Review on The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

Review on The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

The Taking of Pelham 123 is an American film made in 1974 directed by Joseph Sargent and produced by Edgar J. Scherick.  The film was inspired by John Godey's best-selling book (The Taking of Pelham 123). The novel starts as a normal day on a subway, when the normality is interrupted by a hijacking of a subway car. Four men armed with submachine guns detach the lead car of the train and take it and 17 passengers’ hostage into a tunnel. This film is then built around that intro with a group of criminals asking for a ransom fee of $1million dollars. The genre of the film could be classed as a thriller due to the fact that it uses suspense and excitement as the main atmosphere in the movie. In the original film it featured Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam and Hector Elizondo. The film was released in October 2, 1974. It was later remade in 1998 as a TV film and was again remade in 2009 as a film.

The remake in 2009 was again built around the story of a train becoming hijacked but was modernized. Production began in March 2008, and it was released on June 12, 2009.The film features two main characters which are, Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Denzel Washington plays a train conductor which tries to negotiate with a criminal mastermind John Travolta. The ransom is very interesting due to the fact that it keeps you on the edge of your seat because the demand is $10million which has to be paid within 60minutes in cash to the criminals. Tension rises as a condition is put in place, that for every minute that goes pass the deadline a hostage would die. The police and everyone involved have to overcome some problems to save the hostages without any deaths, whilst trying to figure out how to stay one step ahead of the mastermind. An interesting feature that is added is that it has an in built timer counting down all the action as in unfolds.

In the beginning, you think that the 2 main characters are different from each other. However, throughout the film we find out that they have more in common with each other than you think. Both have committed a crime, and are both seeking redemption for their actions. Whilst they both seek to find redemption they both find it in a different way.

This version of the book has an even more thrilling side as it was more intense with more action something you would expect that you could relate to in the 21^st century, which wasn’t poorly delivered. The film hit cinemas on July 24, 2009 and was then made available on DVD on January 11, 2010. From the US Box Office the film gained £65.5M

I would recommend this film to people who enjoy action films and thrillers as it will keep you engaged and on the edge of your seat from the very beginning. The downside is I didn’t think it was long enough due to it being only 1hr 46mins. For this reason I would give it 4/5 stars, but would still class it as a crowd pleaser.