Film review: The Taking of Pelham 123

BIG NAMES: Denzel Washington and John Travolta star in The Taking of Pelham 123.

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Tony Scott (Top Gun, The Last Boy Scout) knows how to throw his cameras and stunt-performers around better than almost any other jobbing director.

He has made good films (True Romance) and bloody awful ones (Domino), but never a film that was boring to look at, and The Taking of Pelham 123 does nothing to challenge the reputation of Ridley's hyperactive little brother.

The film is an efficient, occasionally funny and kinetic as hell retread of a much-respected 1974 movie.

Purists and film bores will bang on about the remake's inferiority to the original, but since I was the only person in the cinema who was even born in 1974, I figure: who cares?

The hijacking of a New York subway car is competently staged, the violence is sudden and acceptably realistic, and the performances from Travolta, Washington, and Turturro are exactly what you were expecting.

Pelham 123 loses all credibility in the last 20 minutes, and a twist I was waiting for never arrived, but the film is still an enjoyable waste of a few hours of your life.

All that, and a cameo from James Gandolfini. What's not to like?

The Taking of Pelham 123
Director: Tony Scott
Starring: John Travolta, Denzel Washington, John Turturro
Rated: R16
Time: 106 minutes
Trailer: Flicks.co.nz

* What did you think? Post your comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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huhu   #3   03:31 pm Sep 27 2009

This is better in your opinion than inglourious basterds -"Pelham 123 loses all credibility in the last 20 minutes, and a twist I was waiting for never arrived, but the film is still an enjoyable waste of a few hours of your life" seems like you are using a diffrent yard stick for this film .

hamish   #2   12:03 pm Sep 16 2009

this is the 3rd remake and is just showy and OTT with FX chases and noise......the older ones are more subtle and allow the actors to do the work rather than the technical people...I found it a noisey bore

CRMWWelly   #1   08:57 am Sep 15 2009

This should not have gotten more stars than inglourious basterds.