DVD & BLU-RAY PICK
The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony): The remake of the much loved 1974 thriller sees Denzel Washington take on the role of a MTA dispatcher who has to deal with the head of a criminal gang (John Travolta) who have hijacked a train in New York.
Directed by Tony Scott and scripted by Brian Helgeland, it largely came about because Sony had bought MGM and had the rights to remake certain titles in their library.
Although the original film is so distinctive and of its time, this version manages to be something more than just a rehash, mainly due to the fact that Helgeland went back to the original novel and changed some key plot points.
It features solid work all round from the two leads down to a fine supporting cast, which includes John Tuturro, James Gandolfini and Luis Guzman.
Scott directs in his usual frenetic, multi-camera setup style but there is something pleasingly straightforward about the way in which it is all delivered.
It disappointed at the US box office and got a mixed critical response but deserved better as it is a highly efficient nuts and bolts thriller even if Scott directs and edits in his usual ADD manner.
The DVD comes with the following extras:
- English and Italian DD5.1 Surround
- English Audio Description Track
- Subtitles: English, English HOH, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish
- Commentary with Director Tony Scott
- Commentary with Writer Brian Helgeland and Producer Todd Black
- No Time to Lose: The Making of Pelham 123
- The Third Rail: New York Underground
- Marketing Pelham
- From the Top Down: Stylizing Character
The Blu-ray Disc is coded for all regions (A, B and C) and the extras are in a mix of SD and HD, including:
- 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
- English, German and Italian 5.1 DTS-HD MA
- English Audio Description Track
- Subtitles: English, English HOH, Danish, Finnish, German, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
- Commentary with Director Tony Scott
- Commentary with Writer Brian Helgeland and Producer Todd Black
- No Time to Lose: The Making of Pelham 123
- The Third Rail: New York Underground
- Marketing Pelham
- From the Top Down: Stylizing Character
- BD-Live: cinechat
Although I wasn’t sent the Blu-ray for review purposes, I would imagine the transfer looks very good, given that it’s a Sony release.
Gary Tooze of DVD Beaver says it “looks very strong on Blu-ray” and that the transfer is “thick and heavy – balancing nicely between over-saturation and textured grain” and that overall it is a “marvellous presentation”. He has several screen shots here.
* Buy the DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon UK *
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