The Tom’s Guide verdict: ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ (2009)
Verdict: “The Taking of Pelham 123” is rarely bad. It’s also rarely good. This might be the most average action thriller ever made. Its most egregious sin of all is that, despite featuring Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro and James Gandolfini, it underutilizes most of them. Save for maybe Travolta, whose performance still leaves something to be desired.
Where to watch:Stream “The Taking of Pelham 123” on Philo or watch it on demand
It’s important to note that “The Taking of Pelham 123” is a different movie than “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.” The former is the latest movie I had to watch in my year-long Denzel Watchathon. The latter is a 1974 action thriller that’s actually good.
Now, to be fair to this remake, it’s not bad. I’ve seen far worse films. I’ve seen worse films starring Denzel Washington. But it’s also not particularly good; it’s just fine. It’s inoffensive for the most part, and there’s no performance or moment that elevates it or drags it down.
If there’s one thing that defines this movie, it’s sadly not Denzel Washington. In fact, it’s probably the first movie I’ve seen where you could have replaced him and likely gotten a film that was just as good or close to it. No, aside from the fact that this is visually recognizable as a Tony Scott film for those of us who have seen a lot of Tony Scott films, the standout performance in this movie is Denzel’s opposite number: John Travolta.
If you want to watch this movie before you read on, you canstream it on Philo. If you’ve never signed up for Philo before, new customers get a seven-day free trial, meaning you can stream “The Taking of Pelham 123” for free.
Alternatively, you can see if your cable TV, satellite orlive TV streaming servicehas it and watch it on demand. If you get AMC as a channel, you should have this movie available to watch on demand for free.
This movie wouldn’t change with or without Denzel
For those of you who aren’t familiar with this 2009 action thriller, or the 1974 original … or the 1998 television movie, “The Taking of Pelham 123” is adapted from the John Godey novel of the same name. In it, a group of armed men hijacks the Pelham 123 train (a New York City 6 train that originates from Pelham Bay at 1:23 p.m.) and demands a ransom from the city of New York.
In this movie, the men are led by Ryder, played by John Travolta. He wants $10 million from the Mayor of New York (James Gandolfini), delivered within the hour, or he’ll start killing a hostage every minute.
Here are some of the other Denzel Washington movies I’ve covered to date in my Denzel Watchathon:
The intermediaries between Ryder and the Mayor are Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), the MTA subway dispatcher who receives the call from Ryder demanding the ransom, and Lt. Vincent Camonetti (John Turturro), the NYPD hostage negotiator who briefly takes control of the situation.
This movie is largely about Ryder and Garber, though. Especially once Ryder kills the subway train’s motorman in response to Camonetti taking over the phone from Garber. That’s probably the high point of the movie, because it’s in that moment that you realize there are real stakes to this hostage situation.
The reality is, despite a cast that includes Denzel, Travolta, Turturro and Gandolfini, you probably didn’t need any of them. Replace them with replacement-level actors and change nothing else, and you’d probably get just as good a movie.
The lone exception is maybe Travolta, who is cranked up to 11 in this movie. Maybe that was a direction or script choice. The character Ryder isn’t historically a stoic. But if it was even partially Travolta making an acting choice, something a bit more subtle might have been an improvement. But, honestly, I’m not even sure that’s true.
Verdict: Watch ‘The Taking of Pelham One Two Three’ instead
Unless you’re a Denzel completionist like me, you don’t need to watch this movie. That’s partially because it’s not especially worth your time, but also because you could watch the 1974 original instead, which is currently streaming for free on Tubi and is a better film.
If you’re committed to watching this remake, though, now is the time to do it. You can likely watch it for free on Philo with a seven-day free trial or as a video on-demand as part of your cable TV, satellite or live TV service subscription. I watched it for free on YouTube TV, and I’m glad I only had to spend just under two hours of my time, rather than my hard-earned money.
Stream “The Taking of Pelham 123” on Philo with a seven-day free trial right now
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