The quality of John Travolta?s output can usually be attributed to the amount of facial hair he attaches around his dialogue hole.
Face/Off was ace/clean shaven; Swordfish was fairly good with his little happy trail and Battlefield Earth was a cesspool of sci-fi gobbledygook and ZZ Top beards. So with his German porno moustache, you know The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 isn't going to be an easy ride.
Similarly, you can usually tell the quality of recent Denzel Washington productions by which Scott brother is directing him (in this case the rubbish one). So, Tony Scott remakes the 70?s heist thriller, set on a train with Travolta going all batshit at every available opportunity, while Washington throws his gut around in the face of adversity.