The Taking of Pelham 123

This weekend I decided to watch The Taking of Pelham 123. I'll admit, I have yet to see the original. Luckily my TiVo was set to record it at 6:00am this morning.

Pelham 123 is the name of the train that is taking hostage by a man named Ryder (John Travolta). With the train stopped on the tracks Ryder is contacted by dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington). Ryder tells Garber he is holding the passengers hostage in return for $10 million in ransom. This leads to a thrilling standoff between Ryder, Garber, and the NYPD.

A few things I learned from the Taking of Pelham 123………………

$10 million really isn't a lot of money. After I buy my home and brand new ride, I'm left with play money. I'm not taking penitentiary chances for anything less than $100 million. I'm in the gym a lot, but I'm not doing time with cellmates named Truckstop and Blood Clot Jimmy. I'm good!

Denzel can act. I mean he can really act. I'm amazed at how I'm able to believe he's a stern coach, a drug dealer, a corrupt cop, and a subway train dispatcher. I think take Denzel lightly at times because he is so good. I look at his filmography and realize how many good films he's been a part of. Denzel is going to narrate my life story or play my dad. I'm good with either one.

Travolta should play more bad guys. I liked him as Ryder. He was such a gritty character. I liked him as Howard Saint in The Punisher, Gabriel in Swordfish, his dual roles in Face/Off, and who could forget Vincent Vega. Travolta's scenes with Denzel were priceless. I wish they had more screen time together. My mom loves Grease but the moment he drops an F-bomb in this movie, she's going to flip out.

Hostage movies are always the same. Crazy guy + hostages + ridiculous demands – a few hostages + hero = climatic face off at the end. I wish someone would change it up some. The genre of movies is starting to become WWE predictable. The next hostage movie should throw us a curve ball. I want see a hostage situation that ends horribly. In this economy people would understand Joe Schmoe from down the street and his streetwise friends holding people hostage for money. They aren't criminals or killers, so the movie ends terribly for the group. You could call the movie Joe Millionaire. A hostage movie would make for a great dark comedy. I don't know if that's ever been done before.

The city of New York needs a break. They are always picking on that poor city. At least once a year there is some monster, terrorist attack, super-villain, or natural disaster that destroys the big apple. Why not Chicago? Miami? San Francisco? There are more cities that deserves God's wrath.

The age of good movies without big budget special effects is back. In the past 12 months I've already seen The Wrestler, State of Play, Tyson, Cadillac Records, The Express, Appaloosa, The Soloist, Seven Pounds, and RockNRolla. Hopefully we'll see more of these movies in the next 12 months.

We've seen an enormous amount of old movies being re-made. I figure we should start remaking movies people really want to see. I'm thinking of movies that would be 10 times better solely based on advancements in special effects. Here is my list of movie: Lost Boys, Predator, Ghostbusters, Bloodsport, Teen Wolf, and Top Gun.

My suggestion: Pelham 123 is a great thriller. It's a nice movie to go see. You get to see two wonderful actors in some really good scenes. I wish I could see these two in more movies together. I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. In the spirit of finals week I will give this movie a B+. Well worth seeing. (http://blog.seattlepi.com)