I've always been a big fan of train movies. "The Cassandra Crossing", "Murder On The Orient Express," "The Train," "Runaway Train" and "The Taking Of Pelham 1, 2, 3" are all great films. The latter is especially one of my favorites.
Based on a novel, "The Taking Of Pelham 1, 2, 3" stars Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, respectively, as a NYC MTA Police Detective and a man holding a train car of people hostage for ransom. The battle of wits between the two men as the city grinds to a halt is tense and mesmerizing. The film is a great reflection on its time and yet still stands the test of time. It is both a moment frozen in time (New York in the 1970s) and timeless.
This is probably why the film has been remade (for the second time actually since there is a 1998 TV Movie with Edward James Olmos and Vincent D'Onofrio replacing Matthau and Shaw). This time on the big screen we have Denzel Washington and John Travolta in the roles previously played by Matthau and Shaw. Of course, things have been modernized and updated for a post 9/11 New York.
Both characters get a bit more of a backstory this time (Washington's Garber is no longer a detective, he's just a dispatcher for the MTA -- well, not just a dispatcher but that's what he's doing when the film starts as he's also under investigation for taking a bribe). Gone are the colorful code names of the original foursome who hijacked the train (most likely since Quentin Tarantino used the same gimmick in "Reservoir Dogs" and most people will just assume this film was ripping that off instead of being the other way around) and a laptop with an internet connection has been added onto the train (maybe to replace the now missing/changed undercover cop, but also to give the events that "in your face" feeling we get from living in a society where we can almost be "watched" 24/7 anyway).
Washington and Travolta keep things moving with the help of screenwriter Brian Helgeland. The dialogue is sharp and crisp (though I'm convinced that Travolta's role may have been written with Samuel L. Jackson in mind since he tends to end sentences with "mother fucker" one too many times). The editing may be a bit "herky jerky" at times, but it actually fits the film nicely (as does the music score & song choices which also seem a bit jarring at first). Director Tony Scott keeps things flowing and tense throughout most of the film. It is only when we finally get off the train for the last third of the film when things start to lose steam. The ending is also not as satisfying as that of the original, but luckily these changes don't derail the whole proceedings.
If you're looking for a quality remake of a classic film that can stand on its own without "replacing" the original, you could do a lot worse than "The Taking Of Pelham 1, 2, 3." Its also a great popcorn flick to boot.
Hopefully, any success from this film will bring about a special edition DVD or Blu Ray of the original (as well as some sort of release for the 1998 TV Movie which is not available on any format including VHS). At the very least, seeing this has finally inspired me to read the damn book.
Be seeing you.
