The Taking of Pelham 123

Honestly I need to see the original, but I thought the Travolta/Denzel version from this year was quite exciting. Good dialogue, and intriguing plot and great action made this an all around satisfying movie. What else would you expect from Tony Scott.

Denzel Washington tends to play the same types of characters - either an expert awesome guy or everyman thrown into chaos. Travolta is not my favorite actor but this was a good role for him as a villain - although Vinny Barbarino has never left him. James Gandolfini has a nice cameo role as a Giuliani clone - I think his best work is yet to come Sopranos aside.

Notice they used Google Earth for a few transitions - must have saved a lot of money! And a DVD that actually includes some interesting extras gets my vote. Very often "The Making of XYZ Movie" is nothing more than a promotional piece featuring junket interviews and film clips - not that interesting if you have just seen the movie, but no doubt cheap to make.

The writer, Brain Helgeland, has some interesting stories to tell about how he got started writing - and other anecdotes (he wrote The Postman as satire, but Costner played it serious - chaos ensues) look him up on the Creative Screenwriting Magazine podcast.

Mike Cohen