MovieChat Forums > The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) Discussion > The webcam - it went nowhere in the plot

The webcam - it went nowhere in the plot

posted 14 years ago by pegasusgiraffe
14 replies | jump to latest

It was exceedingly obvious when the young "80s skateboard guy" was web-chatting with his girlfriend on his laptop (a horribly unrealistic idea to begin with), that the webcam would be used to look in on the hostage situation. However, this plot element went nowhere! After the live stream was established & broadcast on the news, it was pretty much forgotten and didn't factor into the plot whatsoever. Except to allow the whole of NYC to witness Ryder murdering the 'tough-looking black guy'. Furthermore, because Ryder was monitoring news coverage, he would've seen that they were being spied on. When that bald guy finally discovers it, the damn thing runs out of battery power! And then, conveniently, the boy gets enough power back to profess his love to his girlfriend...

Stupid, obvious macguffin, cheap writing, and lazy execution.

[–] Tess-tastic 14 years ago

I don't think it DID run out of battery, I think the girl switched it off when she saw the bald guy looking at her.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 5 years ago

it clearly showed battery at 0% at one point. then it worked later with no recharge.

[–] billewart 14 years ago

Pegasus, I think you might have the concept of "macguffin" wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macguffin

"The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are (at least initially) willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is."

All the characters were fighting for the webcam? Read ten seconds before using a term you don't know the meaning of.

[–] Rocky63215 14 years ago

It wasn't forgotten if you were paying attention the mayor was watching the feed as it was being broadcast. Ryder was monitoring one news cast only and he was checking the stock market, so he'd probably never come across it.

Also, the feed could have been seen by police because they didn't want Ryder and his crew to know that they had eyes in the train.

The bad guy discovered the computer and the battery looks like it is dead, but all she could have done is turned the camera off, hence the 0 percent.

[–] joepizza 14 years ago

I think the computer was there just to show the viewers an example of what complete bags of useless douche americans are getting to be.......HER boyfriend almost died, he MAY die again, and this twat is SO EFFIN INTO WHAT HER NEEDS ARE AND HOW IMPORTANT SHE IS AND HOW THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND HER that she was ticked he didn't say i love you back.........and also the snatch couldn' figure out why he couldn't say it..........but before you think the selfishness and stupidity ends with little miss white trash, remember ONE THING, one UNBELIEVABLE THING..............this dumb bas tard looked death in the eye and still managed to think that he "*beep* in" loved her!!!!! Can you IMAGINE how stupid their kids will be????

[–] Rocky63215 14 years ago

Lay off the drugs.

[–] zanetheinsane 14 years ago

The webcam let the staff identify Ramos, whose identity they used to track down Ryder.

Of course knowing Ryder's true identity went absolutely nowhere and didn't change the outcome of the movie at all, so your point still stands.

[–] DeAd_MiKe_187 14 years ago

I'm not even sure why the webcam was needed for that. The snipers had their scopes on Ramos and Ryder well before they were identified. Wouldn't/Shouldn't/Couldn't they have taken pictures or something?

[–] jtf1986 9 years ago

Well identifying Ryder did make Garber personally chasing after Ryder unnecessary.

[–] littlejackiemercer 14 years ago

if they didn't have the webcam they would never have known what the two guys who were watching over the hostages looked liked and they would have walked away with the money in the end instead of having the police surround them as they walked away from the roosevelt

[–] clouseau-4 14 years ago

Actually that's one thing that I liked about the movie.

How many times have we seen a webcam, hidden cellphone, etc., used as the way the good guys are "saved" by communicating with the outside.

The movie set us up to expect that the webcam would be used to turn one of the passengers into a hero; instead it goes nowhere and the hero is actually the disgraced bureaucrat.

It's spelled Raymond Luxury Yacht, but it's pronounced 'Throat-Warbler Mangrove'

[–] jerzeybastard 14 years ago

Who cares...the movie was average at best.

[–] saeulcher 8 years ago

My point exactly !

I'm addicted to the original version and just watched the new movie last night for the first time... (Travolta; YAWN)

Tiny ~new~ additions like the micro-cam did, however, make me wonder if the situation would end up different.

IE: There wasn't any 'rolling on the bed w/ the money' ending, as in the better/original version.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

What book has the definition of 'Dictionary' ?

[–] ATG6 (3000) 5 years ago

yeah, the cops didn't really use it like they should have. wow, they ID'd one of the gang -- they already knew they buddies with Ramos from prison