are the officers assigned to work out the release of the passengers. However, even the murder of some passengers are met with an apparent calm by everyone involved. The murder of a subway supervisor prompts everyone to shake their heads and go on about their business.

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Plot Keywords:

subway | hostage | hijack | railway | electric railway | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Pelham 123. járat megállítása

Filming Locations:

Disused lower platform, Bay subway station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

MGM Television, Trilogy Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in Toronto's TTC subway system, mainly using the system's only abandoned station platform and two of a class of older cars being retired by the TTC. The two cars were shipped by road to the scrapyard the day after filming ended, still disguised as New York cars.

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Goofs

The Toronto subway cars used for filming cannot operate singly, so a two-car set was used. The single car supposedly detached from the front of the train can be seen on several occasions to be part of a train of at least two cars. The most obvious cases are when rounding curves: once when first moving forward after being detached, and later when Anthony has just figured out the hijackers' plan.

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Connections

Remake of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

User Reviews

Lacks The Humour

I don't think this 1998 remake was too bad, provided you regard it as a straightforward hostage film.

It uses some of the best lines from the original almost verbatim (eg, "A person likes to know how much he's worth", "Do they still have the death penalty in New York" "I've always done my own killing" etc) which is ok, but I can't believe that Mr Blue in the 1998 film would not know the death penalty status in what appears to be his native New York. In the original, the Mr Blue character was clearly British, and might be excused for not knowing the death penalty status in all 50 US states.

But as one other observer observed, the 1998 lacks .... WALLY MATTHAU (and to some extend George Costanza's dad also).

The 74 version could almost have been sold as a comedy, but not this one. It's a straightforward tradesman like version without the wit, irony, pathos and dulcet tones of Wally Matthau

Certainly worth watching if you love the 74 version so you can do a 'compare and contrast'. If you have not watched either, and you only want to see one of them, see the 74 version.

The final scene is worth the wait (in both versions)