The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is a remake of a 1974 film starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. For some reason I remember seeing the original on television as a kid. I don't remember a lot of details but it made an impression. The remake is updated with more stuff going on but the basic plot is the same. A group of men strand a NY subway car on the tracks between stations and hold passengers hostage wanting ransom from the city. They talk to one of the train dispatchers.
Fundamentally it's a heist film, it should be suspense. This remake is that but amps it up and adds some unnecessary action elements. For a story about a stopped subway car, there are a lot of car crashes. Tony Scott is a good director, but there are a lot of swirling camera moves to give the sense of action when it's just someone talking on a phone in a very tense situation.
Travolta is the smart yet unstable villain and Denzel is the everyman thrust into the hero; both are familiar with these roles. It's hard to ask for a better supporting cast than Luis Guzmán, John Turturro and James Gandolfini, though the film doesn't give them much more to do than be competent and not particularly memorable.
This was fine and I enjoyed it but I'm looking forward to catching the original on DVD.
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