What happens in the subway never stays in the subway
Walter Garber, a dispatcher for subway cars in New York, finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation when a man named Ryder takes over the Pelham 123 car. Ryder, who is serious as a heart attack with his threats, demands ten million dollars in one hour or everyone dies on the car. Garber is required to mediate the verbal exchange and eventually the actual exchange when push comes to shove.
This movie is nothing short of intense. Knowing Tony Scott’s filmography really doesn’t make that first statement all that surprising. Scott helps the movie out by putting a gritty, editor’s flavor edge on the scenes. He uses harsh sounds and even harsher scenes of violence to up the ante of action. More importantly, Scott asks his character Ryder (played by John Travolta) to leave nothing to chance when it comes to expressing his violent side. Scott’s choice for Ryder, John Travolta, is not surprising, as we’ve seen how bad Travolta can be in movies like Pulp Fiction and especially so in Swordfish. You couldn’t ask for a more convincing bad guy than what Travolta delivers with Ryder.
Complimenting Travolta is Washington’s Walter Garber, who is subtle and relaxed up until the point where his character gets involved. I know this is going to sound incredibly gah-gah, but Denzel Washington has never played a role that I didn’t like. The man looks like an older gentleman who just wants to get through his day so that he can go home. He plays Garber perfectly. What’s even more beautiful about his role is when Ryder uncovers a nasty truth regarding Washington’s past. You get to see a very human side to Washington, one we all have in us. It’s emotional, heart wrenching, but necessary to reveal more about his character.
Shifting gears slightly, the movie sort of derails itself with the lackluster roles from the politician of the film, the mayor, played by James Gandolfini. Gandolfini didn’t do anything wrong here, the problem was that his character didn’t fit well into the story. Had he never arrived in the story it wouldn’t have been a big loss. Regretfully, his character was forced into the story and it came out quite awkwardly. It was certainly the weakest part of the film and one that jarred it enough to place it right under the original (1974 version, not the 1998 version).
By the end of the film it wraps up nicely and while it doesn’t completely iron out the wrinkles, there’s enough here to be entertained by.
Switching tracks here (ha, you knew I was going to say that), the blu-ray works remarkably well in delivering a beautiful picture of Tony Scott’s version of this film. The flashy shots and quick edits benefit greatly from the HD upgrade. When I saw this in the theater I knew this was going to be one of those films that exceeds in this department once it got to blu-ray. The audio probably outshines the video though, as it comes excitedly through your 5.1 setup (or 7.1 for you lucky suckers out there). The audio is remastered in DTS-HD; and it’s done beautifully. You’ll get all the tense action and wonderfully jarring gunfire through your speakers.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Commentary featuring Director Tony Scott, Writer Brian Helgeland, and Producer Todd Black
– “No Time to Lose: The Making of Pelham 1 2 3”
– “The Third Rail – The NYC Subway System”
– “Marketing Pelham”
– “From the Top Down: Stylizing Character”
You also get some BD-Live features, which are pretty solid. I think the features are potentially better than the film, as you’ll get pretty much every look and aspect of what went into making this remake. I enjoyed the No Time to Lose featurette the most. Overall, very strong features that makes this blu-ray worth the price.