Can a Taxi Man Make a Subway Movie?

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  06.17.09 | 11:04 AM ET

Photo by Diego Cupolo via Flickr (Creative Commons)

There’s a surprising tidbit in the Slate review of “The Taking of Pelham 123,” the Denzel/Travolta-starring remake of a ’70s subway-thriller classic. Turns out, director Tony Scott never actually rides the New York subway. Or, almost never: “Well, when I say never, I mean maybe once or twice quite drunk at night, when I couldn’t find a taxi.” Right.

You know that saying about writing what you know? Well, I think the same could apply to directing intensely place-based films. Slate’s John Swansburg says it all: “For a movie ostensibly set in the city’s bowels, [Scott] frequently contrives to take his camera on helicopter rides.”

Tags: Movies, Shameless Self-Promotion, Train Travel, North America, United States, New York, New York City, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for Can a Taxi Man Make a Subway Movie?

Sophia Dembling 06.17.09 | 12:39 PM ET

I just watched the original on TV the other night. I love that movie—it’s the grimy, desperate, wonderful NYC of my childhood. Great cast, too.

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