MovieChat Forums > The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) Discussion > Great Movie until..........

Great Movie until..........

posted 15 years ago by bbonacci-1
31 replies | jump to latest

I was yelling at the screen when Denzel's character was let go by the bad guys and decided to go after them.
WHAT?
This guy is a normal family man who had to be shown how to use a gun. He knows the bad guys are capable of murdering people without flinching. He's home free now and NOTHING he does to go after them will make any differance in his life. Yes, you may want to believe that he is such a great person that he couldn't let them get away with it, but if he had gotten killed or hurt real bad, he would have really been letting his family down.

I guess we are supossed to suspend disbelief because we are so used to Denzel being the hero, but he was playing a REGULAR GUY.

Movie RUINED!

[–] thekino 15 years ago

Yeah, it makes absolutely no sense that this guy would risk his life for the sake of saving some money, when there are thousands of ably bodied POLICE officers going after the criminals. Although they were extremely incompetant.

[–] mattzavi 15 years ago

well they really had no choice. ryder would not talk to anybody unless it was garbon. and if they tried to, which they did, ryder would start killing people. terrorists DO NOT negotiate. even though ryder wasn't really a terrorist. but still. i mean this is my opinion i guess. but the way i see it is the police would never risk an innocent person's life like they did unless there was absolutely no other way possible.

[–] Champoo 15 years ago

i think they mean after that...like he delivered the money, they took a ride, got off at the first stop and set the thing on the accelerator, then they were walking down the track and Ryder said "cross now" and they all did except denzel...the bad guys said w/e lets just go and then instead of just leaving, he decided to be Bruce Willis from die hard

[–] censorshipsucks06 15 years ago

The only thing worse than this was the nauseating final still shot at the end. I thought I was going to throw my drink at the screen.

[–] Brick_Frog 15 years ago

there are plenty of average citizens who step up and become the hero. the world is full of them and you have to suspend your disbelief for a film? how about the people that do it in reality. also, how is this the problem with the film for you when it is so obviously mediocre to bad throughout?

bleepety bleep bleep bleep - amen

[–] psybok 15 years ago

Actually the reality is that Garber had to go after Ryder at the end, or there would have been not ending. Besides that, it was in the script!

I may not agree with your opinion, but I will defend to the death your right to disagree!

[–] ktfilms 15 years ago

People who do that in reality die by the bad guy. This movie was good until the ending. Why go after someone and risk your life for money? I guess he was not thinking of his wife and kids. Why would someone so smart take a cab to get away and then walk on the bridge to get away and then give up so easily? 5/10 stars

[–] Brick_Frog 15 years ago

"People who do that in reality die by the bad guy."

how old are you? you need to click your heels back into reality. you have obviously been deprived if you have never heard any hero stories. watch the news every weekday next week and you'll probably hear one. though i do agree that this movie wasn't good at all. gave it the same rating you did.

bleepety bleep bleep bleep - amen

[–] ktfilms 15 years ago

lol your funny. I watch the news all the time and I see news happen sometimes. News people think people are hero's for saving a dogs life or calling 911. That's not a hero. A hero is someone who risks their lives and is in immediate danger to save another ones life. Bad guys win mostly in real life, remember that.

[–] Brick_Frog 15 years ago

i do agree that being a hero compared to the bad guy winning is a small percentage but it does happen quite a bit around the world. there are many kinds of heroic attempts not all dealing with humans. but the thing here is in your previous post you were saying it never happens when in fact it happens. hell, how many times has a gas store clerk won the battle over someone trying to rob them...a lot.

bleepety bleep bleep bleep - amen

[–] sorrydave-imdb 15 years ago

You're SOMEWHAT right, but consider:
* The baddies had killed innocents and Garber's really close friend
* He HAD tried to call others on some phone which was (for some reason) not working
* He knows all the cops are still, at that point, thinking the hijackers are still on the speeding subway car (in fact, if they'd just offed Garber they'd have likely gotten away, as their escape route took them through a hotel lobby where lugging heavy, wheeled suitcases and hailing cabs are very common place activities).
* He'd essentially confessed to the bribery charges related to the Japanese car deal and, possibly, felt if he helped corral these guys and save the city $10 mil they might cut him some slack over $35K.

So, while it might not be the thing one of us would do in that situation, there IS some motivation and semi-logic behind it.

(All that being said: I agree with those who say it's nowhere near as good as the original)

[–] bothpartiessuck 12 years ago

Oh PULEEZ! Garber had a CELL PHONE on him.

All he had to do was PHONE NYPD with the Yellow Cab's # and/or license plate number, and WALAH! The NYPD could have stopped that cab in a heartbeat.

Instead, he chases it on foot through NYC streets (yeah, right!), steals some guy's truck at gunpoint (yeah, right AGAIN!), and then is in hot pursuit.

It was a STUPID subplot in an otherwise good movie.

[–] Tofutti_Klein 15 years ago

Agreed, bbonacci. I took as, though, he had something to prove, give his situation; however, there was no reason why he should have risked his life for it. They had to make him heroic in some way or another.

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

[–] torr59 15 years ago

I agree. what a stupid *beep* decision. Blew the whole movie. It would have made much more sense that Travolta got away and sent Garber money in prison. Ending sucked arse bad.

[–] TigersWood 15 years ago

... it started.

Mwuhahahahhaaa!

[–] cloudyski 15 years ago

I think the movie was ruined with the ending. They should have let the bad guy get away or come with a non-cliche. Something- anything- other than the commericalized happy cinderella fairytale.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] raven1066 15 years ago

Real heroes ARE regular people. That's the point.

"Time is the fire in which we burn"

[–] mrdazzo 15 years ago

I agree, but even more than that, I can't believe no one mentioned the fact that the psychotic terrorist knew who Garber was...

Yes, Garber was the only person on earth who knew where Ryder was going...he had to decide to either let them get away, or go after them. There is no "calling the police and letting them handling it" in this case, which I'm sure he would have done if he had a choice (and he eventually did). I don't find it unbelievable in the least that he would follow, since he knew he was the only one with eyes on the suspect.

But more than that, Ryder knew who Garber was... would you let a psychopathic terrorist with unlimited funds simply walk off into the sunset, knowing that he's borderline obsessed with you, and could easily find out where you wife and kids live?

It makes sense just for that reason alone, forget about morals and trying to provide justice for the dead.

I'm not really good with this farewell stuff so...that'll do pig." -- Tallahassee

[–] mariondriscoll23 15 years ago

I think what you lot are missing is the reason why Garber did what he did by going after Ryder. It wasn't for the money, his objective was clearly to redeem himself in the eyes of his wife, who in her loyalty was standing by him pending the investigation into corruption. Having been exposed by Ryder in front of his colleagues, he was only left with one choice...to be the hero and to take one for the team.

There was possibly a better ending, but I liked this largely down to the mammoth acting ability of Mr.Washington. Great performance. I probably would have cast Ryder differently.

[–] heyjohnny40-1 15 years ago

I think it comes down to the fact that it is a game between Ryder and Garver that has to be finished by garver.