Jay Dwivedi

From time to time I like thrillers and action movies, the kind that make you hold on to your seat and your heart pounds.  Unfortunately, this is not one of them.  Actually, despite some excellent acting by John Travolta (as the terrorist Ryder) and Denzel Washington (as the New York City MTA train dispatcher Walter Garber), the plot is rather weak and a lot of things simply do not add up.  We all know that cops and politicians are always portrayed as morons in films, but in this movie, that portrayal is not believable.

Ryder is a convicted crook who is upset for being sent to jail and decides to take revenge by hijacking a train and holding a bunch of commuters hostage.  Walter is the one who gets to talk to him first and they both develop a working relationship during the crisis hoping to get what they want from each other — Ryder wants to escape safely with the $10 million ransom while Walter wants the hostages released unharmed.  Not surprisingly, the criminals do not have a happy ending and are killed.  Not recommended.