The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009 film)
Encyclopedia
The Taking of Pelham 123 is a 2009 thriller film, directed by Tony Scott
, and starring Denzel Washington
and John Travolta
. It is a film adaptation
of the novel by Morton Freedgood
(writing under the pseudonym John Godey), and is a remake
of the original 1974 film adaptation, which was also remade in 1998 as a TV movie
. Production began in March 2008, and it was released on June 12, 2009.
), along with three other heavily armed men Bashkim (Victor Gojcaj
), Emri (Robert Vataj), and former train operator Phil Ramos (Luis Guzmán
), take Pelham 123, a that had departed from Pelham Bay Park Station
at 1:23 p.m, uncoupling the front car from the rest of the train and taking the passengers hostage. MTA
employee Walter Garber (Denzel Washington
), a former assistant chief transportation officer, is working the Rail Control Center as a train dispatcher and receives the ransom call from Ryder, who demands $10 million in cash be paid within 60 minutes, and warns that for every minute past the deadline they force Ryder to wait, he will execute a hostage.
Bashkim kills a plainclothes Transit Police officer
attempting to arrest him. He and Ramos then allow all the people not in the front car to be released except for motorman Jerry Pollard (Gary Basaraba
). Garber reluctantly negotiates with Ryder and develops a rapport, while Ramos and Emri set up a wi-fi booster apparatus to enable Ryder internet access in the tunnel on his laptop computer. He uses it to watch the Dow Jones Industrial Average
plunge nearly 1,000 points during the next hour in response to the taking. The booster also reconnects one of the passenger's laptop after it was casually knocked to the floor by the hijackers; its webcam
facing the car's interior. The link reestablishes the passenger's videochat to his girlfriend's desktop, which she then gives to a local television station, allowing the authorities to use it as a live feed. It also allows the people at RCC to see what's going on, they see Ramos and Ryder later on.
Lieutenant Camonetti (John Turturro
) of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit
, also known as the Hostage Negotiation Team, enters RCC to take over negotiations and Garber is ordered by his boss to leave the premises. The change infuriates Ryder, who shoots and kills the train's operator in order to force Camonetti to bring Garber back.
Camonetti learns Garber is being investigated for allegedly accepting a $35,000 bribe to recommend a Japanese car manufacturer
for the next subway car contract, thus his demotion to train dispatching. He becomes suspicious and asks Garber to consent to a search of his home. Ryder also discovers the allegations through online news reports and forces Garber to confess by threatening to kill a passenger. Garber explains he took the bribe to pay his kids' tuition.
The Mayor (James Gandolfini
) agrees to pay Ryder's ransom demand and orders cash from the Federal Reserve
to be rushed to Vanderbilt Ave
and 42nd Street
to be delivered. The police transport delivering the money is involved in an accident and despite the efforts of police motorcyclists they fail to deliver within the deadline. Garber tries to bluff and tells Ryder that the tunnel was the only thing separating him from the money, unaware that Ryder could see the outside of Grand Central Terminal
via his laptop. For lying, Ryder threatens to execute one of the children hostages, however another hostage who was a former US Army Air-Assault Soldier intervenes and instead gets shot by Ryder. A short gunfight then erupts when a NYPD sniper accidentally fires his gun and kills Ramos.
Based on several clues that Garber receives during the conversation, the NYPD discover that Ryder's real name is Dennis Ford, a former manager of a private equity firm who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for investment fraud for stealing from the city pension fund. Although Ford had accepted the prosecution's 3-year plea bargain agreement, he received a sentence of 10 years from the judge. One of the Mayor's aides mentions the extreme drop in the major stock indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
and the Nasdaq Composite
, due to the news coverage of the hostage taking which some in the media have suspected to be terrorism. The Mayor deduces that such an event would allow Ryder to make spectacular returns if he bet against the market that day (the ransom money not being Ryder's main objective), so he asks the SEC for major trades on put options.
Garber is flown to Grand Central Terminal
, the closest station to the takers' location, when Ryder demands he personally deliver the ransom. Garber accepts a concealed pistol from a police officer and drops off the money. Ryder brings him aboard and orders him to operate the train to the next station where he and the hijackers exit the train during a brief railroad switch
stop. To ensure that the police follow the train (and go to a wrong place), Ryder uses a special mechanism to lock the driving lever in the full-speed position, bypassing the dead-man's switch. Per Ryder's demands, the signals
have been set to green and the train speeds ahead towards Coney Island. Garber manages to separate himself from the takers at a railway crossing and then follows them as they escape to the emergency exit inside The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Ryder parts ways with Bashkim and Emri, who are later shot dead via suicide by cop
after being surrounded by police.
The runaway train's automatic brake
is tripped by an unaltered red signal one station from Coney Island and it comes to a halt safely. Police learn Ryder is not on board. Ryder hails a taxi with Garber, who gets a truck, in close pursuit. Ryder checks his laptop and finds that his $2 million investment in gold derivatives has amassed him a $307 million profit. Ryder leaves the cab on the Manhattan Bridge
amid traffic and takes the bridge's pedestrian walkway but Garber catches up to him. As Garber holds Ryder at gunpoint, Ryder says that he is not going back to prison and gives him a 10 second ultimatum to kill him, before the other NYPD officers catch up to them. As he reaches the final seconds of the countdown, Ryder pulls out his gun in a provocative gesture which forces Garber to shoot. With his dying breath, Ryder calls Garber his hero as NYPD officers arrive on scene. Afterward, the mayor thanks Garber for saving the hostages, and hints the city will support him in the bribery investigation. Garber is later seen coming home with groceries, including a half-gallon of milk he promised his wife he'd bring home during an earlier phone call.
, and a post-9/11 world in New York City. In December 2007, David Koepp
, who adapted the novel for Scott and Washington said:
Koepp's drafts were meant to be "essentially familiar" to those who read the novel, preserving the "great hero vs. villain thing" of the original. Brian Helgeland, the only one receiving credit for the screenplay, took the script a different direction, making the remake more like the 1974 film than the novel and, as Helgeland put it, making it about "two guys who weren't necessarily all that different from each other." As writer Michael Ordoña describes it:
In the book and original film, Ryder is "cold-blooded and calculating", but in the 2009 film he is a "loose cannon willing to kill innocents not out of necessity but out of spite." Also Ryder in the original film and book is portrayed as a normal looking businessman while in the 2009 film he looks like he has adopted prison life, wearing very visible prison-related tattoos and the very laid back modern style of a biker.
In the 1974 film, the main character (played by Walter Matthau
) is named Zachary Garber and is a lieutenant in the Transit Authority police; in the 2009 film, the main character (played by Denzel Washington
) is named Walter Garber and works as a subway train dispatcher.
Ryder also demands 10 million US Dollars instead of 1 million as in the original film and book or 5 million in the made-for TV movie. Ryder does not use the "Mr. Blue" nickname as the original film does; it is instead implied that Ryder is a nickname.
In the 1974 film, the train-operating hostage taker is the only member of the group to live long enough to see himself behind bars, while all of the hostage takers die in the 2009 film.
personnel, as much of the filming would take place in the subway on active tracks. For the initial hijack sequence at Grand Central on the IRT Flushing Line
, the crew used the Times Square-bound track during late night hours while regular 7
train service operated in both directions on the Flushing-bound track. An actual R142A
train (the current model used on the IRT Pelham Line
) was used for the Grand Central sequence (in order to reach that track, the train needed to navigate through four boroughs). Many locations in Brooklyn were used during filming. A large portion was filmed on the unused local track between the Hoyt Schermerhorn station and the New York Transit Museum on the IND Fulton Street Line
. A retrofitted R62A
car was used during filming to give the appearance of an R142A car, for exterior filming only. Interior car scenes were filmed at the Kaufman Astoria Studios
in Queens, NY, on a set that more closely resembles the newer and larger R160B used on the BMT Astoria Line
, which runs in the Astoria neighborhood, where Kaufman is based. Outdoor street filming locations were the lower level of the Manhattan Bridge
, Tudor City
, including the First Ave tunnel near the UN, Manhattan's Upper East Side
, the Times Square
area, the Whitlock Avenue
elevated station, located in the West Farms Section of the Bronx, and Turtle Bay. Some scenes were also shot in lower Manhattan. The scene with the police leaving the Brooklyn Federal Reserve, which doesn't exist, was actually the rear of the USPS Office of the Inspector General, located next to the World Trade Center, in front of the PATH station entrance.
on February 13, 2009.
John Travolta decided against promoting the film, since it was released just five months after the death of his 16-year–old son, Jett. He stated that he still was not ready to step back into the spotlight. Travolta released a statement saying, "Tony, Denzel, Luis, John, James and Sony Pictures stepped up without hesitation to help promote this wonderful film, and their unselfish efforts have allowed my family the additional time to reconcile our loss." "I am very proud of the efforts we have all made in making this movie, and I want each and every one of you to enjoy it," he adds. "So, set your calendars for the weekend of June 12th. I promise you won't be disappointed. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
, based on 206 reviews. "Top Critics" at Rotten Tomatoes
gave the film a 53% "rotten" rating.
Metacritic
gave the film a metascore of 55% based on 33 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".
Jim Ridley of the Village Voice noted that the new Pelham film was worse than the original: "Scott's redo comes up short in almost every regard against the '74 model ... If it's somehow unfair to compare the two, why was The Taking of Pelham 123 even remade?"
"As expected, Tony Scott’s hyperkinetic, entirely unnecessary revamp attempts to update Pelham by cranking the volume and inflating the Noo Yawk attitude to a cartoonish level of macho posturing," wrote Sean Burns in Philadelphia Weekly
.
Writing in New York Press
, Armond White was critical of Tony Scott's direction: "Tony Scott’s craft cannot create suspense, it substitutes noise, cursing and brutality."
Michael Rechtshaffen of Hollywood Reporter noted: "Even with the plot's built-in ticking clock, the film relinquishes the tautly calibrated pace in the third act, never to get completely back on track."
David Edelstein
's review for New York Magazine carried the headline "The Taking of Pelham 123 is not worth running down a flight of subway-station stairs for."
Roger Ebert
gave the film two and a half stars, and began his review with "There’s not much wrong with Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 123,” except that there’s not much really right about it." Ebert commented that the lead actors lacked passion in their performances: "Oh, John Travolta is angry and Denzel Washington is determined, but you don’t sense passion in the performances. They’re about behaving, not evoking." He also compared it unfavorably with the 1974 original, calling it "less juicy" and opining that the special effects are "not an improvement"."The only performance notable is by newcomer Victor Gojcaj,silent but deadly."
Christy Lemire
of the Associated Press
gave the film two out of four stars, and called it "another overcaffeinated thriller".
Writing for the Orlando Sentinel
, Roger Moore gave the film three out of five stars, and commented "Pelham, for its crowd-pleasing heart-racing virtues ... plays out like a Tony-Denzel pairing that Denzel, at least, should have taken a pass on."
In a review for MSNBC
, Alonso Duralde
was critical of John Travolta's performance in the film, comparing it to his roles in Swordfish
and Battlefield Earth
: "Travolta remains singularly unbelievable as a villain. In movies like this and 'Swordfish' and, let's not forget, 'Battlefield Earth,' the actor strives for malice but generally can’t get much darker than playground-bully meanness."
Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone
, gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, stating "This movie hits you like 600 volts from a sparking third rail. Damn straight it's electrifying [...] The only letdown comes in Scott's handling of the passengers, who remain frustratingly generic." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, writing in his blog, commented that he loved the film, and thought it was one of three of Scott's great movies of the 2000s, saying: "...the coherence in his films is not between the pages of a script; it's between shots, and his greatest asset (both to himself and to cinema as a whole) is his ability to construct scenes out of shots that take place across great distances of space or time, as in his two best movies: Déjà Vu (much of whose running time consists of characters watching a past event through a sort of time machine) and his remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 (where the two main characters develop a complex relationship despite not meeting until the end of the movie)."
called "an unusually quiet weekend at the box office because of soft ticket sales for The Taking of Pelham 123".
The film was beaten out by The Hangover
and Up
for the number one and number two spots.
The Taking of Pelham 123 had a production budget of $100 million, and was co–financed with Relativity Media
and Sony Pictures. Ben Fritz of the Los Angeles Times
commented on the box office results of the film's opening weekend ($23,373,102): "Although far from disastrous, that's a soft start for a film budgeted at more than $100 million."
As of September 2011, the film has managed to earn $150,166,126 world wide.
featurettes. In South Korea, VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray were released on October 23, 2009.
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
, and starring Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
and John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
. It is a film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the novel by Morton Freedgood
Morton Freedgood
Morton Freedgood was an American author who wrote The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and many other detective and mystery novels under the pen name John Godey.-Biography:...
(writing under the pseudonym John Godey), and is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the original 1974 film adaptation, which was also remade in 1998 as a TV movie
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1998 film)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a 1998 American television movie directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and starring Edward James Olmos. It is a television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Morton Freedgood , and is a remake of the original 1974 film adaptation...
. Production began in March 2008, and it was released on June 12, 2009.
Plot
A man calling himself "Ryder" (John TravoltaJohn Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
), along with three other heavily armed men Bashkim (Victor Gojcaj
Victor Gojcaj
-Career:A former convicted criminal, turned actor, Gojcaj was spotted by film director Tony Scott while he was searching New York for someone to play the roles of the train hijackers, alongside John Travolta in the 2009 movie The Taking of Pelham 123. Scott enlisted the help of DEA agent Don...
), Emri (Robert Vataj), and former train operator Phil Ramos (Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
), take Pelham 123, a that had departed from Pelham Bay Park Station
Pelham Bay Park (IRT Pelham Line)
Pelham Bay Park is the northern terminal station of the IRT Pelham Line of the New York City Subway. Located by Pelham Bay Park, at the intersection of the Bruckner Expressway and Westchester Avenue in the Bronx, it is served by the 6 train at all times except weekdays in the peak direction and...
at 1:23 p.m, uncoupling the front car from the rest of the train and taking the passengers hostage. MTA
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
employee Walter Garber (Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
), a former assistant chief transportation officer, is working the Rail Control Center as a train dispatcher and receives the ransom call from Ryder, who demands $10 million in cash be paid within 60 minutes, and warns that for every minute past the deadline they force Ryder to wait, he will execute a hostage.
Bashkim kills a plainclothes Transit Police officer
New York City Transit Police
The New York City Transit Police Department was a law enforcement agency in New York City that existed from 1953 to 1995. The roots of this organization go back to 1936 when Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia authorized the hiring of Special Patrolmen for the New York City Subway system...
attempting to arrest him. He and Ramos then allow all the people not in the front car to be released except for motorman Jerry Pollard (Gary Basaraba
Gary Basaraba
Gary Basaraba is a Canadian actor best known for playing American police officers. He appeared as Sergeant Richard Santoro on Steven Bochco's Brooklyn South and Officer Ray Heckler on Boomtown....
). Garber reluctantly negotiates with Ryder and develops a rapport, while Ramos and Emri set up a wi-fi booster apparatus to enable Ryder internet access in the tunnel on his laptop computer. He uses it to watch the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average , also called the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow...
plunge nearly 1,000 points during the next hour in response to the taking. The booster also reconnects one of the passenger's laptop after it was casually knocked to the floor by the hijackers; its webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
facing the car's interior. The link reestablishes the passenger's videochat to his girlfriend's desktop, which she then gives to a local television station, allowing the authorities to use it as a live feed. It also allows the people at RCC to see what's going on, they see Ramos and Ryder later on.
Lieutenant Camonetti (John Turturro
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
) of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit
New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit
The New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit is the Emergency Service Unit for the New York City Police Department. A component of the Special Operations Division of the Patrol Services Bureau, the unit provides specialized support and advanced equipment to other NYPD units. For...
, also known as the Hostage Negotiation Team, enters RCC to take over negotiations and Garber is ordered by his boss to leave the premises. The change infuriates Ryder, who shoots and kills the train's operator in order to force Camonetti to bring Garber back.
Camonetti learns Garber is being investigated for allegedly accepting a $35,000 bribe to recommend a Japanese car manufacturer
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
for the next subway car contract, thus his demotion to train dispatching. He becomes suspicious and asks Garber to consent to a search of his home. Ryder also discovers the allegations through online news reports and forces Garber to confess by threatening to kill a passenger. Garber explains he took the bribe to pay his kids' tuition.
The Mayor (James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini
James J. Gandolfini, Jr. is an Italian American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO TV series The Sopranos, about a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia...
) agrees to pay Ryder's ransom demand and orders cash from the Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...
to be rushed to Vanderbilt Ave
Vanderbilt Avenue (Manhattan)
Vanderbilt Avenue is a short road in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from 42nd Street to 47th Street, between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue. The road was created in the late 1860s as the result of construction of Grand Central Depot, and is named for Cornelius Vanderbilt, the...
and 42nd Street
42nd Street (Manhattan)
42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...
to be delivered. The police transport delivering the money is involved in an accident and despite the efforts of police motorcyclists they fail to deliver within the deadline. Garber tries to bluff and tells Ryder that the tunnel was the only thing separating him from the money, unaware that Ryder could see the outside of Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
via his laptop. For lying, Ryder threatens to execute one of the children hostages, however another hostage who was a former US Army Air-Assault Soldier intervenes and instead gets shot by Ryder. A short gunfight then erupts when a NYPD sniper accidentally fires his gun and kills Ramos.
Based on several clues that Garber receives during the conversation, the NYPD discover that Ryder's real name is Dennis Ford, a former manager of a private equity firm who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for investment fraud for stealing from the city pension fund. Although Ford had accepted the prosecution's 3-year plea bargain agreement, he received a sentence of 10 years from the judge. One of the Mayor's aides mentions the extreme drop in the major stock indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average , also called the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow...
and the Nasdaq Composite
Nasdaq Composite
The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index of the common stocks and similar securities listed on the NASDAQ stock market, meaning that it has over 3,000 components. It is highly followed in the U.S. as an indicator of the performance of stocks of technology companies and growth companies. ...
, due to the news coverage of the hostage taking which some in the media have suspected to be terrorism. The Mayor deduces that such an event would allow Ryder to make spectacular returns if he bet against the market that day (the ransom money not being Ryder's main objective), so he asks the SEC for major trades on put options.
Garber is flown to Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, the closest station to the takers' location, when Ryder demands he personally deliver the ransom. Garber accepts a concealed pistol from a police officer and drops off the money. Ryder brings him aboard and orders him to operate the train to the next station where he and the hijackers exit the train during a brief railroad switch
Railroad switch
A railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
stop. To ensure that the police follow the train (and go to a wrong place), Ryder uses a special mechanism to lock the driving lever in the full-speed position, bypassing the dead-man's switch. Per Ryder's demands, the signals
Railway signalling
Railway signalling is a system used to control railway traffic safely, essentially to prevent trains from colliding. Being guided by fixed rails, trains are uniquely susceptible to collision; furthermore, trains cannot stop quickly, and frequently operate at speeds that do not enable them to stop...
have been set to green and the train speeds ahead towards Coney Island. Garber manages to separate himself from the takers at a railway crossing and then follows them as they escape to the emergency exit inside The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Ryder parts ways with Bashkim and Emri, who are later shot dead via suicide by cop
Suicide by cop
Suicide by cop is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately acts in a threatening way, with the goal of provoking a lethal response from a law enforcement officer or other armed individual, such as being shot to death....
after being surrounded by police.
The runaway train's automatic brake
Train stop
Part of a railway signalling system, a train stop or trip stop is a train protection device that automatically stops a train if it attempts to pass a signal when the signal aspect and operating rules prohibit such movement, or if it attempts to pass at an excessive speed.- Basic operation :The...
is tripped by an unaltered red signal one station from Coney Island and it comes to a halt safely. Police learn Ryder is not on board. Ryder hails a taxi with Garber, who gets a truck, in close pursuit. Ryder checks his laptop and finds that his $2 million investment in gold derivatives has amassed him a $307 million profit. Ryder leaves the cab on the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
amid traffic and takes the bridge's pedestrian walkway but Garber catches up to him. As Garber holds Ryder at gunpoint, Ryder says that he is not going back to prison and gives him a 10 second ultimatum to kill him, before the other NYPD officers catch up to them. As he reaches the final seconds of the countdown, Ryder pulls out his gun in a provocative gesture which forces Garber to shoot. With his dying breath, Ryder calls Garber his hero as NYPD officers arrive on scene. Afterward, the mayor thanks Garber for saving the hostages, and hints the city will support him in the bribery investigation. Garber is later seen coming home with groceries, including a half-gallon of milk he promised his wife he'd bring home during an earlier phone call.
Cast
- Denzel WashingtonDenzel WashingtonDenzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
as Walter Garber, the New York City SubwayNew York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
dispatcher, who is negotiating with the hijackers. The negotiator in the 1974 film was a transit policeman called Lt. Zachary Garber (portrayed by Walter MatthauWalter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
); Edward James OlmosEdward James OlmosEdward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
played Detective Anthony Piscotti, the negotiator in the 1998 television movie. - John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Ryder / Dennis Ford / Mr. Blue, the leader of the hijackers. Instead of playing a mercenary, he plays a former Wall Street "high roller" named Dennis Ford, who blames the city of New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the mayor for causing him to stay in prison for 10 years, longer than the guilty plea of three years. Scott courted Travolta heavily for the actor's first action role in years, Travolta earned $20 million for his role. The role was originally portrayed by Robert ShawRobert Shaw (actor)Robert Archibald Shaw was an English actor and novelist, remembered for his performances in The Sting , From Russia with Love , A Man for All Seasons , the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three , Black Sunday , The Deep and Jaws , where he played the shark hunter Quint.-Early life...
in the 1974 film. Vincent D'OnofrioVincent D'OnofrioVincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
played Mr. Blue in the 1998 TV movie. - James GandolfiniJames GandolfiniJames J. Gandolfini, Jr. is an Italian American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO TV series The Sopranos, about a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia...
as the Mayor of New York City, who is under heavy pressure to address the hostage crisis. The character was originally portrayed by Lee WallaceLee Wallace (actor)Lee Wallace is an American actor of film, stage, and television.Wallace was born as Leo Melis in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Celia and Eddie Melis. His movie roles include more than a dozen productions big and small, among which are Used People , Batman as Gotham City's mayor William Borg,...
in the 1974 film - Victor GojcajVictor Gojcaj-Career:A former convicted criminal, turned actor, Gojcaj was spotted by film director Tony Scott while he was searching New York for someone to play the roles of the train hijackers, alongside John Travolta in the 2009 movie The Taking of Pelham 123. Scott enlisted the help of DEA agent Don...
as Bashkim / Mr. Grey, the most aggressive of the hijackers. The character, originally named "Joe Welcome", was portrayed by Hector ElizondoHector ElizondoHéctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
in the 1974 film. Donnie WahlbergDonnie WahlbergDonald Edward "Donnie" Wahlberg, Jr. is an American singer, actor and film producer. He is a member of the popular 1980s and 1990s boy band New Kids on the Block. His work background includes music, feature films, and television...
played him in the 1998 TV movie. - John TurturroJohn TurturroJohn Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
as Camonetti / Grease-ball Man, the lieutenant of the Emergency Service UnitEmergency Service UnitThe Emergency Service Unit is the multi-faceted and multi-talented element within municipal, county, or state authority law enforcement agency’s Special Operations command. ESU’s exist mainly in the regional New York City Area but includes several jurisdictions outside the region. ESU is also...
of the NYPD of hostage negotiations. - Luis GuzmánLuis GuzmánLuis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
as Phil Ramos / Mr. Green, one of the hijackers. The role, originally named "Harold Longman", had been portrayed by Martin BalsamMartin BalsamMartin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
in the 1974 film. Richard SchiffRichard SchiffRichard Schiff is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on the NBC television drama The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award...
played him in the 1998 film. - Ramón Rodríguez as Delgado, an MTAMetropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
train dispatcher. - Robert Vataj as Emri / Mr. Brown, the stammering young gun, who helps hijack the train under the command of Ryder. The character originally named "Steever" was portrayed by Earl HindmanEarl HindmanEarl John Hindman was an American actor, best-known for his role as the kindly neighbor Wilson W. Wilson Jr...
in the 1974 film. - Gbenga AkinnagbeGbenga AkinnagbeGbenga Akinnagbe is an American actor, best known for his role as Chris Partlow on the HBO original series The Wire.-Early life:...
as Wallace, one of the hostages on the train. - Alex Kaluzhsky as George/Geo, one of the hostages on the train.
- Michael RispoliMichael RispoliMichael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was formerly part of the HBO television series The Sopranos as Jackie Aprile, Sr...
as John Johnson, Garber's boss and head of the MTA NYC Transit's Rail Control Center. - Jason Butler HarnerJason Butler HarnerJason Thomas Butler Harner is an American actor.-Biography:Harner was born in Elmira, New York and grew up in suburban Northern Virginia, where he had the opportunity of seeing a handful of plays at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage. His middle name Butler is his mother’s maiden name. He graduated...
as Mr. Thomas - Frank WoodFrank Wood (actor)Frank Wood is an American actor who has appeared in various television, film, and theatre roles. His most frequent role was performing as Greg in the HBO series Flight Of The Conchords.-Early life:...
as Police Commissioner Sterman - Aunjanue EllisAunjanue EllisAunjanue L. Ellis is an American actress known for her roles in Ray, in Undercover Brother, and on The Mentalist....
as Garber's Wife - Brian HaleyBrian HaleyBrian Haley is an American actor and stand-up comedian. His stand-up act is characterized by playing his all-American looks against manic outbursts and absurd situations...
as Police Captain Hill - Justin Miu as a scared passenger on board the train who is used as a hostage
Differences
The first drafts of the script faced the challenge of updating the novel with contemporary technology, including cell phones, GPS, laptops, thermal imagingThermography
Infrared thermography, thermal imaging, and thermal video are examples of infrared imaging science. Thermal imaging cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum and produce images of that radiation, called thermograms...
, and a post-9/11 world in New York City. In December 2007, David Koepp
David Koepp
-Career:As a writer, Koepp has worked on such blockbuster Hollywood films as Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, and Spider-Man. Koepp had a cameo as the "Unlucky Bastard" in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, in which he was serving as Writer and Second Unit Director.His work as a director has not had...
, who adapted the novel for Scott and Washington said:
- I wrote many drafts to try and put it in the present day and keep all the great execution that was there from the first one. It’s thirty years later so you have to take certain things into account. Hopefully we came up with a clever way to move it to the present.
Koepp's drafts were meant to be "essentially familiar" to those who read the novel, preserving the "great hero vs. villain thing" of the original. Brian Helgeland, the only one receiving credit for the screenplay, took the script a different direction, making the remake more like the 1974 film than the novel and, as Helgeland put it, making it about "two guys who weren't necessarily all that different from each other." As writer Michael Ordoña describes it:
- Whereas the novel is told from more than 30 perspectives — keeping readers off balance because it is unknown which characters the writer might suddenly discard — the two films focus on the lead hijacker and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee with whom he communicates by phone. The new version sharpens that focus until it's almost exclusively a duel between disgraced MTA dispatcher Walter Garber and manic gunman Ryder.
In the book and original film, Ryder is "cold-blooded and calculating", but in the 2009 film he is a "loose cannon willing to kill innocents not out of necessity but out of spite." Also Ryder in the original film and book is portrayed as a normal looking businessman while in the 2009 film he looks like he has adopted prison life, wearing very visible prison-related tattoos and the very laid back modern style of a biker.
In the 1974 film, the main character (played by Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
) is named Zachary Garber and is a lieutenant in the Transit Authority police; in the 2009 film, the main character (played by Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
) is named Walter Garber and works as a subway train dispatcher.
Ryder also demands 10 million US Dollars instead of 1 million as in the original film and book or 5 million in the made-for TV movie. Ryder does not use the "Mr. Blue" nickname as the original film does; it is instead implied that Ryder is a nickname.
In the 1974 film, the train-operating hostage taker is the only member of the group to live long enough to see himself behind bars, while all of the hostage takers die in the 2009 film.
Production
Production began in March 2008 with all cast and crew being required to attend a track safety course taught by MTAMetropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
personnel, as much of the filming would take place in the subway on active tracks. For the initial hijack sequence at Grand Central on the IRT Flushing Line
IRT Flushing Line
The Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, operated as part of the IRT Division and designated the 7 route...
, the crew used the Times Square-bound track during late night hours while regular 7
7 (New York City Subway service)
The 7 Flushing Local and 7 Flushing Express are rapid transit services of the New York City Subway, providing local and express services along the full length of the IRT Flushing Line...
train service operated in both directions on the Flushing-bound track. An actual R142A
R142A (New York City Subway car)
The R142A, along with the R142 is the newest generation of cars for the A Division of the New York City Subway.-Background:The R142A is built by Kawasaki and has many of the same features as the R142, built by Bombardier. The main order of 400 R142A cars are numbered 7211-7610; the 120 option cars...
train (the current model used on the IRT Pelham Line
IRT Pelham Line
The IRT Pelham Line is a rapid transit line on the New York City Subway, served by the 6 and <6> trains. It was built as part of the Dual Contracts expansion and opened in 1919. It is both elevated and underground, with Whitlock Avenue being the first elevated station...
) was used for the Grand Central sequence (in order to reach that track, the train needed to navigate through four boroughs). Many locations in Brooklyn were used during filming. A large portion was filmed on the unused local track between the Hoyt Schermerhorn station and the New York Transit Museum on the IND Fulton Street Line
IND Fulton Street Line
The IND Fulton Street Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, extending from the Cranberry Street Tunnel under the East River through all of central Brooklyn to a terminus in Ozone Park, Queens. The IND Rockaway Line branches from it. It forms part of the A...
. A retrofitted R62A
R62A (New York City Subway car)
R62A is a series of New York City Subway cars, built by Bombardier in Montreal, Quebec, with final assembly done in Barre, Vermont.-Description:...
car was used during filming to give the appearance of an R142A car, for exterior filming only. Interior car scenes were filmed at the Kaufman Astoria Studios
Kaufman Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is an historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens.-History:It was originally built by Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short...
in Queens, NY, on a set that more closely resembles the newer and larger R160B used on the BMT Astoria Line
BMT Astoria Line
The Astoria Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, serving the neighborhood of Astoria, Queens. It runs from Ditmars Boulevard to 39th Avenue along 31st Street. It then serves Queensboro Plaza along 27th Street. It was built as part of the Dual Contracts and...
, which runs in the Astoria neighborhood, where Kaufman is based. Outdoor street filming locations were the lower level of the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
, Tudor City
Tudor City
Tudor City is an apartment complex located on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the first residential skyscraper complex in the world. It is bordered by East 40th Street to the south, First Avenue to the east, Second Avenue to the west, and East 43rd Street to the north...
, including the First Ave tunnel near the UN, Manhattan's Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
, the Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
area, the Whitlock Avenue
Whitlock Avenue (IRT Pelham Line)
Whitlock Avenue is a local station on the IRT Pelham Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the 6 train at all times and is located at Whitlock Avenue and Westchester Avenue in the Bronx....
elevated station, located in the West Farms Section of the Bronx, and Turtle Bay. Some scenes were also shot in lower Manhattan. The scene with the police leaving the Brooklyn Federal Reserve, which doesn't exist, was actually the rear of the USPS Office of the Inspector General, located next to the World Trade Center, in front of the PATH station entrance.
Release and marketing
The film was originally scheduled to release on July 31, 2009, but the release was moved earlier to June 12. The first theatrical poster was released on February 10, 2009, while the first trailer for the film debuted at the screenings of The InternationalThe International (film)
The International is a 2009 thriller film directed by Tom Tykwer. The film follows an Interpol agent and an American attorney who investigate corruption within the IBBC, a fictional merchant bank based in Luxembourg. It serves organized crime and corrupt governments as a banker and as an arms...
on February 13, 2009.
John Travolta decided against promoting the film, since it was released just five months after the death of his 16-year–old son, Jett. He stated that he still was not ready to step back into the spotlight. Travolta released a statement saying, "Tony, Denzel, Luis, John, James and Sony Pictures stepped up without hesitation to help promote this wonderful film, and their unselfish efforts have allowed my family the additional time to reconcile our loss." "I am very proud of the efforts we have all made in making this movie, and I want each and every one of you to enjoy it," he adds. "So, set your calendars for the weekend of June 12th. I promise you won't be disappointed. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
Critical reception
Reviews of the film were overall mixed, with a 51% "rotten" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 206 reviews. "Top Critics" at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave the film a 53% "rotten" rating.
Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film a metascore of 55% based on 33 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".
Jim Ridley of the Village Voice noted that the new Pelham film was worse than the original: "Scott's redo comes up short in almost every regard against the '74 model ... If it's somehow unfair to compare the two, why was The Taking of Pelham 123 even remade?"
"As expected, Tony Scott’s hyperkinetic, entirely unnecessary revamp attempts to update Pelham by cranking the volume and inflating the Noo Yawk attitude to a cartoonish level of macho posturing," wrote Sean Burns in Philadelphia Weekly
Philadelphia Weekly
Philadelphia Weekly , is an award-winning alternative newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, published every Wednesday.The paper was founded in 1971 as a sister publication to the South Philadelphia Press. In 1995, the paper became Philadelphia Weekly...
.
Writing in New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
, Armond White was critical of Tony Scott's direction: "Tony Scott’s craft cannot create suspense, it substitutes noise, cursing and brutality."
Michael Rechtshaffen of Hollywood Reporter noted: "Even with the plot's built-in ticking clock, the film relinquishes the tautly calibrated pace in the third act, never to get completely back on track."
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
David Edelstein is the chief film critic for New York Magazine, as well as the film critic for NPR's Fresh Air and CBS Sunday Morning. He lives in Brooklyn, New York....
's review for New York Magazine carried the headline "The Taking of Pelham 123 is not worth running down a flight of subway-station stairs for."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film two and a half stars, and began his review with "There’s not much wrong with Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 123,” except that there’s not much really right about it." Ebert commented that the lead actors lacked passion in their performances: "Oh, John Travolta is angry and Denzel Washington is determined, but you don’t sense passion in the performances. They’re about behaving, not evoking." He also compared it unfavorably with the 1974 original, calling it "less juicy" and opining that the special effects are "not an improvement"."The only performance notable is by newcomer Victor Gojcaj,silent but deadly."
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire is the film critic for The Associated Press and co-host of Ebert Presents at the Movies with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. She also co-hosts the weekly online movie review show, What The Flick?!....
of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
gave the film two out of four stars, and called it "another overcaffeinated thriller".
Writing for the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
, Roger Moore gave the film three out of five stars, and commented "Pelham, for its crowd-pleasing heart-racing virtues ... plays out like a Tony-Denzel pairing that Denzel, at least, should have taken a pass on."
In a review for MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde is an American writer and film critic.Duralde was the Artistic Director at the USA Film Festival/Dallas for five years. He was also the former Arts and Entertainment Editor at the national gay and lesbian magazine The Advocate...
was critical of John Travolta's performance in the film, comparing it to his roles in Swordfish
Swordfish (film)
Swordfish is a 2001 crime-thriller film, directed by Dominic Sena and starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Vinnie Jones. The film is an action thriller that was also notable for Halle Berry's first topless scene...
and Battlefield Earth
Battlefield Earth (film)
Battlefield Earth is a 2000 American science fiction film adapted from L. Ron Hubbard's novel of the same name. It was directed by Roger Christian, and stars John Travolta, Forest Whitaker, and Barry Pepper...
: "Travolta remains singularly unbelievable as a villain. In movies like this and 'Swordfish' and, let's not forget, 'Battlefield Earth,' the actor strives for malice but generally can’t get much darker than playground-bully meanness."
Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, stating "This movie hits you like 600 volts from a sparking third rail. Damn straight it's electrifying [...] The only letdown comes in Scott's handling of the passengers, who remain frustratingly generic." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, writing in his blog, commented that he loved the film, and thought it was one of three of Scott's great movies of the 2000s, saying: "...the coherence in his films is not between the pages of a script; it's between shots, and his greatest asset (both to himself and to cinema as a whole) is his ability to construct scenes out of shots that take place across great distances of space or time, as in his two best movies: Déjà Vu (much of whose running time consists of characters watching a past event through a sort of time machine) and his remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 (where the two main characters develop a complex relationship despite not meeting until the end of the movie)."
Box office
The film debuted in the number three spot with approximately US$25 million at the box office in the United States in its opening weekend, in what The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called "an unusually quiet weekend at the box office because of soft ticket sales for The Taking of Pelham 123".
The film was beaten out by The Hangover
The Hangover (film)
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
and Up
Up (2009 film)
Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...
for the number one and number two spots.
The Taking of Pelham 123 had a production budget of $100 million, and was co–financed with Relativity Media
Relativity Media
Relativity Media is an American independent motion picture production and investment company based in West Hollywood, California.- Company :...
and Sony Pictures. Ben Fritz of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
commented on the box office results of the film's opening weekend ($23,373,102): "Although far from disastrous, that's a soft start for a film budgeted at more than $100 million."
As of September 2011, the film has managed to earn $150,166,126 world wide.
Home video
VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray versions of the movie with bonus features were released on November 3, 2009. The film opened up at #3 at the DVD sales chart, making $14.1m off 919,000 DVD units in the first week of release. These features included commentaries and behind-the-scenesMaking-of
In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...
featurettes. In South Korea, VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray were released on October 23, 2009.