# "Taking of Pelham 1 2 3"



## WhoozOn1st (Jun 12, 2009)

Opening today at a multiplex near you, I'm gonna walk in to see this movie with a serious "Oh yeah?" mindset. In other words, I'm pretty skeptical that the do-over can match, much less improve upon, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, one of my fave rail movies.

Googling the original I learned that the story was also made into a 1988 TV movie that I've not seen: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

Since I have to ride the city bus to the theater, maybe I'll shoot an action/thriller video of the ride and call it "The Taking of Gold Coast Transit, Route 6B."


----------



## MrFSS (Jun 12, 2009)

The original with Walter Matthau is a classic. Every time I watch it I see some new detail I had missed before.


----------



## PetalumaLoco (Jun 12, 2009)

I love the trivia section of IMDB's reviews;

"SPOILER: The late Earl Hindman, who portrayed Mr. Brown, the hijacker shot by the undercover cop near the end of the film, is perhaps better known for his role as Wilson Wilson Jr, the next door neighbor to Tim Allen on "Home Improvement" (1991). A running gag on that show was the fact that his entire face was never seen because of the fence between their yards."


----------



## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 12, 2009)

:lol: neat I would have never connected the two movies, sometimes I think my brain wasn't installed correctly :lol: I have only seen the original once I was not totally amazed by it it. I will see the new version though.


----------



## WhoozOn1st (Jun 12, 2009)

The film industry is a major economic engine around here, so beyond the entertainment pages the L.A. Times accordingly devotes a good deal of coverage to the business, technical, and labor aspects of Tinseltown. Box office projections and results are not merely topics of idle chat, since the economic health of the region is tied fairly closely to the well being of the movie industry.

The Times business section runs a regular feature called "Company Town," which includes among other things weekly box office estimates for opening and currently playing movies. It has this to say about "Pelham:"

"The remake of 'The Taking of Pelham 123,' which Sony Pictures co-financed with Relativity Media at a cost of just over $100 million, is looking at a relatively soft start in the mid-$20-million range, where it is likely to come in at No. 3 behind Disney and Pixar's 'Up.' ["The Hangover" is expected to remain #1 in its second weekend]

"In a year that has been tough for adult-targeted thrillers in the U.S. and Canada, 'Pelham 123' is unlikely to reverse that trend.

"Its prospects are better overseas, however, where the star power of John Travolta and Denzel Washington could drive it to a bigger gross."

I'll be attending a matinee today, with an eye to reporting on the flick from a railfan perspective in a rare and highly-anticipated Amtrak Unlimited edition of the wildly popular "Whooz Going to the Movies."


----------



## MrFSS (Jun 12, 2009)

WhoozOn1st said:


> The film industry is a major economic engine around here, so beyond the entertainment pages the L.A. Times accordingly devotes a good deal of coverage to the business, technical, and labor aspects of Tinseltown. Box office projections and results are not merely topics of idle chat, since the economic health of the region is tied fairly closely to the well being of the movie industry.
> The Times business section runs a regular feature called "Company Town," which includes among other things weekly box office estimates for opening and currently playing movies. It has this to say about "Pelham:"
> 
> "The remake of 'The Taking of Pelham 123,' which Sony Pictures co-financed with Relativity Media at a cost of just over $100 million, is looking at a relatively soft start in the mid-$20-million range, where it is likely to come in at No. 3 behind Disney and Pixar's 'Up.' ["The Hangover" is expected to remain #1 in its second weekend]
> ...


Be sure to take your FEZ off so people behind you can see, too. :lol:


----------



## WhoozOn1st (Jun 12, 2009)

WhoozOn1st said:


> I'll be attending a matinee today, with an eye to reporting on the flick from a railfan perspective in a rare and highly-anticipated Amtrak Unlimited edition of the wildly popular "Whooz Going to the Movies."


Seems I may have overspoken. Don't really think I know enough about the workings of NYC subways to offer much more than general observations. The first one is that the trains are very well done. According to the L.A. Times the 4-week subway shoot was the longest ever; clearly the time wasn't wasted. During the opening sequences a horn is used several times as a sort of punctuation, but it's no subway horn I've ever heard; sounds more like Amtrak. A small thing, and it is rarely used after that. Late in the movie there are train horns that actually sound like those I've heard in NYC subways.

As the action begins to unfold there is some rapid-fire dispatcherspeak about train routing in the control center, I suppose to convey the idea that Denzel Washington's character really knows what he's doing. The control center itself is clearly far more advanced than the one in the original movie - this is no period piece - and looks real enough to my untrained eyes, but I have no way of vouching for its accuracy or technical capabilities.

One quick shot that I thought was possibly overdone for dramatic effect was of the hijacked car being uncoupled from the other 9 cars in the Pelham 123 consist. Do subway cars really detach with lengthy hissing and great clouds of vapor?

As in the original, this incarnation of "Pelham" features the use of a gizmo to defeat the train's deadman feature. In the 1974 movie it's a big, clumsy-looking piece of plumbing rigged outside between the lead truck and the cab; quite different here.

The subway cinematography is excellent, and the trains look great throughout the movie. As the story builds toward the end there are some fine rail shots both below and above ground as the hijacked car careens unchecked, eventually threading its way on center el track between passing trains after leaving Manhattan.

I have a number of questions about route accuracy regarding both movies. This version has the runaway 6 train about to hit the end of the line at Coney Island. Huh? Far as I can see on the March 2009 MTA map, the 6 goes nowhere NEAR Coney Island, and I don't know that such a routing is even possible. New Yorkers? Is it?? The original had the train heading out of control for South Ferry, which is 1/9 track, right?

One fun sequence has the Big Apple's mayor (James "Sopranos" Gandolfini) riding to work on the subway (really!) with a couple aides when he learns of the hijack situation. An aide suggests switching to a car, which the mayor rejects, saying the train is faster. The aide then announces to the other passengers that the train is now an express and will skip the next five stops. Consternation and catcalls until the mayor assures everybody that all the stops will be made.

A number of train things I won't talk about here, as I don't wanna wreck the plot for everybody. You're welcome. A much older subway car makes a cameo appearance at one point in a "derelict" (meaning abandoned) subway tunnel. This tunnel is referred to as Roosevelt, then said to be under the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. A cursory search tells me these are two different places, though they do exist.

As noted in the original post I went in skeptical, though a little less so after reading the L.A. Times review on the bus ride to the movie.

This remake is a very good train movie, and a very good movie period. It's essentially the same Pelham 123 story, retold in a new and very interesting way. A lot more automotive carnage than the original, but I suppose that's to be expected these days.

One warning: Those with a serious aversion to hardcore language - pervasive in this movie - should maybe wait for the DVD so they can hit the mute button for the duration and watch it in silence. There's also some pretty graphic bloodletting. They don't give those R ratings for nothing.

On the "Whooz Going to the Movies" RailScale of Excellence, "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" gets 3 1/2 (out of 5) Highballs.

Notes: My total cost was $7.50; 5 for the movie (matinee price), the rest for r/t busfare. About 10 damn commercials even before the coming attractions! One of the upcoming (July 1) movies I'll probably see is "Public Enemies," a gangster flick about John Dillinger that includes a steam locomotive and Chicago Union Station. A grand total of 22 people at the showing I attended, but may have missed some behind me if they exited before they could be included in my clockwise counting; not exactly SRO.

L.A. Times review:

It's right on schedule

"Director Tony Scott skillfully fast tracks the remake of 'Pelham 123.'"


----------



## AlanB (Jun 13, 2009)

WhoozOn1st said:


> One quick shot that I thought was possibly overdone for dramatic effect was of the hijacked car being uncoupled from the other 9 cars in the Pelham 123 consist. Do subway cars really detach with lengthy hissing and great clouds of vapor?


No. It's pretty quick and painless, with maybe a bit of a hiss and no vapor.



WhoozOn1st said:


> I have a number of questions about route accuracy regarding both movies. This version has the runaway 6 train about to hit the end of the line at Coney Island. Huh? Far as I can see on the March 2009 MTA map, the 6 goes nowhere NEAR Coney Island, and I don't know that such a routing is even possible. New Yorkers? Is it?? The original had the train heading out of control for South Ferry, which is 1/9 track, right?


Well interestingly one of the previews that I've seen show a B train. That train can indeed go to Coney Island. However, a B train can never be given the call letters Pelham 123. Only number 6 trains departs from from Pelham Bay Station, and therefore only a #6 train can have call letters with Pelham leading off. The idea is that the trains call letters are made up of the originating station and the departure time from said station.

So to answer your question, no, a #6 train and for that matter no train with the call letters of Pelham 123 could ever reach Coney Island. At least not without some very complicated switching and probably a reverse move or two. In fact the only way that I can think of to get a #6 train to Coney Island would be to run it around the South Ferry loop, send it all the way uptown on the #1 line to 215th Street in Manhattan. Then reverse into the yard at 207th Street. From there either reverse again or take the yard loop and switch onto the A line. Then run back downtown to West 4th Street and switch onto the F line to reach Coney Island. And that's not happening on a train with no motorman.

As for your second question, the #1 train up until a few months ago was the only train that stopped on the South Ferry loop. However the South Ferry loop is a two track loop and it has connections between the 7th Avenue lines (#1) and the Lexington Avenue line (#4, #5). In fact during off peak hours the #5 train does not run into Brooklyn and is turned at South Ferry using the inner loop. So in the original movie it would have been possible for the #6 to be switched from the local tracks that terminate at City Hall to the express tracks and on down to South Ferry.

And hopefully I didn't confuse the heck out of you with all that.



WhoozOn1st said:


> One fun sequence has the Big Apple's mayor (James "Sopranos" Gandolfini) riding to work on the subway (really!) with a couple aides when he learns of the hijack situation. An aide suggests switching to a car, which the mayor rejects, saying the train is faster. The aide then announces to the other passengers that the train is now an express and will skip the next five stops. Consternation and catcalls until the mayor assures everybody that all the stops will be made.


Believe it or not, they probably got that idea from Mayor Bloomberg who routinely rides the #6 train from Gracie Mansion down to City Hall. Hundreds, if not thousands of regular NYorkers have had the pleasure of meeting up with his honor on the #6. And he always talks to those who approach him, even as the burly security guards keep a watchful eye.



WhoozOn1st said:


> A number of train things I won't talk about here, as I don't wanna wreck the plot for everybody. You're welcome. A much older subway car makes a cameo appearance at one point in a "derelict" (meaning abandoned) subway tunnel. This tunnel is referred to as Roosevelt, then said to be under the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. A cursory search tells me these are two different places, though they do exist.


There are tracks under the Waldorf-Astoria, but they aren't subway tracks, they are connected to Metro North and Grand Central.



WhoozOn1st said:


> One warning: Those with a serious aversion to hardcore language - pervasive in this movie - should maybe wait for the DVD so they can hit the mute button for the duration and watch it in silence. There's also some pretty graphic bloodletting. They don't give those R ratings for nothing.


Interestingly the guy doing the review on tonights TV news seemed to indicate that there wasn't much bloodletting.


----------



## WhoozOn1st (Jun 13, 2009)

AlanB said:


> WhoozOn1st said:
> 
> 
> > One warning: Those with a serious aversion to hardcore language - pervasive in this movie - should maybe wait for the DVD so they can hit the mute button for the duration and watch it in silence. There's also some pretty graphic bloodletting. They don't give those R ratings for nothing.
> ...


Six or seven kills, one of them rodent-induced.

Incidentally, as a well-attired railfan I sported my Official MTA 6 Train t-shirt (6 logo, "Bronx to Brooklyn Bridge"), and theater employees wore the movie's t-shirts, black with the title in white on the backs.

A bit of trivia gleaned in Googling around is that since the original movie no 6 train has been scheduled to depart Pelham Bay Park at either 01:23 or 13:23.


----------



## WhoozOn1st (Jun 14, 2009)

A little heads-up for fellow SoCal denizens: The original 1974 movie, "The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three," will be shown tonight at 8 p.m. on local station KTLA Channel 5.

Others around the country might want to scrutinize their local listings as well, since it's fairly common to show the original of a movie on TV when a remake comes out. I'll probably watch (after AU Weekly Chat) cuz for the life of me I can't find my DVD copy.

EDIT: It's a ripping good yarn!


----------



## PetalumaLoco (Jun 14, 2009)

Just started on KTVU, northern Cal. (8:00pm PDT)


----------



## MrFSS (Jun 15, 2009)

PetalumaLoco said:


> Just started on KTVU, northern Cal. (8:00pm PDT)


We had it at 8:00 last night, too, on the CW network. I recorded it for future viewing.


----------



## WhoozOn1st (Jun 15, 2009)

WhoozOn1st said:


> "The remake of 'The Taking of Pelham 123,' which Sony Pictures co-financed with Relativity Media at a cost of just over $100 million, is looking at a relatively soft start in the mid-$20-million range, where it is likely to come in at No. 3 behind Disney and Pixar's 'Up.'"


As predicted:

"'The Taking of Pelham 123,' which Sony Pictures co-financed with Relativity Media at a cost of just over $100 million, launched at $25 million.

"Sixty-two percent of audiences were 30 and older, making 'Pelham' the latest in a string of adult-targeted thrillers to start modestly this year. Stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta will have to draw bigger crowds overseas if the film is going to end up profitable." -- L.A. Times

Incidentally, in addition to the paper in my driveway every morning, on 6-14-09 the Times launched e-mail delivery of the digital edition.


----------



## WhoozOn1st (Jun 20, 2009)

Here's a blog about the movie at Trains.com, the magazine's website. The initial post, by a senior editor, features some interesting observations and insights from a far more knowledgeable viewpoint than yours surly can provide. In addition to considering technical aspects of the film, the author opines on its meaning/significance for where railroads in general reside in the public consciousness, and how the U.S. differs from other countries in this respect.

The reel world: Pelham rocks, but suspend your disbelief

He also makes several comparisons between subway depictions in this movie and the 1974 original, including the ways in which the passengers/hostages are portrayed in the respective versions.


----------



## ALC Rail Writer (Jun 20, 2009)

I saw the movie and enjoyed it a lot. People who write reviews about movies from a perspective other than entertainment truly don't understand entertainment.

They don't get that the movie inherently creates its own Universe and has its own canon. Thus, while in our Universe switching a 6 train onto a line to Coney Island is difficult if not impossible, the same rules do not apply in this movie's Universe.

Psychology is what makes wonderful movies these days. So many blockbusters are light and airy full of stock characters and easy parts. They don't present challenges to the actors or to the audience. "Pelham" (2009) forces audiences to dissect motive and emotion, to try and make connections with the "good guys" and disconnect themselves from the "bad guys." I sat in that theatre almost angry at myself thinking "What Ryder is saying is so right..." or thinking that his plan was brilliant. At the same time I had a hard time trying to believe Washington, I didn't want to like him or trust him, but eventually I did--

Like it or not, this is Oscar material. It's not Best Picture, but I will put money on saying at least one of the pair of actors is getting a nomination (if not both) and may just win an award... based on what has come out thus far this year.


----------



## VentureForth (Jul 6, 2009)

Could passengers pull the emergency brake to override the overridden deadman's switch? I believe (and I could be wrong), but in Japan, the cabs have two switches (or one or the other). One is in the seat (like a riding lawnmower) and the other is a foot switch. Stand up or let off your foot and the train stops (not catostrophically, but slows to a stop).


----------



## DET63 (Jul 8, 2009)

Do you think _Pelham_ will ever be shown as the entertainment feature on an Amtrak LD train?


----------



## Upstate (Jul 8, 2009)

DET63 said:


> Do you think _Pelham_ will ever be shown as the entertainment feature on an Amtrak LD train?


well first off they would need to add the entertainment feature.


----------



## ALC Rail Writer (Jul 8, 2009)

Upstate said:


> DET63 said:
> 
> 
> > Do you think _Pelham_ will ever be shown as the entertainment feature on an Amtrak LD train?
> ...


Coast Starlight.


----------



## Upstate (Jul 8, 2009)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> Upstate said:
> 
> 
> > DET63 said:
> ...


and for those of us that stick to the east coast?


----------



## ALC Rail Writer (Jul 8, 2009)

Upstate said:


> ALC_Rail_Writer said:
> 
> 
> > Upstate said:
> ...


Doesn't matter. You said Amtrak doesn't have an entertainment feature on their LD trains, well actually-- you're wrong.

And it doesn't matter anyway, you could always bring a laptop.


----------

