The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

A group of criminals highjack a subway train and demand $1 million from New York City. Transit cop, Lt. Garber tries to work the situation out, but it seems the gang have planned everything to the second and are running the show. Garber tries to get one step ahead of the gang.

Of course now everyone knows this film because of the supposed connection to Reservoir Dogs, in that the criminals are colour coded instead of names. However even without this cult reference this film deserves to be watched and enjoyed. The story exists on two levels. First we have the setup – it also acknowledges that it is the usual disaster movie setup….the majority of characters are listed in the credits as stereotypes instead of people (ie, `the pimp' `the junkie' etc). However this is not a weakness as the thriller story is solid enough to carry the film. It isn't all action but it's very tense and interesting. What really tops it off is the thick vein of humour that runs through it – mostly coming from Matthau.

Matthau shows how wonderful he is and how he manages to do well in so many different film styles. His world-weary act is great and his Brooklyn accent is pushed to the fore. Roberts Shaw is also good, but has less of a character and is working hard to sound English. The cast is actually deep in faces – we have an almost unrecognisable Elizondo, Woody Allen actor Tony Roberts, a fantastic Mayor from Wallace and Jerry Stiller (Ben's dad), who doesn't look much older today than he did then!

Overall this is very enjoyable, but it is made by Matthau. The thriller plot stands up well despite the lack of modern fireworks. A cult classic in the making.

A subway train is hijacked by armed gang, Mr. Blue's the boss, he has an English twang, there's also Grey and Brown and Green, in car one they all convene, uncoupling the rest, that leaves eighteen. A dialogue begins, with those up top, Lt. Garber is a New York transit cop, who's informed by Mr. Blue, of the ransom they pursue, one million dollars is the price for hostage swap.

Still a wonderful piece of filmmaking, Robert Shaw perfectly cast as Mr. Blue, the exchanges between him and Walter Matthau as Garber outstanding, all encompassed in a more than believable story that travels without interruption, all the way to the end of the line.

One of my favorite films from the seventies is The Taking of Pelham One, Two Three because it's so New York. Of course the film was shot entirely on location in The Big Apple including the interiors which helped greatly. But more than that, the characters have all the New York flavor about them with one exception.

The cat of course is led by Walter Matthau who plays a Transit Police Lieutenant. His character is a kind of combination of Archie Bunker and Detective Lennie Briscoe from Law and Order, in many ways not terribly admirable. He's also a transit cop and at that time the Transit Police were a separate entity. They were merged into the regular NYPD during the Giuliani administration.

There's no real glory in the Transit Police, these guys were mostly charged with dealing with drunks and kids with loud boom boxes. If a homicide ever occurred the NYPD quickly took it over as they would in most situations. But this ongoing crisis on a train on the Lexington Avenue Local occurs on his watch and it's career make or break case that Matthau is very aware of. And he proves fully capable during the crisis.

The crisis is four men, Robert Shaw, Earl Hindman, Hector Elizondo, and Martin Balsam mount a carefully planned assault on a subway train out of Pelham Bay station in the Bronx in mid-Manhattan and hold it and the passengers for ransom for a million dollars. The outsider to New York is Robert Shaw in one of his best roles, a former British army officer and mercenary. During the course of the robbery they kill a station supervisor played by roly poly Tom Pedi, one very quintessential New Yorker and their coldblooded villainy is established.

In fact the whole cast is a microcosm of the ethnic strains of New York City which makes the film so enjoyable, especially to one who lived there, the first 49 years of his life. Even the mayor is portrayed as a weak, fumbling nonentity and back then our mayor was one Abraham D. Beame who was just that, probably one of the worst mayors the city ever had. Tony Roberts has a very good role as the tough as nails Deputy Mayor concerned about both his boss's political career and resolving the crisis.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three once the hijack is done is suspense filled and doesn't let up for a moment. I can't give the ending away, but the final shot of Walter Matthau's face as the end title music starts and the credits begin to roll is priceless.

It is my belief that the finest era for films was the 1970's. Consider all the classics that were produced in that era (Godfather I and II, Patton, The Sting, Jaws, Mean Streets, The Exorcist, The French Connection, Star Wars etc). My belief was recently validated by Jodie Foster, who essentially said the same thing. One of the reasons why the films were great was that the directors were ostensibly in control of the films, rather than by a committee of the usual Hollywood "insiders" who think they know what people want to see, but rarely make the correct decisions.

I know that this film was re-made( for TV)--God knows why--but I'm sure if they attempted another film version Matt Damon would be playing the grizzled transit police cop (Matthau's role) and Jude Law would be playing the Robert Shaw role. That's another reason why the original and other films of the 70's were so great: the casting was more believable. Today Hollywood is so incredibly youth-obsessed that actors are completely miscast.

I am not stating that this is another 70's classic, but even this film is far superior to many of today's films. And yet, I'll bet you couldn't find "Pelham" in your local video store.

I love several things about this film. The first thing to hit you is that wonderful, funky score that in some parts sounds like controlled chaos. I love the script, which is not completely dark despite the underlying theme, as there are some very funny moments throughout the film: for instance, the chagrined look on Matthau's face when he discovers the Japanese visitors can speak English.

There are many examples of mistaken identity in this film: the supervisor who is gunned down is called "goombah", but he isn't Italian; Matthau thinks the black police captain is white over the radio; Matthau mistakes the long-haired undercover cop (who was shot on the train tracks) for a female. I also love the character who plays the mayor, who unbelievably bears a striking resemblance to Mayor Koch, who was elected 3 years later!!!! All in all a great action film, and one that will hold up for years.

Addendum: Well, they're doing it--they're re-making this film because Hollywood is almost completely bereft of new ideas (see "Josie and the Pussycats" "Bewitched" the upcoming "I Dream of Jeannie"). I half-expect they will remake "The Paper Chase" next with P.Diddy as Professor Kingsfield.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is one of those films plundered by movie magpie Quentin Tarantino, the director stealing the whole 'criminals with colours instead of names' idea for his debut Reservoir Dogs. It's easy to see why Pelham would appeal to QT: it's a gritty '70s thriller with a cool cult following, focusing on a group of violent ne'er-do-wells who carry out a daring hijack on a New York subway train. The dialogue is snappy, the cast is excellent, and David Shire's music is big, bold, brassy and badass.

Leading the hijackers is Robert Shaw, whose cold, calculating Mr. Blue is truly chilling; on the side of the law is Transit Police Lt. Zachary Garber, played by Walter Matthau, whose job it is to converse with the criminals whilst trying to figure out who they are and how they plan to make their escape. Much of the movie consists of exchanges of dialogue between the two men, but don't make the mistake of thinking this is a dull blab-fest: the tension runs high throughout, the race to deliver the ransom money against the clock being a particularly exciting highlight. And with one of the hijackers a dangerous loose cannon (Hector Elizondo's Mr. Grey, surely the inspiration for Michael Madsen's Mr. Blonde), the potential for the loss of innocent life is ever present.

A thrilling final act sees the train speeding out of control with the terrified passengers still on board, the gang having disembarked between stations. Meanwhile, Garber and his men tighten the net, and one-by-one the hijackers pay for their crime, with one death proving very shocking indeed. The fun continues right up to the final frame, an amusing ending that is nothing to be sneezed at.