Pelham 1 2 3

[KevinmH9]

I figured many of you have seen the commercials, but I'll post the IMDb for those who haven't.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/

Anywho, I'm really excited to see this movie. I've always been a huge fan of both Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Really enjoyed the original version as a youngster. Was one of the movies they'd show on the Movie of the Week in the pre-HBO/cable days. Martin Balsam was one of the guys in it as I recall.

Would like to see this version stay true to the original, but I'm guessing that's probably not going to happen.

 

[tonysoprano]

Love Denzel. Also love Tony Scott movies.

Travolta is a pain in the ass..... I will be intrigued to see if he addresses the tragedy involving his son, and we'll get to hear his Scientology whackiness and possibly the conspiracy theories will resurface about what "really" happened.

 

[DanOregon]

It won't suck - but I'm tired of Travolta's charismatic bad guy roles.

 

[slappy4428]

I loved the original.. please, please, please let this not suck.

 

[tonysoprano]

Ya Travolta's like Sam Jackson - they basically play the same character in every movie.

Sure Travolta may switch it up and be a good guy/bad guy, but he's always strutting, smirking and firing off quick witty lines to make him seem cool (see "Swordfish", "Face Off", etc...).

 

[Double Down]

The Jones wrote about it in Esquire this month:

http://www.esquire.com/features/movies/taking-of-pelham-1-2-3-0609

 

[BYH]

Love Denzel. Also love Tony Scott movies.

Oh, very cool. Had no idea this was a Tony Scott flick. He's never topped "Last Boy Scout," as far as I'm concerned. Nowhere near a work of art, but for sheer awesome popcorn action movies, few approach it.

 

[21]

Read the book in high school, I think, loved it so much I never wanted to see the movie. Still feel that way. I have to believe the book is being re-released with the movie, I think I'll find a copy and read it again. No interest in the movie.

 

[BYH]

Never mind. I always thought Tony Scott wrote Last Boy Scout. He directed it but did not write it, that was Shane Black. And I forgot Scott did True Romance, always think of that as Tarantino.

Fail x 3.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I can't help but think this is an outdated period piece; the NYC subways are not the Wild Wild West they used to be.

 

[finishthehat]

The original was solidly in the class of those 1970s New York crime movies that were great and now offer a nice time capsule into the city at that time.

What's amazing about it is the mayor character in it is instantly recognizable as Ed Koch to anyone watching now (in terms of looks and voice), but Koch was years away from being mayor when it was made.

I'll see the remake, but I really have my doubts it will top the first.

 

[RossLT]

I'll give it a look. Denzel is my guy for films, I have seen every film he has ever done, so I feel obligated to check this one out.

 

[finishthehat]

Turned out I liked it much better than I thought I would. Definitely entertaining, but they didn't even try to do anything to match the punchline of the first one.

 

[slappy4428]

Gesundheit.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Mega-bomb in terms of the actors involved and their salaries. Only finished in 3rd place with $25 mil. It must've cost $100 mil to make. Will check it out on DVD.

 

[Joe Williams]

Loved the original, especially the score. My experience with Tony Scott is that everything is bigger, faster, louder. Gee, not much of that at the Cineplex these days. Updating for its own sake, or just to get scarier looking guns, is a bad reason.

Of course, I'll know more after I see this one.

BTW, Walter Matthau had a fascinating run, going from comedies to dramas to action flicks to romantic leading man roles, all while looking like a bloodhound. "Charley Varrick" was a keeper film of his, with a strong Joe Don Baker performance and another chance for Dean Wormer to play a baddie.

Regarding the first Pelham -- "One Two Three" rather than "1 2 3" -- I remember thinking that it would have been fun to see one of the subway car hostages played by Charles Bronson, as Paul Kersey, out for a New York nightime mugger/rapist hunt.

Also, Matthew Broderick's dad played the train engineer in the original.

 

[Boom_70]

What I remember about the original was that is did a great job of capturing the feel of riding the subway on the weekend in the big apple.

 

[Sp0rtScribe]

I'll definitely be watching it this weekend. Washington hardly ever disappoints.

 

[mediaguy]

There's a scene in the trailer where somebody actually says "Somebody just hijacked Pelham 123." As if anyone would care enough to ID a train by its number -- any natural reaction would be "somebody just hijacked a subway train." Just seemed terribly forced to get the name of the movie out there one more time.

Thinking I'll just rent this one.