Crime

Thriller

Action

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Escape Artists

Columbia Pictures

Relativity Media

Scott Free Productions

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

Denzel Washington

John Travolta

John Turturro

Luis Guzmán

James Gandolfini

Michael Rispoli

Gary Basaraba

Alex Kaluzhsky

Alice Kremelberg

Katherine Sigismund

Jake Siciliano

Gbenga Akinnagbe

Jason Butler Harner

Victor Gojcaj

Robert Vataj

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor

John Benjamin Hickey

Ramón Rodríguez

Tonye Patano

Ty Jones

Chance Kelly

Billy Devlin

Chip Brookes

Jonathan Rau

Anthony Annarumma

Victor Cruz

Glen Tortorella

Bobby Bojorklund

Saidah Arrika Ekulona

Jasmin Tavarez

Sean Meehan

Todd Susman

J. Bernard Calloway

Zach Poole

Reuben Jackson

Sean Nelson

Deak Evgenikos

Lee Shepherd

Mike Houston

Frank Wood

Brian Haley

Maria Bartiromo

John Lavelle

Peter Bucossi

Steve Routman

Laurie Cole

Nick Loren

Daniel Stewart Sherman

Patrick Dalton

John Keiser

Adrian Martinez

Jordan Gelber

Rose DelCastillo

Joe Forbrich

Jason Cerbone

Michael Mihm

Robert Perry

Sammy Miraglia

Kenneth Natal

René Ifrah

Tommy Bayiokos

Frank Anello

John Farrer

Justiin A. Davis

Tony Scott

Brian Helgeland

John Godey

Richard Baratta

Todd Black

Jason Blumenthal

Jennifer Lamb

Denise Chamian

Tobias A. Schliessler

Chris Lebenzon

Chris Seagers

David Swayze

Regina Graves

Renee Ehrlich Kalfus

Thomas Beall

Todd Kleitsch

Gail A. Fitzgibbons

Clay Cullen

Peter Epstein

Mickey Giacomazzi

Harry Gregson-Williams

Rico Torres

Tom Nelson

Chuck Picerni Jr.

Mark Chadwick

Steve Picerni

Erik Stabenau

Blaise Corrigan

Justin De Rosa

Gary Baxley

Danny Aiello III

Hunter Baxley

Heather Arthur

Ray Abbott

Jonathan Arthur

Joe Bucaro III

Tom Bruggemann

Cort Hessler

Hubie Kerns Jr.

Chad Randall

Coleen M. Tracy

Chuck Zito

Neville White

Aaron Vexler

Bill Young

Caroline Vexler

Yolanda Toussieng

Larry M. Cherry

Frank Vazquez

Rita Parillo

Louise McCarthy

Carl Fullerton

Jill Karol

Mark Mahoney

Sha-Sha Shiau

James Mazzola

John Frazier

Steve Kirshoff

Mark Hawker

Frank Spiziri

Jose Marra

Kosta Saric

Kathy Chasen-Hay

Andy Foster

Marc Varisco

Lisa J. Levine

Nicholas Korda

Juno J. Ellis

Kevin Hyde

James Morioka

Erin Oakley

Jacob Riehle

Anita Cannella

Gary A. Hecker

Amy Kane

Elizabeth Rainey

Michael J. Broomberg

Jonathan Klein

Ken Fischer

John Marquis

Daniel Pagan

David Giammarco

Paul Massey

Teri E. Dorman

Kami Asgar

Sean McCormack

Richard Brooks Burton

John Skotchdopole

Craig Haagensen

Mark Schmidt

Wayne Paull

Peter Reniers

Donald Russell

Bill O'Leary

Alexander Witt

Robert Vuolo

Richie Ford

Balint Pinczehelyi

David M. Carr

Duane Manwiller

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) '<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/unstoppable-2010/" rel="nofollow">Unstoppable</a>', 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 '<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/face-off/" rel="nofollow">Face/Off</a>' 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.

CinemaSerf

It’s not really fair comparing this with the much more sophisticated 1974 version of this story as Tony Scott has taken a fairly broad-brush to that template and pretty much re-characterised the whole story. That’s a story about a gang of well organised criminals who plan a daring hijack of a subway train in New York, USA. Their plan is simple enough. They seize one car and then their leader “Ryder” (John Travolta) demands $10 millions within the hour or the bodies will start mounting up. His contact in the control room is “Garber” (Denzel Washington) and soon wheels are in motion to get the cash. What’s not so clear, though, is just what the agenda of these criminals is. It’s not an excessively large sum of money and we know that “Garber” is under investigation for bribery, so is there something more sinister going on here? What is obvious is that these guys mean business and are not afraid to demonstrate that fact! Tony Scott has managed to convey something of the claustrophobic nature of the tunnels well here and Harry Gregson-Williams’s aggressive score also helps build the tension but for me, Travolta just doesn’t deliver anything on the scale of menace I wanted here. Sure, his character is vile and violent but with the story relying on a degree of ambiguity for much of it’s substance, his unsubtle and charm-free performance is all just too one-dimensional to keep the intrigue sustained. Washington, likewise, just doesn’t impose himself on the story anywhere near enough to give us any real sense of panic and the other  supporting efforts are all a bit too underwhelming too, delivering a great deal of wasteful shouty dialogue as this thing rather lumbers along as if it were stuck at the lights, too. It probably didn’t need remaking but it does remind you just how good Robert Shaw was on the less is more front.

The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) Original Trailer [FHD]

Taking of Pelham 123 - trailer

Watch the new trailer for TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3!

Best Movies

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Denzel Washington

John Travolta

John Turturro

Luis Guzmán

James Gandolfini

Michael Rispoli

Gary Basaraba

Alex Kaluzhsky

Alice Kremelberg

Katherine Sigismund

Box office

More Like This

The Body

The Twelve Jurors

The Fifth Element

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Ocean's Eleven

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

The Interpreter

North by Northwest