Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
The perfect HBO or cable movie.
memento_mori - wrote on 08/08/2013
What is up with John Travolta playing creepy, seedy criminals nowadays? Hmm. You'd wish he was good at it.
The Taking of Pelham 123 (cool title) is a remake directed by the late Tony Scott.
Now, I don't want to say anything heavy about Tony Scott, considering the tragic thing that he decided to do, but I will judge strictly his directorial style.
Let's start with the acting. Denzel and Vincent Vega. They have some nice chemistry, they weren't exactly Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis Die Hard level chemistry, but you could definitely tell they were going for some interaction between the two leads.
Of course, Denzel is great as always. You can't go wrong with him.
John Travolta is so over the top and embarrassing in this flick. He wasn't intended for comedic relief, but his …
Rating of
2.5/4
The Taking of Pelham 123
KingInTheNorth - wrote on 07/15/2013
A team of hijackers hijack ;) a subway and take hostages and they are communicating with a dispatcher and they only want to talk to him not to someone else....
I actually like Tony Scott but he is not doing that good movies. His direction is very weird and the script he chooses are very Hollywood clichéd. So this movie is either. The acting of Denzel Washington and John Travolta is very good´. Travolta is a very very evil guy. But still he is using to much "bad" words. The whole script contains these.
The chemistry between the maiin characters is good and the story is interesting. The movie had one of the worst endings I have seen. On the whole, the showdown was awful.
The movie began interesting but it felt like as if the writer had no more time writing a good ending and so the …
Rating of
2.5/4
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
MovieAddict - wrote on 01/28/2012
It begins in New York City, where a MTA dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) feels he is just having an ordinary day like any other that is until his train Pelham 123 is hijacked by group of gunman, led by Ryder (John Travolta). The gunmen take the train and its passengers’ hostage and demand a ransom of 10 million dollars to be paid within one hour. Every minute past the one hour deadline will result in a hostage being killed.
But Ryder suddenly grows interested in Garbers` background and feels that they alike in many ways because Garber has an ongoing investigation against him for taking a bribe. Garber soon finds himself trying to negotiate on behalf of Ryder's subway hostages. Their performances are truly brilliant as Garber tries to keep Ryder talking, trying to outwit …
Rating of
2/4
"The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/16/2012
A ruthless gang of machine gun toting criminals hijack a subway train to extort $10 million from New York City. A remake of the cult classic of the 1970s which went some way to "inspire" Tarantino when he wrote Reservoir Dogs, The Taking Of Pelham 123 is a typical Scott-Washington collaboration and demonstrates the usual glossy skill each possess when making a mainstream Hollywood thriller. I was tiring of the inevitable Tony Scott visual masturbation by the time the credits had even finished but for the most part, it's a very efficient potboiler. It's very much a two man show as the dialogue between Denzel and a rather Village People looking Travolta is the best aspect of the film, affording Scott an opportunity for more of the kind of "personal revelations at gunpoint" he showcased …
Rating of
2.5/4
The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 12/26/2011
"Ryder" (John Travolta), along with three other armed men Bashkim (Victor Gojcaj), Emri (Robert Vataj), together with a former train operator Phil Ramos (Luis Guzmán) takes control of Pelham 123, a New York City Subway 6 train. Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), a former assistant chief transportation officer, does everything he can to save the lives of the people on the train by cooperating with Ryder. The Mayor (James Gandolfini) agrees to pay Ryder's demand and orders cash from the Federal Reserve to be sent to Vanderbilt Ave and 42nd Street.
The only thing interesting were the exchanges and communications between Ryder and Garber. Pace of the film was fast but lacks better character build-up and noteworthy suspense for this type of genre. Its story really revolved around 2 …
Rating of
3/4
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 Review
Myviewing - wrote on 12/01/2009
I'm not sure how to compare this to the original since I haven't seen the original film. But anyway, the movie is about four armed men who have taken over a train cart and now hold the passengers hostage, demanding $10 million in 60 minutes. It plays out like your average thriller, and the only real problems I had with this movie were some angles of the ending that didn't really get resolved. It has enough of a decent story though, and the characters are pretty interesting when you pay attention to their back-stories. Also John Travolta is a tolerable enough villain, a lot more tolerable than another particularly bad role I can name… But overall, it's a passable enough thriller. If it interests you, you can do worse, but I doubt that anyone who enjoyed the original will find this any …
Rating of
3/4
Solid Summer Action, Nothing More
Alex - wrote on 06/12/2009
A solid movie. I was actually a little surprised. John Travolta (I usually despise his work) was the best he has been in a long long time. Denzel was his standard self, very good. The plot is pretty thin and the concept of the movie is as old as time itself. I wouldn't put this on any major awards list but it was good.
Keep in mind that this is an average Tony Scott movie. The action is good, the camera is jumpy and the movie always ends as you would expect. This is far from this best but better than his last couple of offerings.
My review is short because there isn't much to explain. I would take this as a normal summer action movie that may be better than the last few that have come out. Don't see it expecting anything new but see it to enjoy some mindless summer action drama.
