Money Train

Money Train

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joseph Ruben
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by Doug Richardson
Starring
Music by Mark Mancina
Cinematography John Lindley
Edited by
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • November 22, 1995 (1995-11-22)
Running time
 110 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $68 million[1]
Box office $77.2 million[1]

Money Train is a 1995 American action film starring Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson and Jennifer Lopez as New York City transit cops and Robert Blake as their iron-fisted boss. After losing his job, Harrelson's character plots to hijack and then rob the "money train" which hauls collected fare revenues for the New York City Subway from the system's stations.

Plot

On Christmas, we meet foster brothers John and Charlie. They work as transit cops patrolling the New York City subway. When a mugging occurs, John and Charlie chase the mugger into a subway tunnel, and all trains traveling in their direction are halted. But their harsh transit captain Donald Patterson, allows the money train to continue. John and Charlie avoid getting hit by the train; however, when transit police at the next station witness the mugger running toward the money train, they shoot him dead. The mugger is revealed to be a young teenage boy, which triggers a brawl between John, Charlie, and the other transit officers. Patterson blames the two for causing his money train to arrive late.

Charlie asks John to borrow $300 to buy a Christmas present, but Charlie instead uses the money to pay off some of his gambling debts to the sleazy night club owner Mr. Brown. Brown intends to have Charlie killed by throwing him off a building, but John bursts in and interrupts, telling Brown that he has the money Charlie owes him. Brown reveals to John that Charlie is $15,000 in debt, so John offers to have the money delivered in a few days. Brown accepts and lets Charlie live.

During their night shift, John and Charlie are introduced to Grace Santiago, a decoy transit officer newly assigned to their unit. Both brothers immediately take a liking to her. During their patrol, a serial killer known as the Torch robs a token booth and sets it on fire. John and Charlie rescue the booth worker and put out the fire, but the Torch manages to escape.

At a local bar, Charlie reveals a plan to rob the money train in order to pay off their debts, but John, judging the caper impossible, rejects the idea. Later that night, the two brothers and Grace are assigned to patrol the money train. As Charlie discovers a grate in the floor and a ladder leading to Central Park, a brawl breaks out between John and another officer, quickly involving the entire squad. Patterson again blames the two for the incident and also accuses them of taking some train money, but even after it is found that a collection agent miscounted, Patterson continues to insult them. At the bar, Charlie tells John that the best time to rob the money train would be on New Year's Eve because of looser subway security and because the subway makes the most money on that date: up to $500,000. The plan involves entering the train through the metal grate when the train has stopped, driving it to the maintenance ladder, and escaping into Central Park. John remains reluctant to attempt the theft.

John gives Charlie the $15,000 he needs to pay back Mr. Brown, but on the train, Charlie loses it to a thief. He goes to Brown to explain but is brutally beaten by his men. When Charlie comes back home, he looks at John's house from his window and he sees Grace and John sleeping together. Charlie later tells John that he's happy for him, but he's clearly saddened by Grace's rejection.

To nab Torch, an ambush is arranged for which Grace is disguised as an attendant at a station token booth. Torch notices this and, to distract the police, pushes a man in front of a moving train, killing him. Torch sprays gasoline on Grace, but before he can light it, Charlie alerts the other officers, who shoot at Torch. John pursues him into another station, where they fight. Torch is burned by the gasoline he's carrying and pushed under a moving train, killing him. Patterson fires Charlie for ruining the ambush, and when John tries to defend Charlie, he's fired as well.

John then heads to the strip club of the mobsters who beat up his brother and were threatening him for failing to pay up his gambling debts and, after storming inside, beats them all up utilizing his Kung-Fu skills,including knocking down the criminal boss of the organization, Brown, with a 360-degree kick.

Charlie decides to go ahead with his robbery plan. John is reluctant to do anything about this, but Grace persuades him to save Charlie from trouble. When the money train stops at one of the stations, Charlie enters the train from beneath and drives it to the maintenance ladder, but he can't escape with the money due to the presence of a group of policemen. Meanwhile, John reaches the train and persuades Charlie to drive further to prevent their arrest. Knowing that Patterson will direct his team to trip the train's brakes, the duo bleeds the brakes. Patterson then orders a steel barricade erected to stop the train, but John increases the speed of the money train to its maximum so that it smashes through the barricade. Transit control officer Kowalski declares the money train a runaway and starts clearing tracks, but Patterson diverts the money train onto a track occupied by a passenger train to keep it from having a clear path, putting innocent people at grave risk. The money train rams into the passenger train and then slows down, but speeds up again because it's in full throttle and rams the train again. It repeatedly keeps ramming the passenger train with the increasing risk of derailing it and killing everyone on board.

Since the money train now had no braking power and the throttle lever is jammed at full power, the brothers decide to throw it into reverse, derailing it and killing both of them but allowing the passengers to live. Charlie comes up with an idea and positions an iron bar in such a way that when the money train rams the other train once more, the bar trips the reverse lever. Both of them climb on top of the train and proceed to the front. When the trains collide one more time, the reverse lever is activated and both brothers jump across to the other train as the money train derails tumbles around several times knocking over several support beams (much to the horror of Patterson who witnesses the whole crash) before finally screeching to a stop on its side just before the station.

The brothers try to escape during the commotion but are spotted by Patterson. They pretend to have come to help him, but Patterson rudely insults them. Fed up with his constant abuse, the brothers punch him in the face. As he shouts out to his team to arrest them for assault, Grace comes rushing in and arrests Patterson for endangering the lives of the people on the passenger train. When the two brothers exit the station, they are in Times Square as the countdown for the New Year begins. During the celebration, John realizes Charlie is carrying a money bag containing over $500,000, much to his dismay. The film ends with John and Charlie walking into the distance arguing over the money.

Cast

Production

Former R21 car rebuilt for use in the film. After production, the car was donated to the New York Transit Museum.

The subway car used as the money train in the film is a modified R21 subway car.[2] The rolling stock was modified by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and film crew into an imposing subway train covered in silver armor plating and equipped with flashing orange lights and sliding barred doors, like those on a jail cell. After production, the car was donated to the New York Transit Museum, and is currently stored at the Coney Island Complex as of February 2010. Other cars were used as props in the movie.[2]

Four additional R30s were used for filming on New York City Subway property. These four cars were 8463, 8510, 8558, and 8569.[2]

The actual money train resembled a normal maintenance train painted yellow with black diagonal stripes. The New York City subway system retired its money trains in 2006; the introduction of the MetroCard and computerized vending machines that allowed fare payment by credit card have dramatically reduced the number of coins stored in subway stations.

Release

The film took in $35.4 million at the North American box office, including $10.6 million on its opening weekend.[3] In 2005, USA Today characterized it as a "bomb".[4]

The original music score by Mark Mancina was released in March 2011 by La-La Land Records as a limited edition of 3000 copies. The album features approximately 41 minutes of music across 17 tracks. Additional music was composed by John Van Tongeren.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 22% of 32 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4.3/10.[5] Brian Lowry of Variety wrote that it "bounces along with a lame script and inconsistent pace".[6] Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote, "More viscerally charged than Speed and hipper than Die Hard With a Vengeance, the movie is a careening, screeching joyride that showers sparks like fireworks."[7] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Examiner called it "a cut above the usual" buddy cop film due to the stars' chemistry and its well-crafted action scenes.[8] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as "a by-the-numbers action-buddy picture" that is "an acceptable if undemanding venture".[9] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly rated it D+ and called it "a big, noisy headache of a movie."[10] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called it a feeble and clichéd buddy film.[11]

In addition to its poor reviews, the film was vilified for its portrayal of a man robbing a ticket booth by running a rubber tube around the bulletproof partition and dousing the attendant with an unknown flammable liquid, then threatening to set them on fire. This crime was repeated in real life after the film's release, although police did not think the similar crime was related to the film. Nevertheless, many people, including Bob Dole, called for a boycott of the film.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Money Train - Box Office Data". The Numbers. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Other_Passenger_Cars_Converted_to_Work_Service
  3. ↑ "Money Train (1995)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  4. ↑ Ut, Nick (2005-03-17). "Newly acquitted Robert Blake seeks work". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  5. ↑ "Money Train (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  6. ↑ Lowry, Brian (1995-11-19). "Review: 'Money Train'". Variety. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  7. ↑ Holden, Stephen (1995-11-22). "Money Train (1995)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  8. ↑ LaSalle, Mick (1995-11-22). "Buddies Board `Money Train' / Snipes, Harrelson as subway cops". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  9. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (1995-11-22). "MOVIE REVIEW : Action and Rapport Keep 'Money Train' on Track". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  10. ↑ Tucker, Ken (1995-12-01). "Money Train (1995)". Entertainment Weekly (303). Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  11. ↑ Hinson, Hal (1995-11-22). "'Money Train' (R)". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  12. ↑ Holloway, Lynette (December 16, 1995). "Token Booth Fire Attack Seems Unrelated To Movie". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  13. ↑ Vandam, Jeff (2006). "Cash and Carry". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
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