The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

Year 2, Day 194 - 7/13/10 - Movie #562

BEFORE: Oh, and George Steinbrenner died also. "Sic semper tyrannis."

Which is an odd tie-in since Gen. Stein-grabber made his bones in the Bronx, and the title train of tonight's film is a #6 train, out of Pelham Bay in the Bronx. I watched the original version of this film last year, after deciding I couldn't wait for the remake to watch them back-to-back, so I'll be closing out my Travolta chain with this one.

THE PLOT: Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for a dispatcher into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.

AFTER: It starts out pretty similar to the original film, Travolta replaces Robert Shaw, and Denzel Washington replaces Walter Matthau (Matthau's character was named Zachary Garber, so changing his name to Walter Garber is probably an homage to Matthau). But there are some new twists - obviously the use of cel phones, webcams, and traffic cameras in the plugged-in world of 2009 has to be addressed in the plot. But no way would a laptop webcam work on the subway - and it's a major plot point, too. To date the NYC subway has NOT been wired for cel phone or wi-fi access (thank God...).

Also in the original film, Matthau's character never leaves the subway control room - but here Walter Garber forms something of a connection with Travolta's Ryder, the leader of the kidnappers, so when plans go awry, Ryder demands that Garber be the one to deliver the bags of cash. So there are some new twists to the plot that I won't reveal here, but I mostly approve of them.

Where the movie lost me was in the continuity of the New York City geography. Forgive me, but I think I know my way around the Grand Central area pretty well. The purloined train gets stopped somewhere just north of 42nd St. on the 6 line - which means that it's under Grand Central Station. Garber is in the main control room at Grand Central, yet when he is called on to deliver the money, he leaves Grand Central Station to drive to a heliport, and the helicopter takes him to the train's location, which is a few blocks from where he started. Huh? Is this trip really necessary to take by helicopter?

Then once the train starts moving again, it travels from Grand Central to 34th St./Herald Square, which is under Sixth Avenue - how did the train get from the Lexington Avenue line at 42nd over to Sixth Ave and 34th? Impossible. OK, I figured maybe they got onto the N/R track somehow - later the dispatchers say that the train is speeding downtown in Manhattan toward Coney Island. OK, I'll give you that, since the N track actually goes to Coney Island (but it takes a really long time...Coney's at the end of the line...) so why does the diagram on the wall say that the train is heading toward Bowling Green, which is the end of the 6 track, in lower Manhattan?

While this is going on, an exterior shot shows the speeding train on an elevated track (impossible, since there are no elevated tracks in Manhattan, except for the defunct High Line), and it clearly passes by Shea Stadum (now-demolished), which is in Flushing, Queens! Did you think I wouldn't recognize that distinctive blue-colored stadium? That's some train, it went from midtown to Queens to Coney Island in about 5 minutes, even though there are no tracks connecting those places in that order!

Was anyone doing any sort of subway research, or paying attention to any continuity at all? (I know, Spider-Man 2 made the same mistake, showing elevated train tracks in Manhattan - but it's still inexcusable.) Furthermore, the Waldorf Hotel is nowhere near 34th St., it's on 49th/50th St. - so someone went up a ladder and teleported 15 blocks somehow. Also, I don't think you can get out of a car on the Manhattan Bridge and get yourself over to the pedestrian path. That's impossible, since you wouldn't want pedestrians on the bridge to be able to walk where the cars are driving.

The original film did a better job of working the plot around the actual logistics of the reality of New York City, but I will admit that the remake/update was more exciting, faster-paced, and more of a thrill-ride. So I guess that's a wash.

A line from Travolta's character, to sum up my feelings regarding George Steinbrenner, and Harvey Pekar too, while I'm at it: "You live, you die, you either go with the current or you fight it, but you all end up in the same place." This film is a great example of the dichotomy between the villainous priveleged upper-class (Ryder is possibly some sort of disgraced stock trader) and Garber's working-class hero, who turns out to be capable of more than he thought.

OK, enough of John Travolta and his cockamamie schemes - I could pick up on the "heist" aspect of this film and watch some bank robbery films and such, but I think I'll follow up the Denzel Washington angle instead - I leave for San Diego in 8 days, and I just happen to have 8 films on the list that feature Denzel Washington as a cop (or a criminal). I realize he didn't play a cop in tonight's film, but the connection is still valid.

Also starring James Gandolfini (3rd appearance this week!) as the NYC mayor, John Turturro (last seen in "Being Human") as a hostage negotiator, Luis Guzman, and Michael Rispoli (last seen in "Death to Smoochy")

RATING: 6 out of 10 walkie-talkies (see what your continuity mistakes get you?)