THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 (2009)

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"The best hostage taking movie I've ever seen."

By the trailer, I thought this looked awesome. There was just something about it that made me want to see it. It looked so good, I saw it opening weekend, and it was just as good as I'd hoped.

The story is something you and me have seen before plenty of times. Holding hostages for money is nothing new. But if it is the type of story you like, you definitely won't be disapioned. Hey, even if you normally don't like this kind of storyline, you still might like it. For me, I like some of them, not all. Inside Man is a good one. And while this one isn't as clever as Inside Man is, I still like it just as much, if not more... Ok, just as much.

I thought the acting is great! Don't get me wrong here, Denzel Washington does well, but John Travlta steals the show. Remember him in Face/Off? Yea, he's a great bad guy. Some may think he's cheesy as a bad guy, but if they do, I disagree. I know he's suppose to be that way- wacky, crazy, and slightly comical with his clever remarks. He's just an all around great actor. Then I heard some sad news that he's not promoting this movie due to his son's recent, tragic death. Hang in there, John! Now, for Denzel Washington, he is good at what he does. And what he does is seemingly the same thing all the time. He needs to branch out more, and do something different than playing the good guy, or the cop. But, he still is good at this type of role. Also, the hostages do well too. All look fearful, and real. They have a small part, but they need recognition too!

Tony Scott is the director. He's just awesome. Scott really knows how to make an action scene intense! You can tell it's a Scott film when the simplest scenes are wild. I mean, this guy takes movie watching to the highest level! This wasn't even a non-stop action thrill-ride, but I feel like I just watched one. He is such a thrilling director, as this, and his previous films show.

Visuals wise, you wouldn't expect much. A boring subway station... NO! With Tony Scott's slick direction, it's an excting subway! The movie movies so fast, with tricky camera work, makes the movie visually excting as well.

I'd say that out of all the typical hostage taking movies, this is one of the best. It doesn't introduce anything new to the genre, but it sure is exciting! But seriously, Jonh Travolta really does steal the show here.

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Oh, by the way. Maybe you can help. I cousdn't seem to find this movie anywhere. I typed in the title with many different spellings, and different ways of saying the " 1 2 3" part. Even a video came up, and I copied the title off that, and still NOTHING. So how I found this, was by looking far back in the recent reviews, and found a review, and went from there,