When the original version of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 was made in 1974, the hijacking of a New York subway train didn't have quite the same significance it now possesses. Following 9/11, whenever a movie involves an attack on New York, it's inevitably imbued with the added fears and emotions engendered by the events of that fateful day. It's a factor reflected in the different attitudes of the passengers. In the original, the sight of the mustachioed hijackers brandishing guns even brought some initial giggles from a disbelieving few who thought it was some kind of prank. This time though there are no smiles, only terror, on the faces of the passengers as they find themselves hostages in this daring and deadly heist.
This new dynamic is perhaps one reason this classic thriller was updated. In the competent hands of director Tony Scott, paired once again with Denzel Washington, who assumes Walter Matthau's role of the Subway dispatcher, along with John Travolta in Robert Shaw's role of criminal mastermind, this glossier version still harnesses the gripping tension of John Godey's novel. Travolta in particular, excels as the smart, tightly wound Ryder whose dark glasses, tattooed neck and cropped hair, gives him a palpable air of menace.
The film's title derives from the name of the train, which departs Pelham Bay Park station in the Bronx daily at 1:23. En route it's boarded by four hijackers, led by Ryder. After overpowering a guard, they assume control of the train, holding a coachload of passengers hostage as they demand $10m (up from $1m in '74). Giving the authorities, in the substantial form of New York's Mayor (James Gandolfini), only an hour to produce the money, Ryder threatens to shoot one passenger for every minute the deadline is exceeded. Walter Garber is the dispatcher who fields the call from Ryder. The two form an uneasy bond, with the laid back Garber, being coached by a hostage negotiator (John Turturro), trying to buy time, while Ryder revels in playing psychological games with Garber. "You're just like me Garber," declares Ryder at one point, after extracting a key confession from the long-serving railman.
While the central premise of the film is the same as the original, Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) brings things up to date, adding a backstory for Ryder, who is anonymously referred to as Mr. Blue first time around, with his accomplices adopting different hues in a tack than was later borrowed by Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs. This time Ryder's colleagues have names, but few words. It is perhaps an over sensitivity triggered by a climate of racial profiling that makes the choice of two middle eastern-looking hijackers seem calculated.
The ticking clock is the foundation on which this taut thriller is based, but it is the relationship between dispatcher and hijacker that provides the film with its emotional substance. Garber and Ryder's exchanges are spiced with wit and venom as the always excellent Washington and Travolta, in inspired form, prove their characters to be worthy adversaries as they spar with one another. Exhibiting Scott's familiar visual stamp, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is more expansive than the original. There is one gratuitously violent Peckinpah-esque scene that jars, but other than that, it doesn't tarnish the legacy too greatly which is probably the best that could have been hoped for.
Kevin Murphy
