Friday Vintage Reviews: The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

Starring: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro

Director: Tony Scott

Producers: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal

There’s a moment early in The Taking of Pelham 123 where Denzel Washington’s Walter Garber, an ordinary subway dispatcher, adjusts his headset as a hostage crisis unfolds over the radio. He doesn’t panic. He doesn’t shout. The quiet breath, the focused gaze, the way his voice stays steady under pressure it’s all there. This is Denzel doing what Denzel does best: turning quiet resilience into compelling drama. And Pelham 123, Tony Scott’s gritty, fast-paced follow-up to films like Enemy of the State, is at its best when it lets that grounded intensity steer the story.

This isn’t a deep exploration of criminal psychology. It’s not Heat, nor does it try to be. What Pelham 123 delivers is something closer to Die Hard’s playbook: a tight, tense, and efficiently shot thriller that treats a New York subway car like a pressure cooker, complete with Travolta snarling through the radio like a wolf who’s just found the henhouse. The dialogue is sharp, the pacing relentless, and the atmosphere oh, the atmosphere turns every second into a nerve-shredding countdown.

But here’s the thing: Pelham 123 knows exactly what it is. It’s not here to rewrite the thriller genre. The good guys are clear, the bad guys are brutal, and the climax delivers exactly what you expect. Yet it’s hard to mind when the execution is this slick. Washington and Travolta, as dispatcher and hijacker, sell the cat-and-mouse dynamic with so much presence and wit that the familiar setup feels freshly wired. And Scott’s direction? It’s all adrenaline and atmosphere New York as a character, and the subway as its racing heart.

Is it cinematic innovation? No. But like a perfectly timed subway train, The Taking of Pelham 123 doesn’t need to be revolutionary to get you where you need to go. It just needs to move and with Denzel in the negotiator seat, it absolutely does.

Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4/5): A gritty, well-crafted thriller that races from start to stop.