A LOOK at THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, here are the first two stills released from director Tony Scott’s remake of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123.
While there’s certainly top notch talent involved with this new version, it will be hard to recapture the efficiency of Joseph Sergeant’s 1973 incarnation which captured everything that makes a movie thriller great. I regard it as one of the 1970’s very best films. The new version stars Denzel Washington (looking less than trim) as the hero, NYC transit detective Lieutenant Zachary Garber, who battles the film’s villain John Travolta (Mr. Blue) who takes over a subway car and holds its passengers hostage for a large ransom. Pelham rides into theaters July 24, 2009.