# The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009 film)
**The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3** is a 2009 American action thriller directed by [Tony Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-scott), in which armed hijackers seize a New York City subway train and demand a ransom while dispatcher Walter Garber, played by [Denzel Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/denzel-washington), negotiates with their leader, Ryder, played by [John Travolta](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-travolta)[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thetakingofpelham123). It is a feature-film adaptation of John Godey's 1973 novel *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three* and a remake of Joseph Sargent's 1974 film of the same story[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/65003-THE-TAKING-OF-PELHAM-1-2-3).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / release | Tony Scott; United States theatrical opening June 12, 2009[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/65003-THE-TAKING-OF-PELHAM-1-2-3) • [3](https://www.moviemaker.com/the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3-owen-roizman-tobias-schliessler-20090602/) |
| Source | Adapted from John Godey's 1973 novel *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three*; remake of the 1974 United Artists film[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/65003-THE-TAKING-OF-PELHAM-1-2-3) |
| Premise | Ryder and a gang of four hijack a subway train, demand $10 million within one hour, and threaten to kill a hostage every minute after the deadline[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thetakingofpelham123) • [4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/06/22/off-the-rails-3) |
| Cast | Denzel Washington (Garber), John Travolta (Ryder), John Turturro (Lt. Camonetti), James Gandolfini (the Mayor), Luis Guzmán[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-taking-of-pelham-123) |
| Format | Rated R, 106 minutes; shot in Super 35 film format with digital intermediate timing[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-taking-of-pelham-123) • [3](https://www.moviemaker.com/the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3-owen-roizman-tobias-schliessler-20090602/) |
| Reception | Metascore 55 from 34 reviews; Rotten Tomatoes 51%; IMDb 6.4/10 from about 219,000 votes[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/criticreviews/) • [5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-taking-of-pelham-123) |
| Box office | Domestic gross of $65,452,312 against a reported $100 million budget[7](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Taking-of-Pelham-123-The) • [8](https://anz.newonnetflix.info/info/70112730) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Walter Garber is a New York City subway dispatcher whose ordinary day is disrupted when Ryder, a criminal mastermind leading a heavily armed gang of four, hijacks a subway train and threatens to execute the passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thetakingofpelham123). The hijacked train is the Pelham 123, a 6 train originating from Pelham Bay at 1:23 p.m., and Ryder demands $10 million from the city[9](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/i-just-watched-denzel-washington-and-john-travoltas-action-thriller-remake-and-it-really-goes-off-the-rails). Garber uses his knowledge of the subway system to outwit Ryder, while the story poses a riddle he cannot solve: even if the thieves get the money, how can they escape[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thetakingofpelham123)?
In this version Garber is a senior railway executive temporarily reduced to a controller's post because of suspicions that he took bribes[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/aug/02/taking-of-pelham-123-review). Ryder, an ex-convict, extorts the ransom while watching the [Dow Jones Industrial Average](https://www.edgepedia.org/dow-jones-industrial-average) plunge nearly 1,000 points in response to the hijacking on his laptop[9](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/i-just-watched-denzel-washington-and-john-travoltas-action-thriller-remake-and-it-really-goes-off-the-rails) • [11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/plotsummary/) — the financial angle, a reviewer later noted, tied the villain to the Wall Street New York of 2009 rather than the gritty 1970s city of the original[12](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/2009-the-taking-of-pelham-123-fine-why-1974-original-robert-shaw-is-better). A third-act plot twist turns on the override of the train's dead-man's switch, the fail-safe intended to keep a driver at the controls[13](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-03-ca-pelham3-story.html). The film ends with an armed face-off on a bridge, with police running, traffic snarled, and trains rattling past[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/06/22/off-the-rails-3).
## Cast and crew
The principal cast pairs Denzel Washington's dispatcher with John Travolta's hijacker, supported by [John Turturro](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-turturro) as NYPD hostage negotiator Lt. Camonetti, [James Gandolfini](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-gandolfini) as the Mayor, and [Luis Guzmán](https://www.edgepedia.org/luis-guzman)[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-taking-of-pelham-123) • [9](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/i-just-watched-denzel-washington-and-john-travoltas-action-thriller-remake-and-it-really-goes-off-the-rails). Jason Butler Harner also appears[14](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-taking-of-pelham-123-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mtk5njy).
**Production.** The film was produced by Escape Artists, Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Scott Free Productions, and [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](https://www.edgepedia.org/metro-goldwyn-mayer)[8](https://anz.newonnetflix.info/info/70112730). Tobias Schliessler served as cinematographer; after screen tests, Scott chose to shoot in Super 35 film format coupled with digital intermediate timing[3](https://www.moviemaker.com/the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3-owen-roizman-tobias-schliessler-20090602/). The editor was Chris Lebenzon, whose first collaboration with Scott was *Top Gun* in 1986; Lebenzon described handling Scott's multi-camera coverage, and in one two-hander set on the subway the editors built a split screen from pieces of different takes because the two actors' performances never aligned in a single take[15](https://www.icgmagazine.com/web/exposure-chris-lebenzon/amp/).
Scott described the project as his first remake and traced its appeal to the simplicity of the original premise, a million dollars for hostages in a subway, and gave the 2009 Ryder a personal motive: a man who had worked for the city and lost his life to it, wanting revenge and to humiliate the state of [New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-state)[16](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/rt-interview-tony-scott-on-the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3/). Still coping with the death of his son Jett, John Travolta stayed away from the film's promotional activities, which the other cast members took part in.[17](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/)
## Reception
The film received mixed reviews, with a Metascore of 55 based on 34 critics[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/criticreviews/) and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 51%[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-taking-of-pelham-123). Peter Travers of *Rolling Stone* scored it 88 and called it "a first-class ride"; Todd McCarthy in *Variety* gave it 80, calling it a portrait of how much New York had changed in 35 years; Roger Ebert of the *Chicago Sun-Times* gave it 63, writing that there was not much wrong with it "except that there's not much really right about it"[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/criticreviews/). Peter Bradshaw in *The Guardian* found it unexpectedly entertaining, singling out Scott's fondness for gigantic hi-tech screens on which Washington's dispatcher surveys his trains[18](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/31/taking-pelham-123-review).
At the box office, the film earned $65,452,312 domestically[7](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Taking-of-Pelham-123-The) against a reported budget of $100 million[8](https://anz.newonnetflix.info/info/70112730). It received nominations for a 2009 ALMA Award for actor in film and a Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie: Drama[19](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-taking-of-pelham-123/2000474384/).
## Comparison with the 1974 original
Both the 1974 thriller *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three*, directed by Joseph Sargent with Robert Shaw and [Walter Matthau](https://www.edgepedia.org/walter-matthau), and Scott's version adapt Godey's novel; the 1974 title spells its numbers in words, matching the hijacked train's radio call sign, while the remake uses numerals[20](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/jul/01/taking-of-pelham-123-john-travolta). *The New Yorker* boiled the difference down to the endings: the 2009 film closes with an armed face-off on a bridge, the 1974 film with a sneeze[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/06/22/off-the-rails-3). In the earlier film the hijackers take advantage of a city already in chaos, while 2009's New York is working fine and Ryder is eager to disrupt it[21](https://www.villagevoice.com/4-reasons-we-liked-pelham-one-two-three-1974-better-than-pelham-123-2009/).
Retrospective commentary has generally favored the original. *Screen Daily* called the remake a professionally mounted genre exercise that tries to please both the thriller and social drama crowds and suffers as a result[22](https://www.screendaily.com/the-taking-of-pelham-123/5002254.article), and later comparisons have faulted the remake's frenetic pacing and praised the 1974 film's slower negotiation scenes and its ending[12](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/2009-the-taking-of-pelham-123-fine-why-1974-original-robert-shaw-is-better). A 1998 television movie had already adapted the same novel between the two theatrical versions[9](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/i-just-watched-denzel-washington-and-john-travoltas-action-thriller-remake-and-it-really-goes-off-the-rails).
The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) passed the 2D cinema version on April 8, 2009, for Columbia Pictures Corporation Ltd., noting strong language and violence, with a listed running time of 105 minutes 47 seconds[14](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-taking-of-pelham-123-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mtk5njy).
## References
1. [THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thetakingofpelham123)
2. [The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/65003-THE-TAKING-OF-PELHAM-1-2-3)
3. [The Taking of Pelham: Then and Now, MovieMaker Magazine](https://www.moviemaker.com/the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3-owen-roizman-tobias-schliessler-20090602/)
4. [Off the Rails, The New Yorker (June 2009)](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/06/22/off-the-rails-3)
5. [The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-taking-of-pelham-123)
6. [The Taking of Pelham 123 – Metacritic reviews via IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/criticreviews/)
7. [The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Box Office, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Taking-of-Pelham-123-The)
8. [The Taking of Pelham 123 on Netflix Australia, New On Netflix Australia & New Zealand](https://anz.newonnetflix.info/info/70112730)
9. [I just watched Denzel Washington and John Travolta's action thriller remake..., Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/i-just-watched-denzel-washington-and-john-travoltas-action-thriller-remake-and-it-really-goes-off-the-rails)
10. [The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/aug/02/taking-of-pelham-123-review)
11. [The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) - Plot - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/plotsummary/)
12. [2009's The Taking Of Pelham 123 Is...Fine..., CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/2009-the-taking-of-pelham-123-fine-why-1974-original-robert-shaw-is-better)
13. [Tony Scott and the retaking of 'Pelham 123', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-03-ca-pelham3-story.html)
14. [The Taking Of Pelham 123, BBFC](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-taking-of-pelham-123-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mtk5njy)
15. [Chris Lebenzon – The Taking of Pelham 123, ICG Magazine](https://www.icgmagazine.com/web/exposure-chris-lebenzon/amp/)
16. [RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/rt-interview-tony-scott-on-the-taking-of-pelham-1-2-3/)
17. [The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/)
18. [The Taking of Pelham 123, review by Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/31/taking-pelham-123-review)
19. [The Taking of Pelham 123, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-taking-of-pelham-123/2000474384/)
20. [Some lessons from the retaking of Pelham 1 2 3, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/jul/01/taking-of-pelham-123-john-travolta)
21. [4 Reasons We Liked Pelham One Two Three (1974) Better Than Pelham 123 (2009), The Village Voice](https://www.villagevoice.com/4-reasons-we-liked-pelham-one-two-three-1974-better-than-pelham-123-2009/)
22. [The Taking Of Pelham 123, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/the-taking-of-pelham-123/5002254.article)
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