Viewers could have seen a very different version of the already-different version of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” a new ABC movie and remake of the well-regarded 1974 action caper.
Starring Edward James Olmos (“Miami Vice,” “Stand By Me”) and Vincent D’Onofrio (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Men in Black”), it’s about four ruthless criminals who hijack a New York City subway car and demand a $5 million ransom to be delivered within an hour, or they will kill the 14 passengers.
Olmos is the Transit Authority police chief (the role played by Walter Matthau in the original) who negotiates with D’Onofrio, known as Mr. Blue, the leader of the crooks (played by Robert Shaw in “Pelham” ’74).
Although much of the storyline is retained, this “Pelham” differs significantly from its predecessor. While the `74 original was gritty and darkly funny at times, the ’98 model is edgy, laugh-free and moody, thanks to Felix Enriquez Alcala’s music video-like direction.
Both versions share a tense atmosphere, although the remake intensifies the terror with starker tones and lighting than the usual high-gloss TV movie.
While the original “Pelham” moves at a brisker, more carefree pace, the updated version creates and maintains its own level of intensity.
“Both Felix and I felt that we needed to execute the premise in a way that would hopefully stand on its own, and not be a limp repeat of the original,” says producer Karen Moore.
The movie, which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7, could have been even more different, if it were not for a last-minute casting change initiated by Olmos and D’Onofrio. Originally, Olmos was to play the leader of the hijackers, while D’Onofrio was to be the lead hostage negotiator. Moore says the actors decided “the night before” production was to begin in Toronto to make the swap.
“I took it great,” she says. “The network, I think, took a big gulp.”
D’Onofrio says the two “just felt it made more sense. The actors that they had hired for the crew to hijack the train were young. And it didn’t make sense that a guy of Edward’s age would be hiring these young people.”
The switch works. D’Onofrio is chilly as Mr. Blue, while Olmos exudes breezy confidence as police chief Anthony Prescotti.
Olmos’ wife, Lorraine Bracco of “GoodFellas,” plays Olmos’ ex-partner, a New York police hostage negotiator, in a role beefed up from the one played in the ’74 version by Jerry Stiller, George Costanza’s (Jason Alexander) surly dad in NBC’s “Seinfeld.” Lisa Vidal of ABC’s “High Incident” plays a subway conductor, a character that got little time in the original but is prominent here.
– Speaking of trains: It’s been 15 years since D’Onofrio appeared on television with parts in “The Equalizer” and “Miami Vice.” How does he celebrate his return to the tube? By working in his second project involving subway trains.
D’Onofrio, 38, played a man fatally wedged between the cars of a train on NBC’s “Homicide” earlier this season, in what is sure to be a strong candidate for an Emmy nomination.
“I don’t know how things happen,” he says. “I played five fishermen in my career too. I don’t know why. I hate fishing.”
The producers of “Homicide” sent D’Onofrio the script for the role, and he was intrigued because “it read like theater to me. And I said, how can you lose doing a piece of theater on television?”
The other reason for taking the job, D’Onofrio says, was Andre Braugher, whose Frank Pembleton character closely interacted with D’Onofrio’s.
“Andre Braugher is a hell of an actor to work with,” D’Onofrio says. “I knew him from films, and I always liked his acting. So I thought, `Oh, man, we’re going to be able to do a piece of theater here.’ “
D’Onofrio came to “Pelham” partly because it was a chance “to play a nice, little, pure villain. And I wanted to do it differently than the Shaw character. I certainly couldn’t do it better than him.”
D’Onofrio, a big fan of the original “Pelham,” made what was for him an unprecedented acting adjustment when playing Mr. Blue. He tried to make the villain seem appealing.
“In my experience over the years of watching films and villains, the ones that affected me the most were the ones that I was attracted to first. And once they had me attracted to them, and I followed them through the story . . . (when) they started doing awful things, it affected me more . . . because of their demeanor, because of the way they talked, because of the way they looked.”
– Where’s the remote: John Corbett, who struck out with Fox’s “The Visitor,” makes a quick return to sci-fi with “The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy,” a UPN movie Tuesday at 7 p.m. on WPWR-Ch. 50.
