A Marlowe HDF Review: THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 (Columbia/MGM)

Peter Marlowe · 11-04-2009, 02:55 AM

Studio: Columbia/MGM (Sony Pictures)
MPAA Rating: R
Disc/Transfer Information: 1080p High Definition; 2.40:1 Widescreen
Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (tested at core DTS)
Director: Tony Scott
Starring Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzman

NEW YORK CITY IS ABOUT TO BE TAKEN FOR A RIDE.

MARLOWE'S PLOT ANALYSIS:

I was originally going to simply cut and paste my theatrical review of this title, as it pretty much summarized the entire landscape of Tony Scott's risky remake, but after viewing the Blu-ray this evening once purchasing it on release day, I decided to start from scratch with the analysis. I understand we're living in the age of remakes, but Scott's decision to reimagine the crisp little Walter Matthau crime caper of the '70s was a real head scratcher to some film critics -- I mean, broken down succinctly, did The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (the original's official title) really need to redone? Of course, the question can be begged, did any motion picture that has been redone and rebooted need to be? Yet, there was something more questionable about the reimagining of Pelham; as I said in the theatrical review, not many people outside of the metropolitan New York area, and who take subways and public transportation every day, would really understand the lure of this story, nor "get" the urgency behind the turbulent events. In other words, most would watch this and say, "okay...some crazy f!@!!@ers hijacked a New York City subway car and demanded money...okay...and they took, what, 10 or so hostages? And the mayor is panicking about this?" Of course, on paper, this scenario doesn't seem "important" enough to warrant a modern-day slam-bang remake. Yet, for all that was stacked against it, Scott's remake of this often-forgotten little caper gem worked. Plus, I said it in the theatrical review, and I'll say it again...is there a cinematic genre that the Scott brothers can't handle? Almost every one of the projects have been successful and entertaining -- from Crimson Tide, Gladiator, American Gangster and Man on Fire all the way up to Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.

Filmed in Scott's typical frenzied, camera-shaking style that had many audiences reaching for bottles of aspirin in Man on Fire, the remake of Pelham keeps the basic formula of the first film with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, but makes tweaks for modernization and economic climate. Some of these are effective, while some just didn't satisfy -- the most notable being the differences between the two endings of the films. The remake's ending was completely unsatisfying compared to the original's, which had a very clever technique. But we're jumping ahead here; the original story had a small group of criminals that board a Bronx, New York-based subway train and hijack it to demand ransom. Walter Matthau played the subway operations manager in the first film, while Robert Shaw (Black Sunday, Jaws) was the cold-blooded leader of the hijackers. Scott's remake amps up the characterization here, with his old standby Denzel Washington taking Matthau's place as "Walter Garber" (a nod to Matthau's real first name), a seasoned New York Transit control operator who gets into a battle of wits and psychological standoffs with an over-the-top, rotten-to-the-core criminal played by John Travolta (who takes Shaw's role). Some of the same elements are used here, such as the hijackers donning some disguises as they take over the subway train; in supporting roles are Luis Guzman as one of the hijackers, hired by Travolta's "Ryder" character to drive the train they take (as he was an ex-Transit Authority motorman), and James Gandolfini as New York's mayor, plus John Turturro (Rounders, Brain Donors) as a NYC hostage negotiator. Unfortunately, Pelham was released theatrically around the time of Travolta's real-life son's death, and so his publicity for the title wasn't what you would call up to snuff, nor would we expect it to be. It was a very unfortunate time for the family.

But gone are the days of his polyester bellbottoms and pompadour haircuts as he dances at the 2001 Odyssey as Tony Manero -- Travolta gives an electrifying performance as the goateed, tattooed "Ryder" who seems as demented as he is determined to collect 10 million dollars from the city; at times, his performance dips into overkill, what with his shouting, screaming and off-the-wall banter complete with hysterical cursing and experlatives that really become excessive -- but it's a fun ride to watch. Travolta, Guzman and two other men board the Pelham train and immediately begin making their demands to Washington's Garber character over the radio -- 10 million dollars in one hour, or they begin killing hostages on the train. Making himself known to Garber as simply "Ryder," Travolta begins to get a psychologically linked affection for Garber that's quite disturbing; as Ryder begins to make sure his demands are taken seriously, and he gets more and more verbally abusive to Garber, Garber realizes he may be in over his head as far as negotiating with this lunatic.

Eventually, hostage negotiators are called in, lead by John Turturro, but when Turturro attempts to calm Travolta down and Washington is sent home by his superiors, Travolta loses his cool and shoots a passenger just because Turturro claimed Washington had gone home for the day, and was taken off the case. Travolta demands to talk to no one but Washington's Garber, and he gets called back into train operations just in the nick of time before the next hostage is shot. The two men enter into a psychological game of wits and cunning conversation, where Travolta attempts to juice information from Washington, some of it personal, while Washington tries to get Travolta to open up. Eventually, the mayor (James Gandolfini) is alerted of the situation, and joins the team at train operations. However, it isn't until one of the passengers, a kid named "G.O." (George) has his laptop fall to the floor when the hostages are forced down that his computer signal leads to a broadcast on the news when negotiators and cops can see what's going on in the train. Immediately, Guzman's character is identified as an ex-Transit worker-turned criminal, and some of Travolta's background is discovered as well.

Travolta's Ryder begins to taunt Gandolfini, until the mayor himself picks up the radio and begins speaking with the demented Ryder. Travolta offers him a deal after verbally abusing him as well, in which the mayor can come and take the place of all the hostages -- a seemingly publically positive move as it would save all these lives. When Gandolfini refuses on advice from Turturro and his team, Travolta rejoices in that he wasn't actually going to let him take the hostages' places -- another verbally lashing tirade comes from Travolta's mouth, calling the mayor everything in the book that counts as a "curse word."

Meanwhile, "Ryder"'s identity is eventually unmasked as a Wall Street white collar criminal that even the mayor somehow knew about; a conspiracy is unraveled here involving Travolta's real motives behind the train robbery, having to do with the stock market and gold prices -- somehow, based on what will happen to the market now that this hijacking has caused panic in New York, Ryder and his men will make an absolutely ridiculous amount of money, more than they're even asking for in the ransom. This was the weakest part of the script for Pelham, and something I criticized in the theatrical review -- I mean, the 10 million was enough to ask for; why this confusing subplot involving a stock market caper? It becomes apparent that the 10 million dollar ransom demand is almost a cover of sorts to get the stock market crash money -- but this was unnecessary, in my opinion.

The mayor agrees to the ransom demands, and the Brooklyn Federal Reserve is tapped by the NYPD for delivery to Travolta and his men, who have a subway car full of hostages (early on in the film, they dislocate the passenger car they're in from the remainder of the train, using the smaller car as the hostage vehicle) and whom are counting every second. Some of the film's most hectic sequences take place here, where the NYPD Dodge Charger carrying the bags of cash race up and down Manhattan streets, dodging obstacles and getting into some crashes along the way. One major crash takes place, whereby a giant moving truck of some sort t-bones the cop car, sending it turning over and smashed. As the deadline approaches, the motorcycle cops must rush the bags of cash to the delivery point. Scott keeps the action hectic here with these sequences, but they can indeed be jarring what with the fast-action, split-second kinetic camera shots that amplify the onscreen mayhem, in addition to the tension-heightening announcements on the bottom of the screen relaying the time left to the deadline (a la The Rock).

As he did in the past, Travolta demands Washington bring the ransom money to him so they can meet face to face; through Travolta's random bellowing about Washington being a hero of some kind to him and his disdain for the city and what it's done to both of them, it's finally demanded upon Washington that he drive this subway car they're in (due to Luis Guzman's "incapacity" to do so at this point) to Travolta's getaway point. Being an ex-motorman, Washington complies, but ends up escaping through the tunnels of the subways when Travolta and his men eventually scatter to the escape pathways they planned on retreating to when they planned the caper. Apparently, there is a "secret tunnel" or passageway under the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York which affords this escape for the trio.

There's another element of the plot that I should mention; there seems to be bad blood of some kind between Washington's Garber character and his commanding officer at the train control center, and it involves an alleged bribe that Garber took when he was supposed to be looking at new trains as part of his job. Like Ryder's stock market subplot, this was a bit thick and waxy to get around, but Travolta ends up using it after he Googles Garber's name and learns all about the apparent bribe. Travolta's twisted character even goes so far as to demand Washington admit that he took this bribe, threatening to shoot the kid with the laptop, "G.O.," point-blank in the head if he doesn't. Washington, teary-eyed, complies, but we never know if this is true or not -- he's dead set on assuring Travolta that he didn't take this bribe and his charges aren't warranted, but under the threat of losing a hostage, he simply admits to the bribe.

The film's concluding frames have Washington chasing after Travolta single-handedly after Ryder and his men split up at the Waldorf and go separate ways; do Travolta's men escape with their halves of the loot? Does Washington catch up to Travolta, speeding away in a yellow NYC taxi over one of Manhattan's bridges, the future owner of ridiculous amounts of money based on this market crash? What happens in the final "standoff" between Washington's Garber and Travolta's Ryder on the edge of this bridge? You'll have to watch The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 to find out -- but I will tell you this: If you've ever seen the original, you'll know instantly that the ending of this remake was nowhere near as clever as the first film, which had Matthau's character at the remaining hijacker's apartment, whose sneeze gives him away...

VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC LOOK?

An interesting effect Columbia/Sony used in the opening shot of the film was by way of the Columbia logo slowly coming out of a small area in the middle of the screen, accompanied by subway train sounds, eventually opening into the 2.40:1 frame -- it was unique, and something we usually see from Universal in the beginning of some of their films. At any rate, the 1080p 2.40:1 widescreen transfer of Pelham comes from Sony on this Blu-ray as what I would call an average effort; there's some yellow push to the image, and black levels are stable, but there's a slightly thick layer of fine film grain in certain shots and some interior sequences within the train command center come off looking a bit soft.

But, that's not to say the disc didn't have positive moments -- outdoor New York City shots, some of which accompany Gandolfini's mayoral performance, looked bright, detailed and stellar. The street pavement, the yellows of the New York taxis...all of this was rendered in a satisfying fashion. It just wasn't quite real demo material.

AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC SOUND?

Even more surprising was the disappointment I felt towards the soundtrack's Master Audio mix -- expecting a typical Dolby TrueHD track, I was surprised to discover there was a 5.1 Master Audio mix onboard. While I still don't have Master Audio support with my gear, I was again forced to sample the extracted core DTS stream -- not usually too shabby anyway. But something just didn't satisfy here; from the very opening, the audio had a bit of a "hushed" quality to it, which required additional master volume hikes -- surprising for a modern actioneer like this. I didn't detect many deep wallops of LFE, and amazingly, the trailers on the disc, in Dolby Digital, shook my walls with rumbling bass in waves tremendously more vicious than the audio for the film itself.

Another issue was with the surround information -- it seemed as though it took nearly to the halfway mark of the film for the rear soundstage to come to life. Once there, action sequences including gunshot pings and subway trains racing into the rear channels made themselves known. Still, this wasn't the experience I braced for when I slipped the disc into my player; even the overall output volume of the track was on the weak side.

SUMMARY:

A fun hour and forty minutes, and a nice updating of the Walter Matthau original -- done typical Tony Scott style. Aside from the two unnecessary elements I mentioned -- the stock market crash and Washington's character's bribe dilemma -- this was a check-your-brain-at-the-door thriller that belongs more on the "done right" side of the remakes master list.

Furthermore, Travolta's performance in this as the cold-blooded, over-the-top "Ryder" is entertainment in itself...while campy and hammy in many areas (bordering on overdone), his performance really carries this film, if not the excessive bad language and references to wishing Washington's character was his "bitch" in prison -- that was disturbing.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS:

Definitely recommended -- at the very least, give this a rental, but I purchased it for my shelf. I can recommend a buy if you like the assembly of these actors, the director or especially if you are a fan of the original. The differences in style and execution -- as well as the similarities -- make for an interesting comparison, trust me. Be warned, however, that there is excessive horrendous language in this, which I feel was grossly overdone by Scott and crew, and you'll find yourself counting how many times Travolta bellows "Mother F****er!" into the train radio...along with many other creative phrases he comes up with. I mention this merely as a forewarning if you plan to watch this with the kids in your home theater.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and please comment away!

Peter Marlowe · 11-05-2009, 08:22 PM

Has anyone rented/bought this yet? Thoughts on the MA track/video transfer?

Peter Marlowe · 11-08-2009, 12:50 AM

Loves2Watch:

I've sent you a PM regarding some questions you had about the original version of Pelham; posting here to let you know that my review answers some of these in terms of the more clever ending and such...

Did you get my post/PM?

What did everyone think of Sony's Master Audio track on this title? Did you find it a bit "muffled" as I did, as if there was some kind of compression on it?

Peter Marlowe · 11-08-2009, 07:44 PM

L2W:

I responded to your comment in another thread, and inquired whether or not you saw my reply to you regarding your question about the differences between the original Pelham and the remake -- I directed you to my review thread as it discusses it somewhat and makes some interesting comparisons between the two.

Mainly, the endings are where there are grave differences, as the remake doesn't have nearly as clever an ending as the original Walter Matthau film.

Did you get the reply in the other thread?

Peter Marlowe · 11-08-2009, 07:50 PM

I checked all the settings on my system yesterday evening, doing a complete diagnostic, and all compression modes are off, all levels are correct and all settings are optimum -- after running this Blu-ray again once the said diagnostic was complete, I continued to experience a lackluster, disappointing Master Audio track through my system (dumbed down to a core DTS extraction, which shouldn't cause this kind of sonic instability)...now, this may very well be an artistic approach and choice on Scott's behalf, but the sound design wasn't nearly as aggressive as I was hoping for.

The entire track had a "muffled" quality to it, where overall output levels weren't satisfying and it was if the whole audio mix needed a "kick in the pants;" I didn't detect much rumble of any LFE, and directional cues were few and far between. It honestly sounded as if I had some kind of range compression activated -- that's exactly what it sounded like -- but after doing the aforementioned test, nothing was off.

I'd like to hear back from some others that have sampled this disc so far...did you find the Master Audio track to be lacking in any way? Are you using full lossless MA extension, or are you running the core DTS signal as I was?

Loves2Watch · 11-09-2009, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Marlowe

I checked all the settings on my system yesterday evening, doing a complete diagnostic, and all compression modes are off, all levels are correct and all settings are optimum -- after running this Blu-ray again once the said diagnostic was complete, I continued to experience a lackluster, disappointing Master Audio track through my system (dumbed down to a core DTS extraction, which shouldn't cause this kind of sonic instability)...now, this may very well be an artistic approach and choice on Scott's behalf, but the sound design wasn't nearly as aggressive as I was hoping for.

The entire track had a "muffled" quality to it, where overall output levels weren't satisfying and it was if the whole audio mix needed a "kick in the pants;" I didn't detect much rumble of any LFE, and directional cues were few and far between. It honestly sounded as if I had some kind of range compression activated -- that's exactly what it sounded like -- but after doing the aforementioned test, nothing was off.

I'd like to hear back from some others that have sampled this disc so far...did you find the Master Audio track to be lacking in any way? Are you using full lossless MA extension, or are you running the core DTS signal as I was?

That really sucks. No I didn't get your PM either.

I will have to check this poor audio out myself...

Peter Marlowe · 11-09-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loves2Watch

That really sucks. No I didn't get your PM either.

I will have to check this poor audio out myself...

You didn't get the PM specifying some answers to your remake/original questions regarding Pelham?

At any rate, much of my review should give you some insight into the differences between the two films, especially the endings (without divulging the ending of the remake); I know you had questions about that.

As for the reported audio "sucking," well, if you were serious in that reaction, then yes indeed this did suck taking into consideration it was a brand-new release and it carried a rare-for-Columbia Master Audio mix. Sure, I'm running the core DTS stream into my Onkyo '605 for processing, but this shouldn't cause that kind of degredation of signal...

Have you rented this yet, or seen it on Blu? I'm not saying the audio was poor in the strictest, holiest sense of the term -- as you stated in your reply of "I'll have to check this poor audio out myself...") -- it was simply lacking something...dynamics seemed a bit weak and the overall power of the track was lacking somehow. It's the best I could describe it -- but, as I said, this may have been an artistic decision on behalf of the filmmakers.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts after you've seen it, as well as what you thought of my views regarding the original vs. the remake.

Have you ever seen the original Walter Matthau film?

Peter Marlowe · 11-09-2009, 10:59 PM

Some other thoughts I had about The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 after the fact, and after I had completed the review, revolved around the artistic decision in utilizing Travolta in such a dark, "evil" role...it had been done before, and many feel he was appropriately menacing in Broken Arrow, Swordfish, The Punisher and of course when he flipped roles in the chaotic Face/Off. I hadn't considered him in these other roles when I initially wrote the review, and it's interesting to think of how he again played a hot-headed, shallow-tempered villain here in Scott's remake of the '70s crime caper.

Loves2Watch · 11-10-2009, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Marlowe

You didn't get the PM specifying some answers to your remake/original questions regarding Pelham?

At any rate, much of my review should give you some insight into the differences between the two films, especially the endings (without divulging the ending of the remake); I know you had questions about that.

As for the reported audio "sucking," well, if you were serious in that reaction, then yes indeed this did suck taking into consideration it was a brand-new release and it carried a rare-for-Columbia Master Audio mix. Sure, I'm running the core DTS stream into my Onkyo '605 for processing, but this shouldn't cause that kind of degredation of signal...

Have you rented this yet, or seen it on Blu? I'm not saying the audio was poor in the strictest, holiest sense of the term -- as you stated in your reply of "I'll have to check this poor audio out myself...") -- it was simply lacking something...dynamics seemed a bit weak and the overall power of the track was lacking somehow. It's the best I could describe it -- but, as I said, this may have been an artistic decision on behalf of the filmmakers.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts after you've seen it, as well as what you thought of my views regarding the original vs. the remake.

Have you ever seen the original Walter Matthau film?

Yes I have seen the original, many times. I hope to be viewing this new release by next week and will get back to you with my impressions of the audio track(s).

Peter Marlowe · 11-10-2009, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loves2Watch

Yes I have seen the original, many times. I hope to be viewing this new release by next week and will get back to you with my impressions of the audio track(s).

'Appreciate that...looking forward to your impressions.

FYI, there's only one English audio track to choose on the disc, which is the 5.1 Master Audio mix; if you're sampling another language, that's another story.

Peter Marlowe · 12-16-2009, 03:26 PM

Update: After finally putting into implementation a new BD player that bitstreams the native TrueHD/Master Audio signals (the OPPO), I was able to go back and re-evaluate some titles I reviewed in the past -- this time without DTS core extraction and with full lossless DTS-HD MA/Dolby TrueHD.

This was the first disc I sampled in lossless Master Audio; my impressions were that it was not much different, sonically, from the DTS core that I had been listening to. There may have been some slight ambient support that was a bit more pronounced (the echo of subway cars in the rear channels and such) and maybe, at best, a very minor improvement in LFE, but for the most part, the MA lossless extension didn't sound much different from the DTS core. I expected this, based on input from many others that have sampled MA in their own systems already and have made comparisons between the lossless and core extractions and have reported on them, but alas -- not much sonic difference between the two. I still hold that this isn't the most enveloping Blu-ray soundtrack I've heard; in fact, I would call it bordering on "restrained."

I will sample more titles when I have spare time -- it's in varying states of supply these days.

11-04-2009, 02:55 AM	#1
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,524	A Marlowe HDF Review: THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 (Columbia/MGM) Studio: Columbia/MGM (Sony Pictures) MPAA Rating: R Disc/Transfer Information: 1080p High Definition; 2.40:1 Widescreen Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (tested at core DTS) Director: Tony Scott Starring Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzman *NEW YORK CITY IS ABOUT TO BE TAKEN FOR A RIDE.* *MARLOWE'S PLOT ANALYSIS:* I was originally going to simply cut and paste my theatrical review of this title, as it pretty much summarized the entire landscape of Tony Scott's risky remake, but after viewing the Blu-ray this evening once purchasing it on release day, I decided to start from scratch with the analysis. I understand we're living in the age of remakes, but Scott's decision to reimagine the crisp little Walter Matthau crime caper of the '70s was a real head scratcher to some film critics -- I mean, broken down succinctly, did The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (the original's official title) really need to redone? Of course, the question can be begged, did any motion picture that has been redone and rebooted need to be? Yet, there was something more questionable about the reimagining of Pelham; as I said in the theatrical review, not many people outside of the metropolitan New York area, and who take subways and public transportation every day, would really understand the lure of this story, nor "get" the urgency behind the turbulent events. In other words, most would watch this and say, "okay...some crazy f!@!!@ers hijacked a New York City subway car and demanded money...okay...and they took, what, 10 or so hostages? And the mayor is panicking about this?" Of course, on paper, this scenario doesn't seem "important" enough to warrant a modern-day slam-bang remake. Yet, for all that was stacked against it, Scott's remake of this often-forgotten little caper gem worked. Plus, I said it in the theatrical review, and I'll say it again...is there a cinematic genre that the Scott brothers can't handle? Almost every one of the projects have been successful and entertaining -- from Crimson Tide, Gladiator, American Gangster and Man on Fire all the way up to Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Filmed in Scott's typical frenzied, camera-shaking style that had many audiences reaching for bottles of aspirin in Man on Fire, the remake of Pelham keeps the basic formula of the first film with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, but makes tweaks for modernization and economic climate. Some of these are effective, while some just didn't satisfy -- the most notable being the differences between the two endings of the films. The remake's ending was completely unsatisfying compared to the original's, which had a very clever technique. But we're jumping ahead here; the original story had a small group of criminals that board a Bronx, New York-based subway train and hijack it to demand ransom. Walter Matthau played the subway operations manager in the first film, while Robert Shaw (Black Sunday, Jaws) was the cold-blooded leader of the hijackers. Scott's remake amps up the characterization here, with his old standby Denzel Washington taking Matthau's place as "Walter Garber" (a nod to Matthau's real first name), a seasoned New York Transit control operator who gets into a battle of wits and psychological standoffs with an over-the-top, rotten-to-the-core criminal played by John Travolta (who takes Shaw's role). Some of the same elements are used here, such as the hijackers donning some disguises as they take over the subway train; in supporting roles are Luis Guzman as one of the hijackers, hired by Travolta's "Ryder" character to drive the train they take (as he was an ex-Transit Authority motorman), and James Gandolfini as New York's mayor, plus John Turturro (Rounders, Brain Donors) as a NYC hostage negotiator. Unfortunately, Pelham was released theatrically around the time of Travolta's real-life son's death, and so his publicity for the title wasn't what you would call up to snuff, nor would we expect it to be. It was a very unfortunate time for the family. But gone are the days of his polyester bellbottoms and pompadour haircuts as he dances at the 2001 Odyssey as Tony Manero -- Travolta gives an electrifying performance as the goateed, tattooed "Ryder" who seems as demented as he is determined to collect 10 million dollars from the city; at times, his performance dips into overkill, what with his shouting, screaming and off-the-wall banter complete with hysterical cursing and experlatives that really become excessive -- but it's a fun ride to watch. Travolta, Guzman and two other men board the Pelham train and immediately begin making their demands to Washington's Garber character over the radio -- 10 million dollars in one hour, or they begin killing hostages on the train. Making himself known to Garber as simply "Ryder," Travolta begins to get a psychologically linked affection for Garber that's quite disturbing; as Ryder begins to make sure his demands are taken seriously, and he gets more and more verbally abusive to Garber, Garber realizes he may be in over his head as far as negotiating with this lunatic. Eventually, hostage negotiators are called in, lead by John Turturro, but when Turturro attempts to calm Travolta down and Washington is sent home by his superiors, Travolta loses his cool and shoots a passenger just because Turturro claimed Washington had gone home for the day, and was taken off the case. Travolta demands to talk to no one but Washington's Garber, and he gets called back into train operations just in the nick of time before the next hostage is shot. The two men enter into a psychological game of wits and cunning conversation, where Travolta attempts to juice information from Washington, some of it personal, while Washington tries to get Travolta to open up. Eventually, the mayor (James Gandolfini) is alerted of the situation, and joins the team at train operations. However, it isn't until one of the passengers, a kid named "G.O." (George) has his laptop fall to the floor when the hostages are forced down that his computer signal leads to a broadcast on the news when negotiators and cops can see what's going on in the train. Immediately, Guzman's character is identified as an ex-Transit worker-turned criminal, and some of Travolta's background is discovered as well. Travolta's Ryder begins to taunt Gandolfini, until the mayor himself picks up the radio and begins speaking with the demented Ryder. Travolta offers him a deal after verbally abusing him as well, in which the mayor can come and take the place of all the hostages -- a seemingly publically positive move as it would save all these lives. When Gandolfini refuses on advice from Turturro and his team, Travolta rejoices in that he wasn't actually going to let him take the hostages' places -- another verbally lashing tirade comes from Travolta's mouth, calling the mayor everything in the book that counts as a "curse word." Meanwhile, "Ryder"'s identity is eventually unmasked as a Wall Street white collar criminal that even the mayor somehow knew about; a conspiracy is unraveled here involving Travolta's real motives behind the train robbery, having to do with the stock market and gold prices -- somehow, based on what will happen to the market now that this hijacking has caused panic in New York, Ryder and his men will make an absolutely ridiculous amount of money, more than they're even asking for in the ransom. This was the weakest part of the script for Pelham, and something I criticized in the theatrical review -- I mean, the 10 million was enough to ask for; why this confusing subplot involving a stock market caper? It becomes apparent that the 10 million dollar ransom demand is almost a cover of sorts to get the stock market crash money -- but this was unnecessary, in my opinion. The mayor agrees to the ransom demands, and the Brooklyn Federal Reserve is tapped by the NYPD for delivery to Travolta and his men, who have a subway car full of hostages (early on in the film, they dislocate the passenger car they're in from the remainder of the train, using the smaller car as the hostage vehicle) and whom are counting every second. Some of the film's most hectic sequences take place here, where the NYPD Dodge Charger carrying the bags of cash race up and down Manhattan streets, dodging obstacles and getting into some crashes along the way. One major crash takes place, whereby a giant moving truck of some sort t-bones the cop car, sending it turning over and smashed. As the deadline approaches, the motorcycle cops must rush the bags of cash to the delivery point. Scott keeps the action hectic here with these sequences, but they can indeed be jarring what with the fast-action, split-second kinetic camera shots that amplify the onscreen mayhem, in addition to the tension-heightening announcements on the bottom of the screen relaying the time left to the deadline (a la The Rock). As he did in the past, Travolta demands Washington bring the ransom money to him so they can meet face to face; through Travolta's random bellowing about Washington being a hero of some kind to him and his disdain for the city and what it's done to both of them, it's finally demanded upon Washington that he drive this subway car they're in (due to Luis Guzman's "incapacity" to do so at this point) to Travolta's getaway point. Being an ex-motorman, Washington complies, but ends up escaping through the tunnels of the subways when Travolta and his men eventually scatter to the escape pathways they planned on retreating to when they planned the caper. Apparently, there is a "secret tunnel" or passageway under the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York which affords this escape for the trio. There's another element of the plot that I should mention; there seems to be bad blood of some kind between Washington's Garber character and his commanding officer at the train control center, and it involves an alleged bribe that Garber took when he was supposed to be looking at new trains as part of his job. Like Ryder's stock market subplot, this was a bit thick and waxy to get around, but Travolta ends up using it after he Googles Garber's name and learns all about the apparent bribe. Travolta's twisted character even goes so far as to demand Washington admit that he took this bribe, threatening to shoot the kid with the laptop, "G.O.," point-blank in the head if he doesn't. Washington, teary-eyed, complies, but we never know if this is true or not -- he's dead set on assuring Travolta that he didn't take this bribe and his charges aren't warranted, but under the threat of losing a hostage, he simply admits to the bribe. The film's concluding frames have Washington chasing after Travolta single-handedly after Ryder and his men split up at the Waldorf and go separate ways; do Travolta's men escape with their halves of the loot? Does Washington catch up to Travolta, speeding away in a yellow NYC taxi over one of Manhattan's bridges, the future owner of ridiculous amounts of money based on this market crash? What happens in the final "standoff" between Washington's Garber and Travolta's Ryder on the edge of this bridge? You'll have to watch The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 to find out -- but I will tell you this: If you've ever seen the original, you'll know instantly that the ending of this remake was nowhere near as clever as the first film, which had Matthau's character at the remaining hijacker's apartment, whose sneeze gives him away... *VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC LOOK?* An interesting effect Columbia/Sony used in the opening shot of the film was by way of the Columbia logo slowly coming out of a small area in the middle of the screen, accompanied by subway train sounds, eventually opening into the 2.40:1 frame -- it was unique, and something we usually see from Universal in the beginning of some of their films. At any rate, the 1080p 2.40:1 widescreen transfer of Pelham comes from Sony on this Blu-ray as what I would call an average effort; there's some yellow push to the image, and black levels are stable, but there's a slightly thick layer of fine film grain in certain shots and some interior sequences within the train command center come off looking a bit soft. But, that's not to say the disc didn't have positive moments -- outdoor New York City shots, some of which accompany Gandolfini's mayoral performance, looked bright, detailed and stellar. The street pavement, the yellows of the New York taxis...all of this was rendered in a satisfying fashion. It just wasn't quite real demo material. *AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC SOUND?* Even more surprising was the disappointment I felt towards the soundtrack's Master Audio mix -- expecting a typical Dolby TrueHD track, I was surprised to discover there was a 5.1 Master Audio mix onboard. While I still don't have Master Audio support with my gear, I was again forced to sample the extracted core DTS stream -- not usually too shabby anyway. But something just didn't satisfy here; from the very opening, the audio had a bit of a "hushed" quality to it, which required additional master volume hikes -- surprising for a modern actioneer like this. I didn't detect many deep wallops of LFE, and amazingly, the trailers on the disc, in Dolby Digital, shook my walls with rumbling bass in waves tremendously more vicious than the audio for the film itself. Another issue was with the surround information -- it seemed as though it took nearly to the halfway mark of the film for the rear soundstage to come to life. Once there, action sequences including gunshot pings and subway trains racing into the rear channels made themselves known. Still, this wasn't the experience I braced for when I slipped the disc into my player; even the overall output volume of the track was on the weak side. *SUMMARY:* A fun hour and forty minutes, and a nice updating of the Walter Matthau original -- done typical Tony Scott style. Aside from the two unnecessary elements I mentioned -- the stock market crash and Washington's character's bribe dilemma -- this was a check-your-brain-at-the-door thriller that belongs more on the "done right" side of the remakes master list. Furthermore, Travolta's performance in this as the cold-blooded, over-the-top "Ryder" is entertainment in itself...while campy and hammy in many areas (bordering on overdone), his performance really carries this film, if not the excessive bad language and references to wishing Washington's character was his "bitch" in prison -- that was disturbing. *MY RECOMMENDATIONS:* Definitely recommended -- at the very least, give this a rental, but I purchased it for my shelf. I can recommend a buy if you like the assembly of these actors, the director or especially if you are a fan of the original. The differences in style and execution -- as well as the similarities -- make for an interesting comparison, trust me. Be warned, however, that there is excessive horrendous language in this, which I feel was grossly overdone by Scott and crew, and you'll find yourself counting how many times Travolta bellows "Mother F***er!" into the train radio...along with many other creative phrases he comes up with. I mention this merely as a forewarning if you plan to watch this with the kids in your home theater. As always, thank you very much for reading, and please comment away! __________________ THEATER:* ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *"THE LOFT" (2-CHANNEL/RECORDING):* ONKYO TX-8555 polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 PROFESSIONAL Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST OFFICIAL REVIEW:* Last edited by Peter Marlowe; 11-04-2009 at 03:24 AM.

11-05-2009, 08:22 PM	#2
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,524	Has anyone rented/bought this yet? Thoughts on the MA track/video transfer? __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *"THE LOFT" (2-CHANNEL/RECORDING):* ONKYO TX-8555 polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 PROFESSIONAL Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST OFFICIAL REVIEW:*

11-08-2009, 12:50 AM	#3
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,524	Loves2Watch: I've sent you a PM regarding some questions you had about the original version of Pelham; posting here to let you know that my review answers some of these in terms of the more clever ending and such... Did you get my post/PM? What did everyone think of Sony's Master Audio track on this title? Did you find it a bit "muffled" as I did, as if there was some kind of compression on it? __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *"THE LOFT" (2-CHANNEL/RECORDING):* ONKYO TX-8555 polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 PROFESSIONAL Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST OFFICIAL REVIEW:*

11-08-2009, 07:44 PM	#4
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,524	L2W: I responded to your comment in another thread, and inquired whether or not you saw my reply to you regarding your question about the differences between the original Pelham and the remake -- I directed you to my review thread as it discusses it somewhat and makes some interesting comparisons between the two. Mainly, the endings are where there are grave differences, as the remake doesn't have nearly as clever an ending as the original Walter Matthau film. Did you get the reply in the other thread? __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *"THE LOFT" (2-CHANNEL/RECORDING):* ONKYO TX-8555 polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 PROFESSIONAL Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST OFFICIAL REVIEW:*

11-08-2009, 07:50 PM	#5
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,524	I checked all the settings on my system yesterday evening, doing a complete diagnostic, and all compression modes are off, all levels are correct and all settings are optimum -- after running this Blu-ray again once the said diagnostic was complete, I continued to experience a lackluster, disappointing Master Audio track through my system (dumbed down to a core DTS extraction, which shouldn't cause this kind of sonic instability)...now, this may very well be an artistic approach and choice on Scott's behalf, but the sound design wasn't nearly as aggressive as I was hoping for. The entire track had a "muffled" quality to it, where overall output levels weren't satisfying and it was if the whole audio mix needed a "kick in the pants;" I didn't detect much rumble of any LFE, and directional cues were few and far between. It honestly sounded as if I had some kind of range compression activated -- that's exactly what it sounded like -- but after doing the aforementioned test, nothing was off. I'd like to hear back from some others that have sampled this disc so far...did you find the Master Audio track to be lacking in any way? Are you using full lossless MA extension, or are you running the core DTS signal as I was? __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *"THE LOFT" (2-CHANNEL/RECORDING):* ONKYO TX-8555 polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 PROFESSIONAL Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST OFFICIAL REVIEW:*

11-09-2009, 10:59 PM	#8
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,524	Some other thoughts I had about The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 after the fact, and after I had completed the review, revolved around the artistic decision in utilizing Travolta in such a dark, "evil" role...it had been done before, and many feel he was appropriately menacing in Broken Arrow, Swordfish, The Punisher and of course when he flipped roles in the chaotic Face/Off. I hadn't considered him in these other roles when I initially wrote the review, and it's interesting to think of how he again played a hot-headed, shallow-tempered villain here in Scott's remake of the '70s crime caper. __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *"THE LOFT" (2-CHANNEL/RECORDING):* ONKYO TX-8555 polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 PROFESSIONAL Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST OFFICIAL REVIEW:*

12-16-2009, 03:26 PM	#11
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,524	Update: After finally putting into implementation a new BD player that bitstreams the native TrueHD/Master Audio signals (the OPPO), I was able to go back and re-evaluate some titles I reviewed in the past -- this time without DTS core extraction and with full lossless DTS-HD MA/Dolby TrueHD. This was the first disc I sampled in lossless Master Audio; my impressions were that it was not much different, sonically, from the DTS core that I had been listening to. There may have been some slight ambient support that was a bit more pronounced (the echo of subway cars in the rear channels and such) and maybe, at best, a very minor improvement in LFE, but for the most part, the MA lossless extension didn't sound much different from the DTS core. I expected this, based on input from many others that have sampled MA in their own systems already and have made comparisons between the lossless and core extractions and have reported on them, but alas -- not much sonic difference between the two. I still hold that this isn't the most enveloping Blu-ray soundtrack I've heard; in fact, I would call it bordering on "restrained." I will sample more titles when I have spare time -- it's in varying states of supply these days. __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *"THE LOFT" (2-CHANNEL/RECORDING):* ONKYO TX-8555 polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 PROFESSIONAL Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST OFFICIAL REVIEW:*

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