The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is a thriller, directed by Tony Scott. It was based on the 1973 novel by Morton Freedgood, writing under the pen name John Godey, which was turned into a 1974 theatrical version and a 1998 television version before this version. I have seen all three versions, and read the book, so I shall treat this as much as I can as an independent entity.

The plot is simple enough. A bunch of twerps hijack a six-line MTA train known as Pelham 123, seeking $10 million in ransom from the city. Note that when a New York City subway train leaves to start a run, it is given a call sign based upon the time it left and where; in this case, Pelham Bay Park Station in the Bronx at 1:23 p.m (also this is the same line that J Lo used to ride to her dance studio, ergo the album title On the Six. Then again, J Lo sucks so hard she could probably suck start a leaf blower, so no more about her). A bunch of good people try to stop them, and in the end, they capture or kill all the hijackers, so the cosmic balance is restored.

Denzel Washington plays Walter Garber, the MTA dispacher who gets sucked into the drama, is in many ways a typical guy, undeniably a seeming anti-hero when you find out that he is a higher ranking MTA official who has been demoted pending an investigation for bribery.

John Travolta plays Ryder, the leader of the hijackers who is a former Wall Street “high roller” named Dennis Ford who blames the city of New York and the mayor for causing him to stay in prison for 10 years — longer than the original guilty plea of three years he agreed to. You get clues to his identity early on, given his references to the markets, collateral and certain phrases.
Rounding out the cast, James Gandolfini plays the mayor (written as a melange of the background and traits of Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Guiliani), John Turturro plays the NYPD hostage negotiator, and Michael Rispoli (better known as Gramma for all you Rounders fans reading this) plays John Johnson, the boss of the MTA dispatch centre.

Of course, this was filmed 35 years after the book was written, so it breaks from the original story, given that mobile phones, GPS devices and thermal imaging didn’t exist in the early 1970s, nor had 9/11 happened, but the fundamental essence of the book, the fight of good against evil, remains.  Unlike the book, in which 30 different people are tracked, and the first theatrical release, in which a half dozen were tracked but primarily Ryder and Garber, this version was a depiction of an almost duel-like conflict between Garber and Ryder. And on the whole, I think it makes it better, and certainly much more dark and gritty, than the first.

In a lot of ways, this was a prototypical Tony Scott film; nothing is spectacularly different from his track record or would cause you to think it wasn’t one of his movies. But like almost all his movies, it’s generally enjoyable.