Review: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

I’ve always felt that if a movie has plot holes, the writers can easily overcome most of them by just mentioning them… Like if you’re on a space ship that seems to have gravity then as long as a character makes mention of a “gravity generator”, its all good. Because this movie is a remake of an original, there were obvious plot holes in the first version of the movie as well. I really like how this movie kept those plot holes, but made reference to them, and this helped make fun of the original a little. Although the new version had quite a bit of similarities, there was a lot of unnecessary rewriting in order to ‘modernize’ the film. Agreed, you can’t ask for $1 million for a ransom like you could back in 1974, however there was a lot of changes, that the writers made that they probably shouldn’t have. Hit the jump for my full review including a couple of comparisons from the original to the remake…

The original radio dispatcher (played by Walter Matthau) was very calm and in control of the situation at all time. He had the respect of his team and that allowed him to organize and rally the troops. The new radio dispatcher (played by Denzel Washington) was very nervous all of the time, and was on probation at work. His colleagues were even questioning his involvement with the terrorists at points… Is this really the guy you want leading the hostage negotiations?

The original leader of the hijackers, who was named Mr Grey, was also very calm. He was very meticulous and the amount of planning that he had was obvious by his ability to not be phased by anything. One of the more scary things about the original hijackers was how calm they were… It was all planned. Not to mention they all referred to each other by colours. Mr Green, Blue, Grey, Brown. In the remake the leader of the hijackers, named Ryder (played by John Travolta) was very upset all of the time. His yelling and extremism is almost common place amongst hostage takers now a days. This prevented the movie from being anything new or exciting… He’s just another terrorist. The viewer also loses the appreciation for the planning and intellect of the hostage takers when he’s yelling and swearing all the time…

Overall I felt that the original was an intellectually stimulating movie and a different take on a classic story. The new film was just another movie about another heist attempt… its been done a thousand times. My suggestion is that if you want to see the Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 in theatres, then you reconsider and see the 1974 version instead. On the positive points, this movie never had me feeling like I wanted to leave the theatre, and I found that I wanted to find out what happened to all the characters… but I promise you, you’ll appreciate the original more than the new one. I give this movie a 5 / 10.

Have you seen the original? Or have you seen the new one? Don’t be shy to leave a comment below with your thoughts for others too…