Rating of
3/4
I've always done my own killing.
filmfan09 - wrote on 04/22/09
Four ruthless terrorists take over a New York City subway train and hold the passengers aboard for ransom. They threaten to shoot one each minute until a one million dollar ransom is fully paid. A Transit Police Lieutenant has to keep the hijackers from carrying out their plan and keep the police force under control, while the money is transported. With all this going one also he tries to figure out how they intend to get away with a million dollars from inside a subway tunnel with police on all sides.
'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' stars Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Jerry Stiller, and Martin Balsam. All of them give flawless preformances. This movie will grab hold of you and will never let go. There enough suspense that will literally keep on the edge of your seat, wondering where the next plot twist will take you. The acting, the directing, and the fast paced cinematography of New York City in this film were all fantastic. Also you can easily see where Quentin Tarantino borrowed ideas from this neglected classic film to make Reservoir Dogs. 'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' is a great heist thriller and a brilliant piece of entertainment that is too-often overlooked.
To add with I just said, this is also one of the best crime/suspense films of the 1970s and deserves a much wider audience than it has. Hopfully the 2009 remake, directed by Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta will get people to see this movie. As much as I hate remakes, the 2009 version of this film has intrigued me somewhat. I am very interested in finding out how good it is compared to the orginal 1974 movie which was so creative and orignal for it's time. See the new one if you want to however,it goes without saying that you should see the 1974 version first!
