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I was briefly in NYC the other day and saw a movie being filmed just by Grand Central Station. I was not allowed to approach right where the filming was taking place, but it did appear that the exterior of the station at E42 & Vanderbilt Av would be in the shots. I was told the film was a remake of The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3, this version starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington. I am assuming Travolta plays the Matthau part and maybe Denzel plays the Robert Shaw part? But it would still be hard for either of them to be as good as the originals. . . . Maybe they are changing the parts and simply using the hijacking plot with a different set of characters? Anyway, I do recommend the old version a lot. It's a great SUBWAY film that train fans should enjoy.
Doc Brown Member # 4724
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Thanks for the info. I thought "The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3" was an excellent movie. Sometimes a good screen writer coupled with a good director can do some great work on a remake with thier own take on the story. We can only hope.
RussM Member # 3627
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The remake of Pelham 123 is due for release in July 2009. Washington will play the Matthau part of Lt. Garber, and Travolta will play Ryder. If you ever want to know anything about any movie, check out www.imdb.com . Not to be totally off topic, I would like to mention that I will be flying to El Paso next Wednesday to visit Carlsbad Caverns, and will then take the Sunset Limited from ELP to LAX.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Generally remakes are like warmed over food. Not near as good as when fresh the first time. Equally, that includes plots that get reused in whole or in part in a movie by another name.
notelvis Member # 3071
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I hate that I have reached the stage in life where some of the more amusing movies I saw as a teen-ager are coming back as remakes......and the original always was better, no?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Who knows what will happen in this remake flick; I can recall one, albeit not a remake, named "No Way Out" in which 'good guy" Kevin Costner or stunt double, runs into the Wash Metro near Georgetown eluding the "bad guys", or other "Federal Agents", by running out of the Baltimore Metro's stop at the B&O Building (now some kind of shopping mall).
What will they dream up next; no wonder I have not been in a movie theatre since "Farenheit 911" was released during 2004 (my $145/mo to Comcast keeps me quite entertained - my $600/yr Chicago Symphony subscription leaves me awe inspired).
sojourner Member # 3134
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DEnzel in the Matthau role should be fun. But Travolta in Shaw's role--ick! he can be funny, but he doesn't have the class!
I saw No Way Out. I thought it was slick and held my interest but ultimately seemed a bit too cute by half, didn't it? I have seen about a dozen films I quite liked since 2004 (when Fahrenheit 911 came out). For example, I just saw a film I really liked called The Visitor. And not to be completely off topic, it does have a couple of NYC subway scenes. The film since 2004 that I liked best--best film I've seen in decades!--was a German film called The Lives of Others. I also really enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine. But neither film had anything to do with trains--although the star of Little Miss Sunshine IMO was a VW bus.
sbalax Member # 2801
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I really liked No Way Out. Wasn't one-time Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson in it? And Howard Duff! Somehow I don't remember the Metro scenes, though. I've always thought one of the coolest things about the Metro are the platform lights that start to glow as the trains approach.
Frank in HOT SBA.
Liberty Limited Member # 4300
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Anyone know if this will be set in the 70's as the original was, or will it be a contemporary flick?
I recall in the original (book and movie), that much of the plot revolved around the whole culture of New York in the 1970's, including changing gender roles and racial equality, not to mention the city being in dire financial straits.
If they try to set it in the 1970's, I can't see where it could improve on the original. If they set it for today, all the nuances of the setting will be largely irrelevant.
And how the heck can you outdo that funky score?!?
sojourner Member # 3134
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I just remembered that the film is based on a book by John Godey that I read long ago and that, in the book, the Walter Matthau character is African American, so maybe they are going back to the original, at least in some ways. I recall thinking that the book was good, with lots of details about the NY subways; however, I don't believe it had as much of the humor.
I guess I will go check more at imdb.com; I've been very lazy about that!
smitty195 Member # 5102
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No Way Out was a GREAT movie! And yup, Fred Thompson was in it (CIA director or something). I'll have to rent it again because I also don't remember the chase scene going into the Metro. It would be neat to see that.
GBN.....you don't often see movies, but you donated money to Michael Moore?? Well, you'll have the chance to give him more money if you wish.....a "Part 2" of one of his paranoid/conspiracy/lie films will be coming out soon.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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I don't think I a make a habit of it, Mr. Andy Smith, but I was going out to Iowa to visit with friends who are part of the "hate GWB" cabal (they even include in the litany "he hates Amtrak" and to add to the insult "yeah Hugo, he hates Bush") and they said "see it"; so I did.
That movie set the stage as a hatchet job as soon as the first scene when it showed GWB continuing to read to the school children as if nothing happened on 9/11. What was he to do? scare the little chirdren half to death? His staff needed a little time to prepare a statement - and Mr. Moore "conveniently" overlooked that prudent step.
Really, there is only one performing artist on my blacklist. That is R----- B-----. I think she took METRA to the cleaners. As a result, I will not buy her recordings, will attend her concerts, and recently when WFMT 98.7 was about to play a work in which she was performing, how did I just happen to push the "CD" button on my auto's dash?
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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This current remake is actually the THIRD movie made from the Godey novel. The second, in 1998, featured Edward James Olmos. Apparently it was not well received critically.
Google "The Taking of Pelham" and you'll come upon the Wikipedia entry. (I tried to post the URL and the message was refused.)
sojourner Member # 3134
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I never heard of the Olmos remake--probably made for TV, right?
irish1 Member # 222
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i remember one of the funny parts of pelham 123 was in the beginning. walter mattheu was giving some Japanese tourists a tour of the control area. he was told they couldnt speak english so he was calling them monkees and things like that all during the tour. then at the end they spoke perfect english and thanked him for the tour. the look on his face was priceless.
[ 05-22-2008, 05:07 AM: Message edited by: Moderator ]
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