THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 with Jason Bailey!

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 with Jason Bailey!

From Die Hard On A Blank by Philip Gawthorne and Liam Billingham

March 4, 2026 · 1h 29m

About this episode

The episode discusses the 2009 remake of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 with guest Jason Bailey, exploring its themes and connections to the original film and Die Hard.

It’s DIE HARD on the New York subway! This week we welcome back special guest Jason Bailey (who completes his hat trick of appearances) to discuss THE TAKING OF PELHAM123 (2009)! When a ruthless thief who calls himself Ryder (John Travolta) takes over a New York city subway train and demands a $10 million ransom for the hostages, disgraced MTA official Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) finds himself in the middle of the crisis. Garber must now somehow attempt to negotiate his way through this high stakes situation, which soon becomes even more perilous and political when a suspicious NYPD hostage negotiator (John Turturro) and the slippery Mayor of New York (James Gandolfini) both get personally involved. As the body count rises and tensions increase, Garber finds himself drawn into a strange, almost symbiotic relationship with the unhinged hijacker…and ultimately has to go into the lion’s den to confront him personally.  While the bulk of this episode is focused on the 2009 Tony Scott remake, inevitably the guys talk extensively about the 1974 original (and even the 1998 TV movie version). Things are starting to come full circle now, as a seventies film that influenced the…

People in this episode

Hosts: Philip Gawthorne, Liam Billingham

Guest: Jason Bailey

Topics covered

  • film analysis
  • remakes
  • New York politics
  • hostage situations
  • acting performances

Keywords

  • THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123
  • Die Hard
  • remake
  • New York subway
  • hostage negotiation
  • politics
  • film review

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, Die Hard, THE TAKING OF PELHAM123, the 1974 original, the 1998 TV movie version, the 2009 Tony Scott remake

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