The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

1998

Crime / Drama / Thriller

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 35%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 35% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 1269 1.3K

new york city based on novel or book ransom hostage hijacking remake

Director

Félix Enríquez Alcalá Photo
Félix Enríquez Alcalá

Top cast

Vincent D'Onofrio Photo
Vincent D'Onofrio as Mr. Blue
Philip Akin Photo
Philip Akin as ESU Lieutenant
Kenneth Welsh Photo
Kenneth Welsh as Caz Hollowitz
Lorraine Bracco Photo
Lorraine Bracco as Det. Ray
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
829.68 MB
1280*960
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds 3
1.5 GB
1440*1080
English 2.0
NR
us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds 6

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Leofwine_draca 4 / 10

A waste of time

Reviewed by bkoganbing 4 / 10

I Miss Walter Matthau

Keeping up with the times this 1998 remake of The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three had to change certain things and deliberately changed others. One indisputable fact was that in 1998 the New York City Transit Police had ceased being a separate entity and was now just part of the NYPD. Hence Walter Matthau's character as a Transit Cop would not have existed any longer. For this version Edward James Olmos is not only a regular NYPD detective, but he's a hostage negotiator specialist.The change out the Transit Police was necessary, but part of what made the first version work so well was Walter Matthau being placed in a situation he wouldn't normally be dealing with. In that version in fact he's shepherding a bunch of Japanese railroad people around the Transit Authority Command Center when the hijacking occurs.Instead of Jerry Stiller as his partner, Olmos is paired with Lorraine Bracco, certainly women by that time were doing more than administrative work in the NYPD. The mysterious head of the four hijackers is Vincent Donofrio on the other side of the law. We don't know who he is, but he certainly didn't have the air of mystery that soldier of fortune Robert Shaw did in the Seventies. In fact we never really find out anything about Donofrio.The plot follows pretty much the story in the original version. Since it was shot in Toronto, the streets of New York where a lot of the excitement above ground as the City tries to meet the hijackers deadline is missing from this version. Seeing Donofrio and Olmos makes me wish for Matthau and Shaw. Maybe the new version that will have Denzel Washington and John Travolta as antagonists will be better.
Reviewed by alvin81 5 / 10

Tepid TV remake of the '74 classic

Based on the 1974 classic of the same name, this TV version looks very much like a regular TV show, spread out over two hours instead of one. This remake does indeed suffer from modest budgets, a less than sterling cast. Vincent d'Onofrios, stepping into Robert Shaw's "Mr. Blue" ringleader role, seems bored, wooden, and unaffected by the entire scenario. Likewise, Edward James Olmos (filling Matthau's shoes) is equally as bored and wooden as d'Onofrios. Poor Brooklynite Lorraine Bracco is reduced to a supporting role (formerly played by Jerry Stiller) that does not make use of her endless talents.What is most irking is the fact that the NYC-based flick was filmed in Toronto, Ontario. Exterior shots, subway stations, and particularly subway equipment looks nothing like the grimy, intimidating system that is New York's. New York's transit system is as much a celebrity as the city it holds together. Few cities in the world can be quickly identified by their form of subway transport as New York's. One big demerit for the producers on this one (no fault of Toronto, either—it is a marvelous city, to be sure).With the one exception of an emotional relationship established by highjacker "Brown" (Tara Rosling) and her 'angel of mercy' female conductor "Babs Cardoza" (Babs Cardoza), all other subplots among the hijackers and characters were not developed. The deliciously menacing "Mr. Grey" character, played to perfection in the original by Hector Elizondo, was reduced to an angry, almost juvenile person by Donnie Wahlberg.The overall feeling is choppy and suspenseless. One gets the feeling the original movie was being watched closely during filming, with the director causally removing chunks of original script.Even though TV movies are in an entirely different category than those produced in Hollywood, there is no reason for quality scripts to go M.I.A. TV budgets may be limiting, but the believability in the characters need not suffer.Stick with the original. Watch this remake to satiate the curiosity factor only.
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