Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Taking of Pelham 123

Play trailer 2:26 Poster for The Taking of Pelham 123 R Released Jun 12, 2009 1h 46m Action Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
51% Tomatometer 229 Reviews 52% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Chaos reigns in the New York City subway system when heavily armed criminals, led by a mastermind named Ryder (John Travolta), hijack a subway train and threaten to kill everyone on board unless a large ransom is paid. Dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) uses his extensive knowledge of the transit system in a bid to outwit the hijackers and save the hostages, but one question remains: even if the hijackers get their money, how can they possibly escape?
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

The Taking of Pelham 123

The Taking of Pelham 123

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Despite a strong cast, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 suffers under the excesses of Tony Scott's frantic direction, and fails to measure up to the 1974 original.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (229)
Deborah Ross The Spectator This is pointless, redundant, irrelevant film remaking, in which nothing of weight is ever at stake, and no relationships are ever formed. Aug 30, 2018 Full Review Ed Koch The Atlantic The original film was far superior and will be remembered in years to come while the current remake will soon be forgotten. Jan 17, 2018 Full Review Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online Overall a good movie, good performances, got your adrenaline going. Rated: B+ Sep 12, 2017 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Gone are the days when a thriller about hijackers and the negotiator-hero who stops them feels fresh or necessary. At least, that’s how I felt after The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Rated: 1.5/4 Sep 4, 2023 Full Review Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies The sub-par material is too much to overcome. I especially hate to see such a strong Denzel performance go to waste, but in reality there just isn’t enough here to make this anything more than an average movie. Rated: 2.5/5 Aug 25, 2022 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Not quite as slick as the original, this latest take on the subway heist story still accomplishes entertainment at breakneck speed. Rated: 6/10 Nov 29, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+)
thiago s Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/02/25 Full Review Blu B Pointless remake? Sure. Terrible remake? No not really. It's totally competant and makes perfect sense just like the original. The acting isn't bad. Washington and Travolta are decent going back and forth but the new character background doesn't really add much. Everyone else is just alright and a bit forgettable including the passengers which to be fair was the same in the original. Overall Shaw was way better than Travolta although he has his moments. The bad guys in general were better in the first. Besides Travolta I barely remember any of the other four at all. The cinematogrpahy isn't bad either. It has that Tony Scott look to it all for better or worse. The subway scenes sometimes are so dark you can barely see as well. Scott's direction can be distracting more than adding to the story. But again it's not bad and the action scenes are pretty well done. The pacing isn't bad either and everything else is alright enough. This replaces a lot of the dark humor of the original with commentary and character development but it really doesn't add much and my biggest problem is it feels like filler more than a thriller. The original everything felt like it had a logical and interesting flow. This feels like the new stuff added in isn't as focused and the ending is more conventional than the ending to the original which doesn't have as much action but is amazing. On top of that Scott edits this like a msic video as well and it's aged about as well as you'd expect. The music is trying so hard to be modern and 2009 that it dates itself heavily. This is oddly enough the biggest downgrade to the theme of the original. Also, Matthau was way better in the role as well. Honestly, skip this and watch the original. It's not terrible it's just pointless in the grand scheme and I can't really find any reason to watch this over that. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/01/25 Full Review Gary G Not quite like reworking the sound of music but equally pointless . The original had charm and a building tension this version has neither . Gesundheit Rated 1 out of 5 stars 05/31/25 Full Review Audience Member Very entertaining movie, Travolta killed it... Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/18/25 Full Review Calvin T That was good......could it actually happen_____NO Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/26/25 Full Review Aleksandar D I watched this a few months ago again and really liked it. It's more of a weekend flick, but packed with action. Denzel is top as always. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/25 Full Review Read all reviews
The Taking of Pelham 123

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

The Taking of Pelham 123

The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Accidental Police Assault The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Accidental Police Assault 2:41 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Commandeering the Train The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Commandeering the Train 2:39 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Ten Million Dollars and One Cent The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Ten Million Dollars and One Cent 3:42 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Shoot Me! The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Shoot Me! 3:05 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Police Shootout The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Police Shootout 1:37 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - The Money Car Crash The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - The Money Car Crash 3:04 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Dog Poop Story The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Dog Poop Story 3:11 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Put Garber on The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Put Garber on 1:40 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Did You Take the Bribe? The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Did You Take the Bribe? 2:50 The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Runaway Train The Taking of Pelham 123: Official Clip - Runaway Train 1:39 View more videos
Punisher: War Zone 29% 42% Punisher: War Zone Watchlist Public Enemies 68% 59% Public Enemies Watchlist The Bank Job 79% 74% The Bank Job Watchlist TRAILER for The Bank Job The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day 23% 58% The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day Watchlist Running Scared 41% 79% Running Scared Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Chaos reigns in the New York City subway system when heavily armed criminals, led by a mastermind named Ryder (John Travolta), hijack a subway train and threaten to kill everyone on board unless a large ransom is paid. Dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) uses his extensive knowledge of the transit system in a bid to outwit the hijackers and save the hostages, but one question remains: even if the hijackers get their money, how can they possibly escape?
Director
Tony Scott
Producer
Todd Black, Tony Scott, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch
Screenwriter
Brian Helgeland
Distributor
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co
Escape Artists, Scott Free Productions
Rating
R (Violence|Pervasive Language)
Genre
Action, Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 12, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$65.5M
Runtime
1h 46m
Most Popular at Home Now