The Taking of Pelham 123

Genre: Thriller

Language: English

Director: Tony Scott (Déjà Vu)

Cast: Denzel Washington (American Gangster), John Travolta (Hairspray), John Turturro (You Don't Mess with the Zohan)

Run Time: 105 minutes

Plot:

In The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Denzel Washington stars as New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train. John Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a highly-armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train’s passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages.

Watched the movie on 20 June night @ GV Vivo with Sylvia.

Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime. From aeroplanes to ships (Pirates) to trains and subway, criminals can get more and more creative. So what's next?

Between the 2 lead roles, I preferred John's Ryder. He is very aggressive, demanding yet there was trace of kindness somewhere. He always has the wicked and mean essentials to his character. On the other hand, Denzel's role as Garber did not really impressed me. The only part worth discussing may be his dilemma to admit his bribe taking case. The toggling of the two men's argument brought the film to the climax.

This remake incorporated new technology such as Wireless network, Web Cam & live feed which 30 years back, people may not have even heard of what a Laptop is. And the boo-boo done by the NYPD brought some laughter out from the tied timeline.

However, the main objective of Ryder's scheme was to create mayhem in the stock market by creating havoc. The movie did not really explain enough of his whole motive. Although the hijackers planned a good hijack exercise, their escape plan could have been better.

ah-deng says: 3½ / 5 One day if I receive a call, saying one of our shop is being hijacked, I will... Choy!