In a summer movie season highlighted thus far by invigorating franchise revamps ("Star Trek"), comedies about wild drunken nights ("The Hangover") and an old, crotchety guy in a flying house ("Up"), it would be easy for a film with a silly title like "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" to get lost in the shuffle. But thanks to dependable Denzel Washington and an outrageous John Travolta, this style-over-substance, beat-the-clock thriller turns out to be a decent summer ride.

Based on the 1974 original starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, a thuggish-looking figure with a neck tattoo and Fu Manchu mustache named Ryder (Travolta) and his gun-wielding accomplices skillfully hijack the Pelham 1 2 3 subway train in present-day New York City. The incident falls in the lap of subway dispatcher Walter Garber (Washington), an overweight blue-collar guy who still wears his class ring and is prone to the occasional hot coffee spill. Garber finds himself overwhelmed by the circumstances when he learns that Ryder wants a $10 million ransom in one hour before he starts offing the train's passengers for every minute they're late. Gentlemen, start your clocks.

The story, which holds loosely to the 1973 novel the movie is based on, gets some adult flavor and humor thanks to Brian Helgeland's screenplay (there are about seven F-bombs dropped in the film's first minute) and a bit of adrenaline with director Tony Scott's ("Crimson Tide," "Man On Fire") highly caffeinated visual style. Altered film speeds, quick cuts, helicopter shots, Google-style maps and time updates complete with "Law and Order"-esque sound bursts are all thrown in to give "Pelham" a sense of movement, and it mostly works. Although there are a few needlessly inserted action scenes on the follow-the-money shots where things go horribly wrong, the most arresting parts of the film are the volleying between Washington and Travolta's characters.

Travolta is unabashedly over-the-top as Ryder. He's obviously having a blast as the villain, all wide-eyed, spewing profanity and the occasional "bunghole" through drastic mood swings. Travolta's off-the-handle take is the yin to Washington's yang, portraying Garber with an understated slow burn as the moral high ground begins to level through the two characters' revealing conversations.

There's at least a couple other actors who manage to steal the spotlight temporarily from the two leads. John Turturro is solid as hostage negotiator Camonetti, who quickly learns his skills aren't exactly fool-proof. But it's James Gandolfini who gets the biggest laughs as a lame-duck NYC mayor who is more image and financially conscious than leadership savvy.

The film's emphasis on the big and the loud masks any minimal message that could come from Garber and Ryder's strange relationship, which could be that nobody is truly 100 percent hero or villain. Everyone's hands are dirty. But it's instantly forgotten for the sake of entertainment. "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" is like the Pop Rocks thriller of the summer: Explosive fun that will quickly dissolve from your movie memory.