The Taking of Pelham 123

The Taking of Pelham 123 is a remake of the 1974 film starring Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau. This remake stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Directed by Tony Scott (True Romance) and written by Brian Helgeland (LA Confidential) it is possibly one of the best films I've seen in 2009. Though when I think back on 2009, that isn't hard.

Walter Garber( Washington) is working as a train dispatcher for the New York Subway systems when one of the trains Pelham 123 is hijacked by a mysterious man Ryder (Travolta) who, with a gang of others have taken nineteen passengers hostage for the sum of $10 million. With the help of hostage negotiator (John Turturro) and not so helped by the Mayor (James Gandofini) he must try and get the hostages out alive within the one hour time limit he gives them before he will start his bloodbath.

This film benefits from having an amazing cast, wonderful script and wonderful overall presentation. I think everyone will agree that there's nothing Washington can do wrong when it comes to acting and that Travolta's acting as a bad guy is better than any dancing or singing he ever did thirty years ago. The pacing of the film is wonderfully done and though I do hate when films put clocks on scenes when you know for a fact that it would take longer than what is suggested to do what they are doing, but with this film they didn't allow you to ponder too long on this and buzzed you through to the next scene.

Many criticise Tony Scott for not having the style of his brother Ridley, but I find him to be almost a bearable action film director. This film didn't feel like he was shooting a music video or an advertisement for stunts and special effects (Yes I'm talking to you Michael Bay!) and his ability to shoot these high-paced action scenes in the middle of great doses of drama is something that can't be overlooked. However what is bizarre is the race to get the money to the rendezvous point in which the police cars run through red lights hit various cars and possibly result in more loss of life than those inside the train. I understand it was to build up the tension and make for an exciting scene, but really it made no sense especially since they state that all the roads should have been cleared on route.

This Blu-Ray comes jam-packed with extras, two commentaries, one by Tony Scott and one by Helgeland and Producer Todd Black. Both are interesting, but I think maybe if it had been all three together it would have been much better as Scott was a little dull and dry at times. The four documentaries vary in quality depending on what you think about the film itself. 'No Time to Lose-The Making of Pelham 123' is a nice behind the scenes thirty minute documentary that covers most , aspects of the creation of the film and is certainly an interesting viewing, 'The Third Rail' covers the use of the New York Subway system in the film and seems to be just the cast and crew reminiscing on their experiences on the trains which is pretty fun to watch, 'From the Top Down' concerns the haircuts of the cast. No seriously, they devoted a five minute thing to this. I couldn't quite tell whether this was supposed to be taken seriously, but as none of the cast had particularly striking haircuts I have no idea why this included. 'Marketing Pelham' is a collection of trailers all pulled together which seemed a bit odd to watch several versions of the trailer over a seven minute period.

The Taking of Pelham 123 is a wonderful ride of action, drama and even a few home truths about being honest with yourself.