| Money Train | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joseph Ruben |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Doug Richardson |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John W. Lindley |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Mark Mancina |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $68 million[1] |
| Box office | $77.2 million[1] |
Money Train is a 1995 Americanaction comedy film[2] directed byJoseph Ruben from the screenplay byDoug Richardson andDavid Loughery. It starsWesley Snipes,Woody Harrelson andJennifer Lopez, withRobert Blake andChris Cooper in supporting roles.
Foster brothers John and Charlie Robinson aretransit cops patrolling theNew York City Subway. On Christmas, they chase two muggers into a subway tunnel. Nearby trains are halted, but transit captain Donald Patterson allows themoney train – hauling subway revenue – to continue. One of the teenage muggers is gunned down and killed by transit cops guarding the money train, resulting in the brothers are furious at them, triggering a brawl between them and the brothers. Patterson blames John and Charlie for delaying the money train.
Charlie asks John for money to buy a Christmas present, but instead uses it to pay off gambling debts to mobster Mr. Brown, only to get even more into debt when Brown threatens to have his men throw Charlie off a building, until John intervenes. Revealing Charlie is $15,000 in debt, John at first decides to let them drop Charlie. Yet after a brief conversation with John, Mr. Brown accepts John’s promise to deliver the money in a few days.
John and Charlie both take a liking to Grace Santiago, an attractive newly assigned decoy transit officer. When a serial killer known as the Torch robs a token booth and sets it on fire, risking the killing of the booth attendant, John and Charlie rescue the attendant and put out the fire The Torch escapes and knocks out Grace.
John rejects Charlie’s plan to rob the money train to pay off his gambling debt. When the brothers and Grace are assigned to patrol the money train, Charlie discovers a grate in the train’s floor and a maintenance ladder leading to Central Park. A brawl breaks out between John and another officer, quickly involving the entire squad. Once again blaming the brothers for the brawl and accusing them of taking some of the money, Patterson continues to berate them even after realizing a collection agent miscounted and there is no money missing.
Charlie tells John the best time to rob the money train would be New Year's Eve, due to less security and the year’s highest proceeds: up to $4,000,000 that night.
John gives Charlie $15,000 to pay back Mr. Brown, but while on the train, Charlie is pickpocketed by an old lady and then beaten by Brown’s men as punishment for non-payment. John is visited by Grace, having both realized their mutual attraction to each other, and the two have sex. On his way home, Charlie stops by John’s apartment. He is saddened to spot Grace and John sleeping together, and Charlie walks away. John feels remorse for hurting Charlie, as well as disappointment in Charlie's losing the $15,000.
In asting operation to apprehend Torch, Grace is disguised as a token booth attendant. Realizing the trap, Torch distracts police by pushing 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 open fire. John pursues the killer into another station, where they fight. Torch is burned by his gasoline and killed by an approaching train. Patterson fires Charlie for ruining the ambush. When John defends his brother to Patterson, John is fired as well, leading to the brothers having a falling out.
Later that night at abar, Charlie is further assaulted by Mr. Brown and his men. Brown threatens to murder John if the $15,000 debt is not paid to him by New Year's Day.
On New Year's Eve, John storms into Mr. Brown’sstrip club, after hearing about Charlie and defeats the mobsters using hisKung Fu skills, threatening Brown if anything happens to Charlie, knocking him out with a360-degree kick into a glass enclosure.
Grace persuades John to intervene in Charlie’s robbery. Charlie enters the money train from beneath, throws out the driver and drives it to the ladder, but is unable to escape with the money due to the presence of a group ofNYPD Mounted cops.
Reaching the train, John persuades Charlie to drive farther to avoid arrest. The brothers disable the brakes to prevent Patterson activating them remotely. Patterson deploys a steel barricade, but John and Charlie accidentally increase the train's maximum speed and smash through the barricade.
Transit control officer Kowalski declares the money train a runaway and starts clearing tracks, but Patterson diverts the train onto a track occupied by a passenger train, the 1220 bound forConey Island, to prevent its riders' escape, but does not tell the driver about the money train.
When Charlie tries to steal the money, John attempts to stop him from doing so, leading to a brawl between the brothers. Eventually, the two stop fighting when Charlie saves John from falling off the train. The money train slams into the rear of the passenger train and slows down, but speeds up again, continuing to ram the passenger train with increasing the risk of derailing both trains and killing everyone on board, including the driver.
With no brakes and the throttle jammed, the brothers decide to throw the money train into reverse to save the passenger train. Charlie positions an iron bar to trip the reverse lever, and the brothers climb on top of the train. The money train rams into 1220 again, activating the reverse lever, putting it into reverse position. The brothers jump across to the 1220 train as the money train derails, to the horror of the onlooking Patterson, who is waiting at the next station with the his officers.
When arriving at the subway station, the brothers try to escape but are spotted by Patterson, who interrogates them. Fed up with his abuse, they both punch him in the face after he spits in John's face.
As Patterson shouts out for their arrest, he is arrested himself by Grace for endangering the passengers’ lives, much to the brothers amazement. The brothers then exit onto Times Square just as the New Year countdown begins and ends, ringing in1996. During the celebration, John realizes Charlie has a bag with over $500,000, much to his dismay. The film closes with the brothers walking off into the distance arguing over the money while the credits roll.
Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson had appeared together in the 1992 hitWhite Men Can't Jump. They were both paid $5.5 million to star inMoney Train.[3]
The subway car used as the money train in the film is a modifiedR21 subway car.[4] The rolling stock was modified by theMetropolitan 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 theNew 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.[4]
Four additional R30s were used for filming on New York City Subway property, including for the crash between the money train and the 1220 Coney Island. These four cars were 8463, 8510, 8558, and 8569.[4]
The actualmoney train resembled a normal maintenance train painted yellow with black diagonal stripes. The New York City subway system retired its money trains in 2006, as the introduction of theMetroCard and computerized vending machines that allowed fare payment by credit card have dramatically reduced the number of coins stored in subway stations. Two money train cars were later sent to the New York Transit Museum.
The original music score byMark 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 byJohn Van Tongeren. The movie also includes a cover of the 1966 song 'The Train Is Coming' byKen Boothe, sung by Boothe andShaggy, sung over the end credits, which was released as a single at the time of the movie's release.
The film took in $35.4 million at theNorth American box office, including $10.6 million on its opening weekend.[5] In 2005,USA Today characterized it as a "bomb".[6]
Rotten Tomatoes, areview aggregator, reports that 22% of 32 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4.3/10. The site's consensus states: "Loud, incoherent, and aimless,Money Train reunites Snipes and Harrelson -- and proves that starring duos are far from immune to the law of diminishing returns."[7] Brian Lowry ofVariety wrote that it "bounces along with a lame script and inconsistent pace".[8]Stephen Holden ofThe New York Times wrote, "More viscerally charged thanSpeed and hipper thanDie Hard With a Vengeance, the movie is a careening, screeching joyride that showers sparks like fireworks."[9]Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Examiner called it "a cut above the usual"buddy cop film due to the stars' chemistry and its well-crafted action scenes.[10]Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times described it as "a by-the-numbers action-buddy picture" that is "an acceptable if undemanding venture".[11]Ken Tucker ofEntertainment Weekly rated it D+ and called it "a big, noisy headache of a movie."[12] Hal Hinson ofThe Washington Post called it a feeble and clichéd buddy film.[13]Filmink said the film "exemplifies bloated dumb '90s action. J Lo is good though."[14]
In addition to its poor reviews, the film was vilified for its portrayal of "The Torch" robbing aticket booth by running a rubber tube around the bulletproof partition and dousing the attendant with a flammable liquid, then threatening to set them on fire. Seven similar crimes were repeated in real life during the film's release, although police did not conclude that the crimes were related. Nevertheless, many people, including presidential candidateBob Dole, called for a boycott of the film.[15][16] In response to the controversy of the character he portrayed, Chris Cooper admitted that he regretted participating in this film.[17][18]
