MovieBuzz: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

Synopsis :

Four heavily armed men, led by a man who calls himself "Ryder," (John Travolta) board a New York City subway 6 train (aka the Pelham Line, hence the title), then proceed to take control of the train. Meanwhile, MTA dispatcher, Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), is assigned to the Rail Control Center due to an ongoing investigation that he took a bribe to recommend a Japanese car manufacturer for the next subway car contract. The group then uncouple the front car from the rest of the train and hold the passengers of that car hostage. One of the hijackers, Baskhikim, kills an undercover police officer in the course of the action. Ryder and a former MTA train operator named Stamos settle down on the front car, while the other hijackers watch the hostages in the back. They demand $10 million dollars in ransom money to be paid within the next 60 minutes. For each minute past the deadline, one passenger aboard his car will be killed. Garber and Ryder exchange conversations though the microphone, while one of the male passengers has a laptop with a webcam, his girlfriend eventually sees the hostage situation through her webcam and provides the live feed to the police stationed at RCC. Ryder accesses his own laptop to watch the stock market plunge nearly 1,000 during the course of the next hour. Garber agrees to have the city pay Ryder the $10 million ransom while the Mayor (James Gandolfini) is intercepted by his staff aboard a train in the Bronx and is transported back to RCC.

NYPD Emergency Service Unit Lt. Camonetti (John Turturro) enters RCC, and Garber's boss, who has a rocky relationship with Garber, orders Garber to leave the premises. Camonetti takes over the hostage negotiations, infuriating Ryder who demands that Garber be put back on the mic and that he will speak only to Garber. When Camonetti refuses explaining Garber has already left the building, Ryder shoots and kills the train operator, who was Garber's classmate in motor school. Camonetti immediately has Garber brought back on the mic, talking to Ryder while he sets up a sniper unit in the tunnel where the car is stuck, ordering all officers not to fire upon any hijacker until told to do so (which Ryder is fully aware of their presence by giving the middle finger to one of the officers). Camonetti is puzzled as to why Ryder will only talk to Garber but when he learns about Garber's bribery investigation, he asks Garber in consenting to search his home, which Garber agrees and tells his wife about it. Ryder learns through news reports about Garber's alleged bribe in Japan and forces him to confess by holding the boy with the laptop at gunpoint, saying the reason for taking the money was to pay for his daughters's college education. While the police stand down in the tunnel, one of the many rats on the roadbed slithers inside an officer's leg, causing him to lose control of his sniper rifle and fire off a shot, killing Ramos who was sitting in the motorman's position.

The money is transported uptown to Grand Central, which Ryder demands Garber to personaly deliver it within 8 minutes. Garber calls his wife to inform her about his new responsiblity in order to save the hostages, but she cares only for his own safety. She makes him promise to pick up some milk on the way home, owning to the fact that he must come home safely. Garber delivers the money with the aid of a 9mm gun loaned to him by Camonetti, then is ordered to operate the train to another location where the hijackers will exit. Ryder uses a special mechanism to lock the driving lever in the full speed position, bypassing the dead-man's switch and causing the train to accelerate out-of-control down Coney Island at high speeds. As the MTA are unaware of the mechanism holding the driving lever down, they believe the hijackers and Gaber to still be inside the train. Garber manages to escape from the hijackers while picking up his gun, and then follows them to emergency exit inside an abandoned subway station underneath the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. Inside the hotel, Ryder splits away from Bashkim and Emri, who are surrounded outside the hotel by police, they are killed instantly in a hail of police gunfire. The runaway train is tripped by a red signal one station away from Coney Island. Ryder boards a taxi with Garber in pursuit. Ryder checks his laptop were it is revealed that he has short-sold the market and invested in gold, earning him a profit far larger than the ransom money. Ryder goes to the Manhattan Bridge where he leaves the cab to use the pedestrian walkway on the bridge. Garber confronts Ryder on the bridge; Ryder demands Garber kill him, or else he will take out his gun and kill Garber himself. Before the police can get there in time, Garber shoots Ryder once in his chest. Before Ryder dies, he calls Garber his hero, as Camonetti watches from an NYPD chopper.

The Mayor thanks Garber for saving the hostages, and vows his staff in representing him in the bribery investigation tomorrow. Garber refuses the Mayor's offer for a car ride home saying the subway is faster and is his lifeblood. He then heads home with a half-gallon of milk for his wife.

Starring :

Denzel Washington ... Walter Garber
John Travolta ... Ryder
Luis Guzmán ... Phil Ramos
Victor Gojcaj ... Bashkim
John Turturro ... Camonetti
John Benjamin Hickey ... Deputy Mayor LaSalle
Alex Kaluzhsky ... George
Gbenga Akinnagbe ... Wallace
Katherine Sigismund ... Mom
Jake Richard Siciliano ... 8-Year-Old Boy (as Jake Siciliano)
Gary Basaraba ... Jerry Pollard (Motorman)

Director :

Tony Scott

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