My Blockbuster 49 Haul: Review #1

When perusing through the two huge piles of movies, which equal to 49 films, that I bought for 90 cents each from one of the many dying Blockbusters in this country, I couldn’t decide which film to pick as the first installment. Would it be a film I had already seen in theaters? Would it be something brand new to me? Or would it be something I feared would make me sick to my stomach, not from being scary or gross but from the sheer audacity that it was made in the first place?

These films will be rated on a scale from 0 cents to 90 cents, considering that was the ultimate price I paid for it. 0 being a total waste up to 90 cents, showing that it was well worth the coinage. If for some reason a film surpasses even that mark, I’ll make up an even better grading.

I decided on this horribly rainy day to check out a film I had seen in theaters with my brother and my uncle last year. A film that was a remake of a classic flick from the 1970′s, a NYC favorite if you will. That film is The Taking of Pelham 123.

Actually, Travolta is quite badass in this.

I tend to love stories based in and about New York City. I can’t help it. I’ve lived here all my life (except for 2 years when I lived in Ohio… but I will not be speaking about The Drew Carey Show anytime soon) and can’t help but love the city that never sleeps and the stories that occur within these 5 boroughs. So whenever I see a film coming out that has an essence of NYC about it, I will most probably check it out.

And when I had heard about the remake of The Taking of Pelham 123, which is a beloved crime film starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, I kind of shook my head and asked “Why?” When I heard it was Tony Scott directing, I was intrigued but then was worried again when hearing about his The Warriors remake (you know, the one where it was going to be real gangs set in present day Los Angeles, therefore losing the fun and excitement of the original genre classic. Thankfully, this project seems dead in the water as of late).

Being that I first saw the original because of my uncle, who tends to introduce many great underrated flicks to my brother and I, he was dead set on taking us to go see it. So I saw it in theaters and was pleasantly surprised by the film. It’s not an end all, be all type of film, but it is a fun little crime flick where you like the characters within and have John Travolta chewing the scenery the way he knows best (and wiping those memories of chewing the scenery in such a horrible way like he did in Battlefield Earth).

But I digress. That was the initial viewing. Sometimes I sway for or against a film when it comes to the home video market. And picking this film up at Blockbuster, I checked it out once again and found it to be a nice ride, unlike a subway ride, to be honest. I enjoyed everyone that was in it. Denzel Washington is admirable in his role, where he doesn’t really have to do much but emote via a headset. John Travolta is always a treat as a villain, so it was good to see him relishing this fact and the sheer amount of f-bombs he unleashes is a wonderful thing. I still find it funny that he says bunghole, though.

Pug face Luis Guzman is in the film but doesn’t really do so much, to be honest. He does wear a bandage on his nose rather well. John Turturro is always good to see and I can’t help but smile whenever he is on the screen. And it really was James Gandolfini’s year and this film just shows why he is branching off into various other roles to differentiate his many years as Tony Soprano. Add this film with Where the Wild Things Are and In the Loop and see why I’m always ecstatic to see Gandolfini’s name amongst a cast listing now.

Tony Scott does his usual thing with his directing but not overblown like he has done before in films like Domino. He does rely a bit on some weird out of place slow-mo shots which kind of throw me off every time he used them and some of the music cues, especially the beginning use of 99 Problems a bit distracting, but other than those gripes, my eyes weren’t stressed out from watching the ensuing acts upon the celluloid.

The DVD is crammed full of extras too, which make it a fun little addition to any library as well. Especially all the behind the scenes stuff detailing the subway lines and how they work.

And speaking about the subway, seeing it in a different light is always a great thing. Especially since when you live here in NYC, you tend to hate the MTA and their lack of service sometimes. This gives an excuse for the method behind their madness. So I’m guessing every time a train is delayed, it’s because some crazy heist is going on.

Fair enough.

What is my score for this film? I think, to be honest, I’d give it 3 quarters and make it $.75 on the dot. It’s a fun film, nothing fancy, but a great villainous turn by Travolta definitely makes it worth a watch. I know it’s also streaming on Netflix right now, so there’s no excuse to not check it out. Unless you live under a rock.

Tune in next time when I pick another film at random and we’ll see if it will be well worth the price of admission or will be promptly sold online to get rid of the bad taste. Bye for now.