The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is exactly the sort of movie people are talking about when they say, “They don’t make movies like that anymore.” It is a brilliantly crafted thriller made on a relatively small budget. It is full of wonderful character actors, all of whom get a chance to shine in their own way, but none who truly steal the show. It has a great score, a wonderful script, and a specificity about its location and time frame which is rare in a film these days.
Buy The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) Blu-rayThe 1970s were full of disaster movies – Planes were being hijacked, or falling into the ocean, or crashing into mountains; cruise ships were turning upside down; high rises were turning into infernos; and there were earthquakes and volcanoes and hurricanes to contend with. So it isn’t surprising that they eventually got to a disaster on a subway car. That they decided to make that disaster a hijacking is a bit surprising because, well, where can they go? Subways are underground, on tracks, and diligently monitored. The police can easily surround them, etc., and so forth. The film understands this is a ludicrous idea. Several characters even talk about it, but it still manages to find a clever solution to it.
More clever still is that it makes you forget to think about it too hard. You are too busy being entertained by the clever dialogue and the wonderful, and wonderfully specific, performances to be bothered by the silliness of the plot.
A group of four men led by Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw) (they all have color names something Quentin Tarantino would later rip off in Reservoir Dogs) hijack a New York City subway train. They immediately detach the front car from the rest of it and drive it in between stations to make it harder to reach. Then they demand $1 million to be delivered in one hour or they’ll start killing passengers one per minute.
The film mostly concentrates on the conversations between Mr. Blue and Transit Police Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau), but it gives plenty of small scenes to the other hijackers, the hostages on the train, police officers, various transit workers, and even the mayor of New York City.
What I love about this film is how specifically a New York movie it is. Not just a New York movie but a New York movie in the 1970s. Modern blockbusters are so perfectly bland in this regard. Because they are so concerned with the international market they make everything generic. Movies with specificity don’t sell so well in China. Or something. But this is unashamedly a New York movie.
The guy in charge of getting the trains to and fro on time constantly complains to Garber about how he’s backing up the whole system. When Garber reminds him that he’s trying to save the lives of 18 people, he replies, “Screw the goddamn passengers! What the hell did they expect for their lousy 35 cents – to live forever?” The hostages constantly backtalk the hijackers, complaining that they’ve got places to be or asking them questions like how much money they are getting. The mayor complains about his constituency; when he arrives on the scene, the crowd boos him. Everybody has an opinion and everybody expresses it in as loud a way as possible.
The script is full of clever dialogue and good jokes, but it maintains a good level of tension as well. The hijackers mean it when they say they will kill anyone if they don’t obey their orders. Robert Shaw is terrific as their leader. But the film belongs to Walter Matthau. I grew up knowing Matthau from the silly comedies he did in the later part of his career, films like Grumpy Old Men and Dennis the Menace, but I’ve come to love the series of thrillers he did in the 1970s and early 1980s. He isn’t a typical leading man, but he has a chameleon’s touch and an ability to make himself seem like an everyday man.
I love this movie. It is so freaking entertaining from start to finish. It isn’t high art. There aren’t a lot of deep meaningful things to ponder. It’s just a good story told exceptionally well. And it has one of the all-time great freeze-frames before the credits roll.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics presents The Taking of Pelham One Two Three with a 4K scan of the original 35 mm negative. It is a master that was previously released as a 4K UHD in 2022. I still looks terrific. All that gritty New York in the 1970s feel is alive and present.
Extras include:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
- Audio Commentary by Actor/Filmmaker Pat Healy and Film Programmer/Historian Jim Healy
- The Making of Pelham One Two Three: Vintage Featurette from the Point of View of New York City Transit Policeman, Carmine Foresta, who appears in the Film as a Train Expediter
- 12 Minutes with Mr. Grey: Interview with Actor Hector Elizondo
- Cutting on Aaction: Interview with Editor Gerald B. Greenberg
- The Sound of the City: Interview with Composer David Shire
- Trailers from Hell with Josh Olson
- Image and Poster Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spot
- 2 Radio Spots
- 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Lossless Audio
- Optional English Subtitles
