Movie Reviews: The Taking Of Pelham 123
12 June 2009 11:21 AM, PDT

The Taking of Pelham 123 is getting fairly decent reviews from critics, several of whom remark that while there isn’t much to dislike about the movie, there’s also nothing much to get excited about either.

Roger Ebert writes in the Chicago Sun-Times, “Nobody gets terrifically worked up, except the special-effects people. Oh, John Travolta is angry and Denzel Washington is determined, but you don't sense passion in the performances.”

Philip Kennicott in the Washington Post suggests that the movie is more or less a typical display of director Tony Scott’s style. “It is animated by a restless, absurd need for excess, for energy and speed and rapid, manic, dizzying camera work. ... The film devolves into self-indulgent silliness, a toxic cocktail of adrenaline and sentiment.”

Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal concludes: “Tony Scott holds his audience hostage to runaway technique.”

But other critics find much to like about the movie.

Claudia Puig in USA Today says that the remake of the 1974 original “benefits from a fresh makeover.”

Rafter Guzmán in Newsday remarks that the movie “travels fast but stays safely on the rails.”

And Tom Maurstad in the Dallas Morning News provides a sure ad quote: “The Taking of Pelham 123 starts at a dead run and never stops moving.”

-IMDB News

I'm gonna see this today. John and Denzel are some of my favorite actors. Tony Scott is a good director. He's done 3 other movies with Denzel such as Man On Fire, Deja Vu, Crimson Tide(isn't this the name of the movie he did with Gene Hackman when they were on a ship underwater?)JamesG if you haven't seen Revenge with Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe, Anthony Quinn, you should check it out. Tony Scott directed that also. Kevin has a affair with Madeleine who is married to Anthony and Anthony is a mob boss. When Anthony finds out about the affair, him and his henchmen beat the sh*t outta Kevin and Madeleine hahahahahahahahahahaha. Man they beat Kevin so bad, i'm surprised he lived.

I'm gonna see this today. John and Denzel are some of my favorite actors. Tony Scott is a good director. He's done 3 other movies with Denzel such as Man On Fire, Deja Vu, Crimson Tide(isn't this the name of the movie he did with Gene Hackman when they were on a ship underwater?)JamesG if you haven't seen Revenge with Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe, Anthony Quinn, you should check it out. Tony Scott directed that also. Kevin has a affair with Madeleine who is married to Anthony and Anthony is a mob boss. When Anthony finds out about the affair, him and his henchmen beat the sh*t outta Kevin and Madeleine hahahahahahahahahahaha. Man they beat Kevin so bad, i'm surprised he lived.

I did not like Deja Vu. To me this is one of my least favorite Denzel movies. I just did not get into it.

Yes, Crimson Tide was the underwater movie. That was a good one.

I saw Costner's Revenge a while ago. It was alright but it was also a commercial flop at the time.

You didn't like Deja Vu huh? There's a few Denzel movies i didn't like such as Devil In A Blue Dress and Virtuosity. Have you seen Fallen with Denzel and John Goodman? That looks weird. Let me you know what you think about it if you've seen it. I don't have a interest in seeing it. I got it on dvd and Training Day movie is on the other side of the dvd. I'm sure you've seen movies on dvd for sale at Walmart when you get 2 movies on one dvd. I just saw The Taking Of Pelham 123 and i liked it. John Travolta's character was crazy. James Gandolfini was also in it as the mayor of New York. Him and John did another movie together called Lonely Hearts which is good. I've never seen The Sopranos tv show but i know James played on there as the leader of the mob. I should get it on dvd from Blockbuster and watch it. I like mafia gangsta stuff.

You didn't like Deja Vu huh? There's a few Denzel movies i didn't like such as Devil In A Blue Dress and Virtuosity. Have you seen Fallen with Denzel and John Goodman? That looks weird. Let me you know what you think about it if you've seen it. I don't have a interest in seeing it. I got it on dvd and Training Day movie is on the other side of the dvd. I'm sure you've seen movies on dvd for sale at Walmart when you get 2 movies on one dvd. I just saw The Taking Of Pelham 123 and i liked it. John Travolta's character was crazy. James Gandolfini was also in it as the mayor of New York. Him and John did another movie together called Lonely Hearts which is good. I've never seen The Sopranos tv show but i know James played on there as the leader of the mob. I should get it on dvd from Blockbuster and watch it. I like mafia gangsta stuff.

I never saw Fallen. Might go tonight to see Pelham 123.

James Gandolfini and John Travolta did another movie together with Sean Penn and Sean's wife Robin called She's So Lovely. I just watched it yesterday and it sucks LOL.

James Gandolfini and John Travolta did another movie together with Sean Penn and Sean's wife Robin called She's So Lovely. I just watched it yesterday and it sucks LOL.

I never saw that one either. I really haven't seen much of James Gandolfini's works other than The Sopranos.

I did see the one he did with Robert Redford and Mark Ruffalo The Last Castle. That one I did like.

What is The Last Castle about? I don't like most of Robert Redford's movies but he's a good actor. I like the movie he did with Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman. I forgot the name of it. He also did 2 good ones i like called Legal Eagles with Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah and Out Of Africa with Meryl(what a ugly name LOL)Streep. Have you seen Mark Ruffalo and Meg Ryan's In The Cut movie? That movie has several sex scenes with Mark and Meg LOL.

What is The Last Castle about? I don't like most of Robert Redford's movies but he's a good actor. I like the movie he did with Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman. I forgot the name of it. He also did 2 good ones i like called Legal Eagles with Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah and Out Of Africa with Meryl(what a ugly name LOL)Streep. Have you seen Mark Ruffalo and Meg Ryan's In The Cut movie? That movie has several sex scenes with Mark and Meg LOL.

In The Last Castle Robert Redford is a high-ranking Army officer who is sent to a military prison for insubordination. James Gandolfini is the prison warden and he is also an admirer of Redford's character.

Robert Redford then fights back against the abuse tactics that are used in the prison and he encourages the other inmates to gain back their military pride which ultimately leads to a HUGE prison riot.

Steve Burton, who most people know from General Hospital and Out Of This World, has a small role as Gandolfini's assisstant. To date this is his only theatrical feature film.



The movie you speak of with Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman is An Unfinished Life.


I don't know if you have seen it but I would recommend the movie Robert Redford and Brad Pitt did called Spy Game. It really didn't gather much interest upon original release but I enjoyed it.



I will say one of the worst Robert Redford films that I have seen was more recent. It was Lions For Lambs and it also had Meryl Streep in it as well as Tom Cruise. I just did not like anything about it and it was a pretty dull political thriller.


Yes, I saw In the Cut around when it came out. It was alright.

My brother has Spy Game on dvd but it looks boring to me. I saw some of Lions For Lambs and it was boring. I fell asleep on most of it LOL. Another boring movie with Robert is Sneakers. Him and Sidney Poitier wasted their time on that flick LOL.

My brother has Spy Game on dvd but it looks boring to me. I saw some of Lions For Lambs and it was boring. I fell asleep on most of it LOL. Another boring movie with Robert is Sneakers. Him and Sidney Poitier wasted their time on that flick LOL.

I would give Spy Game a look. Not a shoot 'em up but it is worth the watch.

Lions for Lambs was awful and I never saw Sneakers.

Another Tom Cruise movie i saw recently that sucks is Valkryie. That was very boring. Tom made some good films back in the day. He's not doing good movies anymore. My favorite Tom movies are The Color Of Money, The Outsiders, Cocktail, Rain Man, Mission Impossible 2 and 3. Top Gun was alright. Kelly McGillis was hot in that one.

Another Tom Cruise movie i saw recently that sucks is Valkryie. That was very boring. Tom made some good films back in the day. He's not doing good movies anymore. My favorite Tom movies are The Color Of Money, The Outsiders, Cocktail, Rain Man, Mission Impossible 2 and 3. Top Gun was alright. Kelly McGillis was hot in that one.

Did you see Collateral; the one with Cruise and Jamie Foxx? That one wasn't bad.

I forgot about Collateral. That's a good one.

I forgot about Collateral. That's a good one.

Yeah, it was a decent flick. Cruise with the gray hair was a little odd however...


I actually saw Pelham 1 2 3 yesterday and I really wasn't impressed by it. To me it was average; it didn't suck but it wasn't all that great either.

Have you seen it? What did you think of it?

I liked The Taking Of Pelham 123. I fell asleep on some of it. I wish it had more action but i liked it. What happened to the other bad guys that were with John Travolta? I saw the hispanic bad guy that was with John got shot in the head by mistake by a black guy sniper because a rat crawled up his leg LOL. I've seen that hispanic guy in several movies. I can't think of his name but he's a funny guy.

I liked The Taking Of Pelham 123. I fell asleep on some of it. I wish it had more action but i liked it. What happened to the other bad guys that were with John Travolta? I saw the hispanic bad guy that was with John got shot in the head by mistake by a black guy sniper because a rat crawled up his leg LOL. I've seen that hispanic guy in several movies. I can't think of his name but he's a funny guy.

That was Luiz Guzman. He didn't have that big of a part in this but he was good.

Here's what happened to the crew:

Guzman was killed by the sniper.

The other two were killed by the NYPD on the streets

Washington killed Travolta on the Brooklyn Bridge

I saw Denzel kill John. Luiz Guzman is his name. I saw him last year in a movie with John Leguizamo that was a christmas movie that has some hispanic actors. It was pretty good. I also saw him in Crocodile Dundee II. I love Crocodile Dundee II. Paul Hogan made me laugh because of the games he played with the bad guys when they were in the woods.

I actually saw Pelham 1 2 3 yesterday and I really wasn't impressed by it. To me it was average; it didn't suck but it wasn't all that great either.

I haven't seen the current version and I'm wondering how it compares to the original.