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.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers:

Brian Helgeland (screenplay), John Godey (novel)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzmán

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Walter Garber
John Travolta	...	Ryder
Luis Guzmán	...	Phil Ramos
Victor Gojcaj	...	Bashkim
Robert Vataj	...	Emri
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

Storyline

In early afternoon, four armed men hijack a subway train in Manhattan. They stop on a slight incline, decoupling the first car to let the rest of the train coast back. Their leader is Ryder; he connects by phone with Walter Garber, the dispatcher watching that line. Garber is a supervisor temporarily demoted while being investigated for bribery. Ryder demands $10 million within an hour, or he'll start shooting hostages. He'll deal only with Garber. The mayor okays the payoff, the news of the hostage situation sends the stock market tumbling, and it's unclear what Ryder really wants or if Garber is part of the deal. Will hostages, kidnappers, and negotiators live through this?

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Plot Keywords:

train | hostage | subway | hijack | subway train | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Brazil] Official site [Mexico]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 June 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Taking of Pelham 123

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,784,719 (UK) (31 July 2009)

Gross:

£4,720,832 (UK) (21 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, from the audience's viewpoint, Ryder (John Travolta) is seen wearing an earring on his right ear while Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) has one on his left. Also notice that both of them has only a single earring.

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Goofs

When the police are racing through town to deliver the money a police car crashes into a taxi. The door flies off and it is very clear that there is no driver in the taxi.

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Quotes

Police Captain Hill: So, who the hell did you fuck to get this job?
Walter Garber: Myself... was easier than it looked.
Police Captain Hill: Yeah... fucking yourself always is.

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Crazy Credits

Subway footage and sounds are mixed in with the production company logos shown after the end credits.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Michael Jackson's This Is It/The House of the Devil/Gentlemen Broncos (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Funklab Bass Problem"
Written by William Hanford Lee (as William Hanford Lee Jr.)
Performed by Papalee
Courtesy of BJP Entertainment

User Reviews

Implausible either way, underground or overground

Where do you begin with a movie this bad? This is the Hollywood industry with its head jammed right up its own rear end. The line-up, the setting, the countdown, the one-to-one head-on climax --- it's a no-brainer, a dead cert for solid profits, right? Sadly, no one could see past this fabrication to Brian Helgeland's screenplay, which is a remake of a remake, and should be a slam-dunk, no? Not. It grasps for originality with a drunken grope that scoops in only tawdry gimmicks. I walked out when Travolta's stereotypical doomed-psycho character started head-banging Denzel Washington's subway factotum into admitting he had taken a bribe over a train purchase in Japan. Sorry, this was not entertainment, this was a movie industry desperate to manipulate me and my attention span into ignoring the removal of dollars from my pocket-book. The US industry badly needs to get its head out of there, and start seeking fresh new directors and writers with interesting new ideas.