Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

Director: Tony Scott. Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, Luis Guzman, James Gandolfini. 106 min. Rated R. Action.

Just another remake. Tony Scott can be credited for having his own style, but I don't buy it. His flashy camera shots, high-tech maximizing/minimizing computer windows, and flow of subtitles on the screen are becoming quite repetitious; as though he's trying to glamorize a lost movie with some cheap technical tricks. And either Travolta talks too much, or I'm just comparing him to Robert Shaw's quiet heavy presence in the original; but the way Washington handles his lines proves his huge superiority. Wish we could go back to the days when the Scott/Washington duo made movies like Crimson Tide.


Mo says:

2 comments:

  1. Although I like Tony scott's works, I'm one of serious fans of Travolta & Washington, hijacking & hostage taking is my favorite topic & and I never left my seat through watching, I think the movie could have been worked on, better . I agree Washington's superiority on Travolta,moreover the real reasons for all of "Ryder" sadistic-homicidal behavior remained unclear till the end .Also as you said the sound & camera movements was too much .At first moments I got some similarity between it & "Inside man " but lack of that clever screenplay and obviously more violent. To me seems a good motivation for seeing the original version too.

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  2. I think you'll like the original version better (if you can forgive it's old technique). At least it's devoid of Scott's camera tricks.

    (And it contains a major subplot about a police on board the subway, which as you saw, Tony Scott took care of very early in his own version.)

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