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The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009 film)

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The Taking of Pelham 123
File:The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.JPG
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTony Scott
Written byBrian Helgeland
David Koepp (uncredited)(screenplay)
Morton Freedgood (novel)
Produced byTony Scott
Todd Black
Jason Blumenthal
Steve Tisch
StarringDenzel Washington
John Travolta
John Turturro
Luis Guzmán
Gbenga Akinnagbe
Frank Wood
and James Gandolfini
CinematographyTobias A. Schliessler
Edited byChris Lebenzon
Music byHarry Gregson-Williams
Production
companies
Columbia Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Relativity Media
Scott Free Productions
Escape Artists
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
June 12, 2009
Running time
106 minutes
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageTransclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
Budget$100,000,000
Box office$101,107,389 (worldwide)

The Taking of Pelham 123 is a 2009 thriller film, directed by Tony Scott, and starring Denzel Washington, and John Travolta. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Morton Freedgood (writing under the pseudonym John Godey), and is a remake of the original 1974 film adaptation, which was also remade in 1998 as a TV movie. Production of the current remake began in March 2008, and the film was released on June 12, 2009.[1]

Plot

Four heavily armed men, led by their leader, Bernard Ryder (John Travolta), board the New York City subway 6 train departed from Pelham Bay Park Station at 1:23 p.m., and proceed to take control of it.

Meanwhile, MTA dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is assigned to the Rail Control Center, due to an ongoing investigation that he took a bribe to recommend a Japanese car manufacturer for the next subway car contract. The group then uncouple the front car from the rest of the train and hold the passengers in this front car hostage. One of the hijackers, Bashkim (Victor Gojcaj), kills an undercover police officer in the course of the action. Ryder and a former MTA train operator named Ramos settle down in the front of the car, while the other hijackers watch the hostages in the back. They demand $10 million in ransom money to be paid within 60 minutes. For each minute past the deadline, one passenger will be killed. Garber and Ryder exchange conversations through the microphone, while his men set up a wi-fi booster apparatus to enable Ryder to access his laptop in the tunnel to watch the stock market plunge nearly 1,000 points during the next hour.

Unknown to him, one of the male passengers has an active laptop with a webcam, that was casually knocked to the floor, facing the car's interior previously when they took their hostages, which simultaneously reconnects using that same wi–fi link; reestablishing the feed to his girlfriend's desktop with whom he was videochatting; when she returns to her PC, she sees the hostage situation through her webcam and provides the live feed to a local television station. Garber agrees to have the city pay Ryder the $10 million ransom, after the Mayor (James Gandolfini) is intercepted by his staff aboard a train in the Bronx and is transported back to RCC.

NYPD Emergency Service Unit Lt. Camonetti (John Turturro) enters RCC, and Garber's boss, who has a rocky relationship with Garber, orders Garber to leave the premises. Camonetti takes over the hostage negotiations, infuriating Ryder, who demands that Garber be put back on the mic and that he will speak only to Garber. When Camonetti refuses, explaining Garber has already left the building, Ryder shoots and kills the train operator, who was Garber's classmate in motor school. Camonetti immediately has Garber brought back on the mic, talking to Ryder, while he sets up a sniper unit in the tunnel where the car is stuck, ordering all officers not to fire upon any hijacker until told to do so. Camonetti is puzzled as to why Ryder will only talk to Garber, but when he learns about Garber's bribery investigation, he asks Garber in consenting to search his home, which Garber agrees and tells his wife about it. Ryder learns through news reports about Garber's alleged bribe in Japan and forces him to confess by holding the boy with the laptop at gunpoint, saying the reason for taking the money was to pay for his kids college education but that the Japanese company was his first choice anyway. While the police stand down in the tunnel, a rat on the roadbed crawls up an officer's leg, causing him to discharge his sniper rifle, killing Ramos, who was sitting in the motorman's position.

The money is transported uptown to Grand Central and Ryder demands Garber to personally deliver it within 7 minutes. Garber calls his wife to inform her about his new responsibility, in order to save the hostages, but she cares only for his own safety. She makes him promise to pick up some milk on the way home, because he must come home safely. Garber delivers the money (An officer has loaned and concealed a 9mm pistol in one of the bags), then is ordered to operate the train to another location, where the hijackers will exit. Ryder uses a special mechanism to lock the driving lever in the full-speed position, bypassing the dead-man's switch and causing the train to accelerate out–of–control down Coney Island at high speed.

The MTA are unaware of the mechanism holding the driving lever down and believe the hijackers and Garber to still be inside the train. Garber manages to escape from the hijackers and follows them to the emergency exit inside an abandoned subway station underneath The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Inside the hotel, Ryder splits away from Bashkim and Emri, who are surrounded outside the hotel by police; as they both reach for their guns, the police open fire on the two of them, killing them. The runaway train is tripped by a red signal one station away from Coney Island. Ryder boards a taxi with Garber in pursuit. Ryder checks his laptop, where it is revealed that he has short–sold the market and invested in gold, earning him a profit far larger than the ransom money. Ryder goes to the Manhattan Bridge, where he leaves the cab, due to heavy traffic, and uses the pedestrian walkway on the bridge. Garber confronts Ryder on the bridge where Ryder demands Garber kill him before the police do. Ryder gives Garber 10 seconds to shoot him. When Ryder finishes counting to 10, he takes out his gun, but Garber gets the first shot out. Before Ryder dies, he calls Garber his "goddamn" hero.

The mayor thanks Garber for saving the hostages, and vows his staff in representing him in the bribery investigation. The Mayor then offers Garber a ride home in his car along with the escort service. Garber refuses the offer, saying the subway is faster and is his lifeblood. He then heads home with the last shot of the film being Garber, walking into his home holding a half–gallon of milk in a grocery bag.

Cast

  • Denzel Washington as Walter Garber, the New York City subway dispatcher, who is negotiating with the hijackers. The negotiator in the 1974 film was a transit policeman called Lt. Zachary Garber (portrayed by Walter Matthau); Edward James Olmos played Detective Anthony Piscotti, the negotiator in the 1998 television movie.[2][3]
  • John Travolta as Bernard Ryder / Dennis Ford / Mr. Blue, the leader of the hijackers. Instead of playing a mercenary, he plays a former Wall Street "high roller" named Dennis Ford, who blames the city of New York and the mayor for causing him to stay in prison for 10 years, longer than the guilty plea of three years. Scott courted Travolta heavily for the actor's first action role in years, Travolta earned $20 million for his role.[4] The role was originally portrayed by Robert Shaw in the 1974 film.
  • James Gandolfini as The Mayor of New York City, who is under heavy pressure to address the hostage crisis.[5] The character was originally portrayed by Lee Wallace in the 1974 film.
  • John Turturro as Camonetti, the lieutenant of the Emergency Service Unit of the NYPD of hostage negotiations.
  • Luis Guzmán as Phil Ramos / Mr. Green, one of the hijackers. The role, originally named "Harold Longman", had been portrayed by Martin Balsam in the 1974 film.
  • Ramón Rodríguez as Delgado, an MTA train dispatcher.[6]
  • Victor Gojcaj as Bashkim / Mr. Grey, the most aggressive of the hijackers. The character, originally named "Joe Welcome", was portrayed by Hector Elizondo in the 1974 film.
  • Robert Vataj as Emri / Mr. Brown, the stammering young gun, who helps hijack the train under the command of Ryder. The character originally named "Steever" was portrayed by Earl Hindman in the 1974 film.
  • Gbenga Akinnagbe as Wallace, one of the hostages on the train.[7]
  • Michael Rispoli as John Johnson, Garber's boss and head of the MTA NYC Transit's Rail Control Center.
  • Jason Butler Harner as Mr. Thomas[8]
  • Frank Wood as Police Commissioner Sterman
  • Aunjanue Ellis as Garber's Wife
  • Brian Haley as Police Captain Hill

Differences

The first drafts of the script faced the challenge of updating the novel with contemporary technology, including cell phones, GPS, laptops, thermal imaging, and a post-9/11 world in New York City. In December 2007, David Koepp, who adapted the novel for Scott and Washington said:[9]

I wrote many drafts to try and put it in the present day and keep all the great execution that was there from the first one. It’s thirty years later so you have to take certain things into account. Hopefully we came up with a clever way to move it to the present.

Koepp's drafts were meant to be "essentially familiar" to those who read the novel, preserving the "great hero vs. villain thing" of the original.[9] Brian Helgeland, the only one receiving credit for the screenplay, took the script a different direction, making the remake more like the 1974 film than the novel and, as Helgeland put it, making it about "two guys who weren't necessarily all that different from each other."[2] As writer Michael Ordoña describes it:[2]

Whereas the novel is told from more than 30 perspectives — keeping readers off balance because it is unknown which characters the writer might suddenly discard — the two films focus on the lead hijacker and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee with whom he communicates by phone. The new version sharpens that focus until it's almost exclusively a duel between disgraced MTA dispatcher Walter Garber and manic gunman Ryder.

In the book and original film, Ryder is "cold-blooded and calculating", but in the 2009 film he is a "loose cannon willing to kill innocents not out of necessity but out of spite."[2] Also Ryder in the original film and book is portrayed as a normal looking businessman while in the 2009 film he looks like he has adopted prison life, wearing very visible prison related tattoos and very laid back modern style of a biker.

In the 1974 film, the main character (played by Walter Matthau) is named Zachary Garber and is a lieutenant in the Transit Authority police; in the 2009 film, the main character (played by Denzel Washington is named Walter Garber (as a nod to Matthau according to IMDb) and works as a subway train dispatcher. Also, the colours of Washington's shirt and tie are the reverse of Matthau's. In such ways do the makers of the remake recognize its predecessor.

Ryder also ask for 10 million US Dollars instead of the 1 million as in the original film and book and 5 million in the made-for TV movie. Ryder does not use the "Mr. Blue" nickname as the original film does; it is implied that Ryder is a nickname.

Production

Production began in March 2008 with all cast and crew being required to attend a track safety course taught by MTA personnel, as much of the filming would take place in the subway on active tracks.[10][11] For the initial hijack sequence at Grand Central on the 7 line, the crew used the Times Square-bound track during late night hours while regular 7 train service operated in both directions on the Flushing-bound track. An actual R142A train (the current model used on the service that is the title of the film) was used for the Grand Central sequence (in order to reach that track, the train would need to navigate through four boroughs). Other underground locations were unused express tracks in Brooklyn, and a retrofitted R62A car was used during filming to give the appearance of an R142A car, for exterior filming only.[12] Interior car scenes were filmed at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, NY, on a set that more closely resembles the newer and larger R160B used on the BMT Astoria Line, which runs in the Astoria neighborhood, where Kaufman is based.[citation needed] Outdoor street filming locations were the lower level of the Manhattan Bridge, Tudor City, including the First Ave tunnel near the UN, Manhattan's Upper East Side, the Times Square area, and Turtle Bay.[citation needed]

Release and marketing

The film was originally scheduled to release on July 31, 2009, but the release was moved earlier to June 12. The first theatrical poster was released on February 10, 2009, while the first trailer for the film debuted at the screenings of The International on February 13, 2009.

John Travolta decided against promoting for the film, since it was released just five months after the death of his 16-year–old son, Jett. He stated that he still was not ready to step back into the spotlight. Travolta released a statement saying, "Tony, Denzel, Luis, John, James and Sony Pictures stepped up without hesitation to help promote this wonderful film, and their unselfish efforts have allowed my family the additional time to reconcile our loss." "I am very proud of the efforts we have all made in making this movie, and I want each and every one of you to enjoy it," he adds. "So, set your calendars for the weekend of June 12th. I promise you won't be disappointed. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart."[13]

Critical reception

Reviews of the film were mixed overall, with a 51 percent "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 120 reviews.[14] "Top Critics" at Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 53% "rotten" rating.[15] Metacritic gave the film a metascore of 55 based on 33 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[16] Jim Ridley of the Village Voice noted that the new Pelham film was worse than the original: "Scott's redo comes up short in almost every regard against the '74 model ... If it's somehow unfair to compare the two, why was The Taking of Pelham 123 even remade?"[17] "As expected, Tony Scott’s hyperkinetic, entirely unnecessary revamp attempts to update Pelham by cranking the volume and inflating the Noo Yawk attitude to a cartoonish level of macho posturing," wrote Sean Burns in Philadelphia Weekly.[18] Writing in New York Press, Armond White was critical of Tony Scott's direction: "Tony Scott’s craft cannot create suspense, it substitutes noise, cursing and brutality."[19] Michael Rechtshaffen of Hollywood Reporter noted: "Even with the plot's built-in ticking clock, the film relinquishes the tautly calibrated pace in the third act, never to get completely back on track."[20] David Edelstein's review for New York Magazine carried the headline "The Taking of Pelham 123 is not worth running down a flight of subway-station stairs for."[21]

"There’s not much wrong with Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 123,” except that there’s not much really right about it."

Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars, and began his review with "There’s not much wrong with Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 123,” except that there’s not much really right about it."[22] Ebert commented that the lead actors lacked passion in their performances: "Oh, John Travolta is angry and Denzel Washington is determined, but you don’t sense passion in the performances. They’re about behaving, not evoking."[22] Christy Lemire of the Associated Press gave the film two out of four stars, and called it "another overcaffeinated thriller".[23]

Writing for the Orlando Sentinel, Roger Moore gave the film three out of five stars, and commented "Pelham, for its crowd-pleasing heart-racing virtues ... plays out like a Tony-Denzel pairing that Denzel, at least, should have taken a pass on."[24] In a review for MSNBC, Alonso Duralde was critical of John Travolta's performance in the film, comparing it to his roles in Swordfish and Battlefield Earth: "Travolta remains singularly unbelievable as a villain. In movies like this and 'Swordfish' and, let's not forget, 'Battlefield Earth,' the actor strives for malice but generally can’t get much darker than playground-bully meanness."[25] Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, stating "This movie hits you like 600 volts from a sparking third rail. Damn straight it's electrifying. ... The only letdown comes in Scott's handling of the passengers, who remain frustratingly generic."[26]

Box office

The film debuted in the number three spot with an approximately US$25 million at the box office in the United States in its opening weekend, in what The New York Times called "an unusually quiet weekend at the box office because of soft ticket sales for The Taking of Pelham 123".[27] The film was beat out by The Hangover and Up for the number one and number two spots.[28] The Taking of Pelham 123 cost over $100 million to make, and was co–financed with Relativity Media and Sony Pictures.[28] Ben Fritz of the Los Angeles Times commented on the box office results of the film's opening weekend( $23,373,102): "Although far from disastrous, that's a soft start for a film budgeted at more than $100 million. As of August 21, 2009 the film has grossed $97,125,309 worldwide, not enough as of yet to break even.

DVD Release

According to Movieweb.com,[29] DVD & Blu-ray versions of the movie with Bonus Features will be released On November 3, 2009. These features include commentaries, Behind the scene featurettes and More.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three". ComingSoon.net. Coming Soon Media, L.P. Retrieved 2008-12-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d Ordoña, Michael (June 7, 2009). "'Taking of Pelham 123' stars Travolta, Denzel". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-06-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (September 23, 2007). "Denzel Washington set for 'Pelham'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Fleming, Michael (October 25, 2007). "Travolta boards 'Pelham' remake". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Fleming, Michael (March 23, 2008). "Gandolfini plays mayor in 'Pelham'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-03-24. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Kit, Borys (July 11, 2008). "Ramon Rodriguez joins 'Pelham 123'". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2008-07-18. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Perry, Bryon (May 4, 2008). "Gbenga Akinnagbe". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-06. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Perry, Byron (May 14, 2008). "Jason Butler Harner". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-31. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ a b Adler, Shawn (December 27, 2007). "'Taking Of Pelham' Not As Easy As '123,' Says Screenwriter". MTV Movies Blog. MTV. Retrieved 2008-07-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Simmons, Leslie (January 15, 2008). "Escape Artists ramp up for pics, Sony deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Kennedy, Randy (May 1, 2009). "'Manhattan Transfer: Remaking 'Pelham'". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  12. ^ http://www.subchat.com/read.asp?Id=730312
  13. ^ "John Travolta Thanks His "Pelham 123" Colleagues for Giving Him Time to Heal". Radar Online. June 8, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) (T-Meter Critics)". Rotten Tomatoes. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) (Top Critics)". Rotten Tomatoes. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The". Metacritic. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Ridley, Jim (June 9, 2009). "Blood on Tracks in Taking of Pelham 123: In this subway series, the original Pelham wins". Village Voice. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  18. ^ Burns, Sean (June 9, 2009). "The Taking of Pelham 123: This warmed-over version of the 1970s subway-hijack thriller is typical Tony Scott bombast". Philadelphia Weekly.
  19. ^ White, Armond (June 10, 2009). "The Taking of Pelham 123". New York Press. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  20. ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (June 5, 2009). "Film Review: The Taking of Pelham 123". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  21. ^ Edelstein, David (June 7, 2009). "Stalled Trains: The Taking of Pelham 123 is not worth running down a flight of subway-station stairs for". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  22. ^ a b c Ebert, Roger (June 10, 2009). "The Taking of Pelham 123". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  23. ^ Lemire, Christy. "Tony Scott's 'Pelham 123". Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  24. ^ Travers, Roger (June 12, 2009). "Movie Review: The Taking of Pelham 123: 3 of 5 stars". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  25. ^ Duralde, Alonso (June 9, 2009). "'Pelham 123'remake goes down for the count: Extraneous car chases distract from what could have been". MSNBC. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  26. ^ Moore, Peter (2009). "Taking of Pelham 123". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-06-11. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Barnes, Brook (June 15, 2009). "A Sluggish Showing at the Box Office". New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. C2. Retrieved 2009-06-15. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ a b Fritz, Ben (June 15, 2009). "'Taking of Pelham 123' and 'Imagine That' fizzle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  29. ^ http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEv5gCyxT1WSzw/ The Taking of Pelham 123 Takes Over DVD and Blu-ray November 3rd| Accessed 2009-08-17


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