The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: June 12, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
11
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It's a first-class ride. All aboard. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineJason Buchanan
While director Tony Scott's brash and boisterous take on the material may lack that certain '70s quirkiness, it gets just about everything else exactly right. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Scott gets into the zip and rush of urban energy with an enthusiasm bordering on hilarity. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
More than anything a fascinating portrait of how much New York has changed in 35 years, the film delivers the goods in excitement and big-star charisma. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
A fast and relentless hostage thriller that never stops. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Even at a distance from each other (Washington/Travolta), they conduct a tag-team master class in old-style movie star technique, barreling through every cliché and nugget of corn the script has to offer with verve and conviction. Even when you don't really believe them, they're always a lot of fun to watch. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Crisp supporting turns by John Turturro (as a hostage negotiator) and James Gandolfini (as the mayor) combine with plenty of vehicular mayhem to make this a superior diversion. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Gripping and compelling, and doesn't make us wish we had checked our brains at the theater entrance. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The new Pelham takes the chilling original premise and modifies it for an era steeped in technology, making for an energetic and engrossing adaptation. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
The new "Pelham," although no classic, is a lot of fun if you're in the right mood. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Has all the usual virtues of a good action suspense drama, but it lacks that extra something - that context, that vital interchange - that made the original "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" such a memorable experience in 1974. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
Tony Scott pushes all the right buttons, crafting a worthy -- and in many ways, a superior -- update. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
So professionally done you rarely have the luxury of taking your eyes off the screen. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The film is thus more of a technical showcase than a human drama. It's diverting enough until it gets dumb, but so strong from the start is the certainty that dumb is on the way that you can't get too vexed when it finally arrives. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Whereas the original, directed by Joseph Sargent, was essentially a well-oiled B movie, the new incarnation, directed by Tony ("Enemy of the State") Scott, is bristling with high-tech gimcrackery and over-the-top camera flourishes. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There's not much wrong with Tony Scott's The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, except that there's not much really right about it. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The movie is slick, predictable and, thanks mainly to Washington's canny underplaying, fairly diverting. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
By itself, the new "Pelham" is a solid, suspenseful tale all over again, so long as it stays in the subway tunnels and airless offices of the transit department. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Washington offers another of his rock-steady performances, playing a career civil servant with a couple of secrets of his own, but confident, diligent, ready to go the distance for the city he loves. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Curiously, despite the ever-energetic Tony Scott at the throttle, the sleek new edition isn't as transporting as it should have been. Read full review
60
TimeRichard Corliss
If Hollywood is going to remake a '70s movie, it might as well be Pelham, and it ought to work as competently as this one. But wouldn't it be nice, once in a while, for Hollywood to turn contemporary traumas into vigorous movies instead of hijacking the anxieties of the past? Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Watching this Pelham--a money job from its conception--you can believe that there's no other motivation on Earth. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJim Ridley
Scott's redo comes up short in almost every regard against the '74 model--against David Shire's knuckled-brass score, against its mugs' gallery of '70s New York character actors, against Peter Stone's serrated script, and certainly against its wordless punchline. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Just plain silly. Read full review
50
SlateJohn Swansburg
It's easy to imagine why Pelham's producers wouldn't want Scott's professional but dull picture to be compared with the 1974 classic. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
An efficiently engineered piece of studio product, enjoyable enough at times, but with an unmistakable assembly-line quality. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Yet most of the film's energy is generated by flamboyant cinematography and music-video cutting, and much of that energy is false. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Any chance to generate atmosphere or sustained comedy and melodrama goes down the tubes, often literally. Read full review
40
Washington PostPhilip Kennicott
If a few decent actors play their roles and defend their turf, it doesn't matter how preposterous the whole proposition is. Read full review
40
EmpireKim Newman
Pelham One was first class. Pelham Two stuck to the schedule. Pelham Three needs a bus pass. Read full review
30
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
Can a director be arrested for the attempted hijack of our emotions? Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Tony Scott’s bracingly awful remake/desecration of the classic ‘70s thriller. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Loud, abrasive, and featuring performances seemingly calibrated to be heard over the cacophonous roar of Travolta's mad, bad overacting. Read full review
20
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Disposable crap. Read full review
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