THE OBENSON REPORT

Covering Cinema From All Across The African Diaspora

POSTER - The Taking Of Pelham 123 (Denzel Washington)

poster

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Courtesy of Joblo.com, above is the first official poster for the Denzel Washington/John Travolta/Tony Scott-directed remake of the 1974 heist film of the same name, which starred Walter Matthau as Lieutenant Zachary Garber, a New York City Transit Authority policeman whose routine is interrupted by the hijacking of a subway train.

In the above remake, Denzel assumes the role of Lieutenant Garber, and Travolta, looking quite menacing in the poster, plays the lead hijacker.

I've seen the original 1974 film, which, by the way was an adaptation of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, a novel by Morton Feedgood, published in 1973. The French Connection it is not, but it held my attention for its entire running time, despite a storyline that wasn't entirely plausible.

I'm sure, with Tony Scott (brother of Ridley Scott) at the helm of the 2009 remake, we can expect some of his trademark frenetic camerawork, editing, and sound design. But let's hope not! Someone close to him needs to remind Tony that he's not in film school anymore!

He and Denzel certainly like working together; this is the 4th time they've paired up since 1995. The other 3: Crimson Tide (liked it), Man On Fire (liked it), and Deja Vu (hated it)

By the way, some of you may be thrilled to know that Gbenga Akinnagbe, aka "Chris Partlow" from The Wire, co-stars.

The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 opens this summer - June 12th specifically - as one of Columbia's tentpole releases.

It's not a "must-see" for me, but I'll probably check it out anyway.

via JOBLO

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous said...
     

    I just recently saw the original "...123". It was pretty good in that 70's gritty way. I didn't think it was that implausible for the 70's but the post 911 new york remake I'll have hard time believing anyone can pull a train hi jack. For one million dollars no less.

    For those who haven't seen it hulu is streaming
    http://www.hulu.com/watch/27822/the-taking-of-pelham-one-two-three

  2. Sergio said...
     

    I saw the orginal when it first came out in 1974 and I loved it then and still do. (And I just love the film's jazzy, off beat music score) And it's ten times better than the book which is a pretty badly written novel.

    But this is one of the few remakes that I'm actually anxious to see and I think it really makes sense to do one. The world has changed a lot since 1974 not mention for example cell phones, laptops, 24 hour news cable networks and the whole post 9/11 fear of terrorism vibe. I want to see how all that is going to play into this new version

  3. Invisible Woman said...
     

    The original was a classic 70's flick--I liked it. Hopefully they will not try to overdo in the remake, which is usually what happens in modern updates--tho it completely unecessary.

    At the very least, Travolta and Denzel are always interesting on-screen

  4. Invisible Woman said...
     

    Just saw Denzel and Scott did "Man On Fire", which I thoroughly enjoyed; very underrated. The fact that Scott is involved makes me hopeful.

  5. Jakbowler said...
     

    Good reading youur post

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