Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This is a remake of an older film made in the 1070s and judging by other reviews- an improvement. It is an intense ride and both Denzel Washington and John Travolta shine. The late Tony Scott excelled in making certain types of films and this is the kind of film that he was happiest making, as opposed to elder brother Ridley who tends to choose more cerebral fare. Taking of Pelham 123 is a ride you don't wanna miss. Go see it.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009): Dir: Tony Scott / Cast: John Travolta, Denzel Washington, Jon Turturro, James Gandolfini, Luis Guzman: The villain's anger is against New York so Pelham 1 2 3 is somewhat a metaphor of his conquest. John Travolta plays a subway hijacker who forces a dispatcher into negotiations. Starts out well until formula sets in including nonsense moments of recklessness to transport the cash. Directed by Tony Scott with blazing action and an effective climax. He previously directed Washington in Man on Fire as well as directing the underrated Domino. Travolta and Denzel Washington have a terrific battle of wills. We learn that Washington had accepting a bribe in the past and is under investigation but he claims that it was to pay for his daughter's tuition. Travolta demands that Washington remain contact and the two have an effective standoff on a bridge. Supporting roles are not as broad as they should be although they are well cast. Jon Turturro plays a hostage negotiator shunned by Travolta. James Gandolfini brings comic relief as the Mayor. Luis Guzman plays one of the hijackers under Travolta's ruling. The action is blazing with several sequences that deliver tension, however this is just an average pop corn movie. Not heavy on theme but action fans will enjoy this subway venture of destruction. Score: 6 / 10

Cards on the table, I loved the original 1974 movie on which this latter-day remake was based. It was exciting, clever and funny. I don't know what it is with modern-day remakes of classic 60's and 70's films but it seems to me that directors throw almost all the good stuff out and bring in instead eye-hurting jerky-flashy camera-work, an ear-poundingly loud soundtrack which is constantly in the background and even-louder talking characters who swear and commit random acts of mindless violence whenever it suits them.So the Pelham 123 subway train in New York gets hijacked by disgruntled psychopathic Wall Street trader John Travolta as part of a devious plot to make a killing on the stock- exchange and revenge himself on the city for turfing him out of his high-paid job years before. That's your plot folks, with Denzel Washington as the demoted subway controller now running point in a desk job pending an investigation for corruption, who finds himself on duty just as Travolta and his bunch of merry men put their plan into action. For some strange reason madman Travolta hits it off with decent man Washington, ignoring professional cop negotiator John Torturro, as he executes his nefarious plan. There's the expected number of bloody killings along the way, completely irrelevant car-chases around New York where cars don't just crash, they rise vertically in the air and roll over a dozen times on collision (the police have no less than three separate accidents trying to race the ransom money across town to meet Travolta's deadline) and of course, an out of control train tearing over New York with a car-load of innocent passengers who probably wish they'd taken the bus instead.It's all unbelievable nonsense as you'd expect. I'm fast tiring of Washingston's ever-narrowing repertoire of decent-but-flawed leading men, Travolta is just awful as the loudmouth gang-leader and Torturro irrelevant as the negotiator. Only James Gandolfini shines as the city mayor who divines Travolta's real plan, wouldn't you know it, before the cops do.The direction is garishly bad, the dialogue excruciating, especially the scenes between Washington and Travolta and Washington and his wife. There's no humour present at all, although there are some unintentional laughs, like when a rat runs up the trouser leg of a police sniper just as he's taking aim at Travolta, causing him to miss.I've decided I really have to stop watching high-octane low-intelligence nonsense like this in future. Better yet, I wish Hollywood would stop making or remaking movies like this altogether.

Im not going to say much.My opinion is that the film was really good in terms of script and produced the action and intensity I was looking for but there were some things that totally ruined my experience.First of all, the music was awful and did not much at all with was being depicted from the screen. Really bad music selection.Secondly, there were parts on the film that the camera would - i don't know how to say it - "lagged", moving slowly, shaking and ruined the whole part. Its like watching a horror movie and at the point where the door slowly opens, the camera man shakes the camera for like 5 seconds and you miss everything.Travolta and Washington were really great in that movie and I believe that if the team behind the scenes was better, it could have hit an 7.5-8 overall.