The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

In a remake of the 1974 thriller, Denzel Washington plays the dispatcher in charge when John Travolta hijacks a subway train, demanding $10 million in an hour. Tony Scott’s direction can be distracting, but the performances are top-notch.

d: Tony Scott | imdb.com | trailer | Hostage | First one to go

Get Shorty (1995)

Director Barry Sonnenfeld’s smart, hip adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel zooms along, lampooning the movie business with periodic punches to the face. John Travolta is the ultra-cool Chili Palmer, a Miami mobster who wants to be a Hollywood producer.

d: Barry Sonnenfeld | imdb.com | trailer | I’m Ray Barboni.

Urban Cowboy (1980)

John Travolta rounds out his dance trilogy (“Saturday Night Fever,” “Grease”) with a two-step at Gilley’s, a real-life country bar with Charlie Daniels and a mechanical bull, which Travolta rides right out of his volatile marriage to sexy Debra Winger.

d: James Bridges | imdb.com | trailer | You wanna get married?
Bud and Sissy get married. | Sissy rides the bull. | Swallow his pride.