The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Robert Shaw is great in this tensely presented heist thriller with a difference. Allied with Martin Balsam's "Green", Hector Elizondo as "Grey" and Earl Hindman's "Brown" they meticulously hijack a subway train and hold the city to ransom for $1 million. It falls to grizzled transit cop "Garber" (Walter Matthau) to try and second-guess their plans before they start killing one passenger per minute! What adds suspence to this mystery is their potential escape route? Stuck in well mapped and monitored tunnels fifty food beneath street level, how are they planning on getting their loot to Cuba? Joesph Sargent gets loads from an established cast of players here who develop the sense of peril and excitement well - especially the master of less-is-more that is Robert Shaw. It's good to see Matthau demonstrate he's not just about whacky comedy and as the plot reaches it's duplicitous, nerve-wracking denouement with even some space for a delicious irony at the end. The photography captures well the dark and claustrophobically dingy subterranean environment as well as the increasingly frenetic command centre where "Garber" is being wound up by track manager "Correll" (Dick O'Neill) whilst facing increasingly pressure from the hapless mayor (Lee Wallace). Pay them or have your electorate slaughtered? What would you do...?

I was not aware that the movie with Travolta and Washington was a remake of this movie and it was there for a pleasant surprise to watch this one. It is clearly a product of its time and the pacing is something you would expect out of a movie from the 70s. It is however really well thought out and I understand completely how the remake could be as good as it was given the heritage it was working with. Apart from it being a product of its time it is a really good movie but if you are sensitive to the pacing of the 70s then of course this is not the action movie for you.