A group of men take a New York subway train hostage and demand a ransom. Instead of talking to the police the lead hostage taker (John Travolta) demands to talk to a railway dispatcher (Denzel Washington).
Who is the Audience for This Movie?
People who like hostage negotiation movies.
What I Liked About This Movie
There have been a large amount of hostage movies created since moving pictures became popular and with every new incarnation of that movie type every director needs to put their stamp on it or the movie falls flat on its face.
In the case of Pelham 123 it is the visual style. Tony Scott knows how to make things look “cool” I hate to use such a simple word to describe it but in essence that’s what he does. His visual style is all about making things as flashy as possible and while it doesn’t always work it does in this movie. He could shoot an entire movie about flowers and it would still be visually interesting throughout. As for the rest of the movie Travolta and Denzel share a lot of sharp dialogue and the scenes are all paced very quickly.
What Didn’t Work For Me
Up until the last few scenes I was enjoying the movie but it goes in a nonsensical direction that contradicts everything that happened in the movie.
Should You Watch This Movie?
No, I felt totally cheated out of my time by the lackluster ending.
My Rating (Out of 13)
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