A bunch of bad guys (led by John Travolta doing
his usual flashy bad guy act complete with dodgy facial hair) take a
New York subway train hostage and demand a whole lot of money or they
start killing people.
In the original the crooks dealt with
Walter Mattheau's rumpled subway cop; here Travolta deals with a
regular-guy subway supervisor (Denzel Washington), who's lack of
negotiating skills is meant to ramp up the tension.
And it does a little, but in a predictable way, which is pretty much how most of this film operates.
The Taking of Pelham 123
is slick and fairly enjoyable (until the action moves away from the
train towards the end), but for all the shouting and gun-waving there
is never much sense of surprise or suspense, as if the whole thing were
running on the same rails the Pelham 123 travels along.
That's not to say that director Tony Scott (Man on Fire, True Romance)
doesn't know how to keep things moving swiftly along those rails
(despite an over-the-top plot packed with ridiculous moments), or that
he isn't able to keep you watching the screen.
It's just that in all of Taking of Pelham 123's
shabby glory the original felt like something that might surprise you;
this just feels like another loud, flashy action movie. DVD Special Features
The Taking Pelham 123 is
the perfect example of a middle of the road, mediocre success. Costing
close to $110M to make and making close to $150M worldwide... so when
the profit margin is so little you have to wonder... what's the point
if it's not going to be a great film?
Anyhew - quite a decent
number of extras have been included here, but much like the film
itself, nothing to blow your mind. On offer here are two Commentaries
with Director Tony Scott and writer Brian Helgeland and Producer Todd
Black. There's a bunch of featurettes including "No Time To Lose: The
Making of Pelham 123", "The Third Rail: New York Underground", "From
The Top Down: Stylizing Character" and oddly - the Marketing Pelham
(which clearly didn't work).
Conclusion:
Movie 60% Extras: 60%
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