Rating: 
Summary: An unremarkable tale
Review: Pelham is a little difficult to pin down. It is part detective story, part action story and part drama. While I generally enjoyed it I can't think of anything positive that makes it stand out. On the negative side the film does give a bad rap to NYC transit workers since they all, excepting the lead character Lt. Garber (Walter Matthau), are portrayed either as buffoons or completely uncaring. It's worth a single viewing but probably won't become one of your favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Dated but Still a Treasure
Review: First of all, it is disappointing that there is nothing in the way of bonus features on this DVD. Yes, most of the stars are dead, but some commentary from Hector Elizondo, maybe? Or Jerry Stiller? Something...please!Anyway, I always loved this movie as a kid (and had never seen it unedited either, so was surprised at the amount of cussing for its time). Bought the DVD and put it in, hoping it would still entertain. And it does!!! The heist of hijacking the subway is a bit low-tech, and it's kinda funny to see all the good guys talking to each other through very unsophisticated equipment. Walter Matthau, as the Lt. Garber, the main good guy trying to thwart the hijackers, is constantly flipping switches while he talks to the hijackers, then turns them off to talk to the cops, then turns cops off to talk to Transit police, then off to talk to...well, you get the idea. But it's actually good that the movie is low tech. There are no pretenses of using sophisticated equipment (sophisticated for the '70s) that would now seem ridiculous or laughable. It's a fairly straightforward cat and mouse game, played well. The script is well written. There are lots of sly moments of humor, especially early on, when Matthau is giving a tour of the subways to a group of Japenese that he thinks don't speak English. Well, after insulting them left and right, it is revealed that they do understand after all. There are lots of bits peppered throughout. But it's pretty tense stuff, since the hijackers only give the authorities ONE HOUR to come up with ONE MILLION (yep, shades of Dr. Evil in Austin Powers). Apparently, ONE MILLION was an absolutely outrageous ransom to demand! The performances are solid. Matthau is fun to watch in a more "serious" role, where his usual mannerisms aren't really needed. It's not a great part, really, but he does it very well. Robert Shaw, one of my favorites, sort of set the standard for the calm, cool, collected hijacker type (think precursor to Alan Rickman in Die Hard). Martin Balsam was always good. And fun actors like Jerry Stiller, James Broderick and Kenneth McMillan have tiny parts and its fun to see them young. The direction is taut. I'm not sure it's an edge of your seat thriller anymore (we're so jaded) but I have no doubt it was in its day. And it's still a superior thriller, in my view, and stands up quite well on its own merits. But its fun that it's almost a "period thriller" now, with cracks about women police and other sexist remarks which weren't played for humor at the time. If you've never seen it, don't dismiss it because it's 30 years old. And if it's been a long time, check it out again. It holds up quite well!
Rating:
Summary: It Was Representative of New York in the 1970s
Review: For those viewers used to the big budget special effects and violence from today's movies, Pelham may seem a bit mild. But it was good stuff when it came out. So good, that the NYC Transit Authority was able to learn a lesson on how to prepare for train-jackings. The movie depicted the decadence of the Big Apple in the 1970s, from loudmouthed, incompetent transit officials who resembled the Three Stooges to a bumbling mayor who resembled Ed Koch. Even the main character, Walter Matthau, showed a crude side by referring to his Japanese guests as "monkeys". Surprisingly, the subway cars shown were graffiti-free. A tagged-up subway train would have been more appropriate. Even so, the plot is good, and viewers will be kept in suspense throughout the entire movie.
Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet Reunion With a Classic
Review: When it comes to DVDs, MGM is conspicuously stingy with its extra features. There are usually none besides the theatrical trailer in most MGM titles. That shouldn't take anything away from this movie, however. It was a classic, and well reproduced on DVD. But since it is sold in North America, it is inexcusable why MGM provided Spanish and French subtitles, but not English. (This is also the case for several of MGM's other titles.) MGM could have given its customers more value for their money by including more extra features like behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, etc. If it had, this DVD would have rated higher.
Rating:
Summary: Pelham 1 2 3: The Quintessential New York Movie
Review: New York often serves as the backdrop for films. There is something about the buildings, the people, the subways that stamp New York as unique. Love blossoms, criminals go wilding, a many hued population often meet, if for only a time, to impact on each other. This is the New York of THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE. In an age where ideological terrorism seems to be taking root here and overseas, it is refreshing to see that the bad guys can still be motivated by big bucks, and one million of them is nothing to sneeze at. One million dollars is the price that a band of hijackers demand to release no one special, just the dozen Typical New Yorkers (hookers, gray suits, super fly wanna bees, hysterical Latina mammas with unruly kids in tow, and of course, an undercover cop) who ride the subways every day.
There are many reasons why this film clicks as much now as when it was released in 1974, but the main reason is the growing interplay between the chief hijacker (Robert Shaw) and a tired, wisecracking Transit Cop (Walter Matthau). These two could not be more unlike. Shaw's hijacker is merciless, deadly, and does not believe in repeating orders or extending deadlines. Matthau's character radiates the fatigue that grinds down all railway police but still manages to dredge up from deep within the need to talk, even if only to wisecrack with cop buddies. In the film, they never meet until the very end, but they talk, and talk, and talk some more. In fact, their extended conversation reveals their respective probing natures. Shaw's is to see how far to give a microinch before executing a hostage. Matthau's is to gain some inner feeling for the man whose finger is on a trigger. And while all this one-on-one dialogue is going on, director Joseph Sargent reveals a biting, feisty New York peopled by a mayor who refuses to rule; a deputy mayor who refuses to let the mayor ignore a threat; and a cantankerous subway station supervisor who shouts, "Why can't these bastards hijack an airplane like everyone else?" Much of this many-sided interplay is truly funny. Not many hijack movies dare to use humor as a leavening agent to stir a cinematic pot that is kept boiling at a breakneck pace. If you ever wanted to know how a city could raise one million dollars on the fly, this movie shows how. There is not even one moment in the movie that does not ring true. The film's ending is an underplayed confrontation between hijacker chief and police chief. As Matthau tries to talk Shaw into surrendering, one can see a lifetime of criminal activity whirring in Shaw's mind as he weighs his options. Shaw's exit strategy comes as no surprise to a viewer whom Shaw has conditioned to mold by virtue of his own steely, unemotional resolve. And there is the more than comic ending. Not many movies end on a sneeze, which is a fitting, funny, and yet supremely terrifying ending to a train ride of a movie that took the audience from complacency to fear, finally stopping at relief that a rollercoaster ride hit a red light.
Rating:
Summary: Typical 70's ambience but a good action thriller at its core
Review: Taking of Pelham 123 is a good film, but too often I was taken out of the story by the jarring overly-loud poor 70's fusion score. Comedy actor Walter Matthau pleasingly settled down into his role of serious railway cop well-juxtaposed by Robert Shaw as the bright but brutal master thief.
I rate this film only 3/5 because it's just too typical of 70's films: predictable outcomes with only a few plot twists, jingo-junk soundtracks. Too bad so few films of that era hold up like Bonnie and Clyde, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Sting, Deliverance, The Hustler, Midnight Cowboy. If you like this genre and period, Pelham 123 is worth renting, at least first time around. Mild recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: PHENOMENAL!!!!!
Review: This has been my favorite movie of all time, for all time, since I was 11 in 1982, and had just recently rode my 1st NYC subway, until I was (and am) 31 in 2002. I have seen this movie 150++ times, still watch it several times per year, every year, and NEVER get bored!! Even my wife loves it. I own the Amazon-bought video, and a TV videotape of it from the 80s. The movie depicts NYC in the 70s, complete with 70s bad guys, 70s hair, 70s clothes, 70s cops, 70s stereotypes, etc. and has the beloved NYC subways of the 70s that we all want back! Its evil plot is just so far-fetched and so well-planned by the bad guys that they just might get away with it!!!!! Best train/action/suspense movie ever filmed. Robert Shaw was the all-time best bad guy in films. Period. His death in the late 70s stiffed us out of 25 more years of GREAT ACTING. See him at his bad-guy best in THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1,2,3 before he was "Quint", the drunk shark-hunting good guy, in JAWS. Pelham 1,2,3 should be put back in the theatres briefly, to initiate kids of today on GOOD movies, with GREAT actors.....because it's so incredibly done. The re-make on TV a couple years ago did this AWESOME film NO justice. (That's putting it kindly.) Matthau, Shaw, Elizondo (the hotel clerk in Pretty Woman), are GREAT! And check out Ben Stiller's then-YOUNG Dad Jerry Stiller, as Matthau's sidekick, Rico the 70's NYC Transit Cop!! Classic!! Best line: Boss (Matthau), when telling Lieutenant (Stiller) how to begin the impossible search for the bad guy who knew how to, and was driving, the the commandeered train, says comically: "well he didn't learn how to drive a subway train watching Sesame Street, so find out who he is, and find him today" and it just gets better and better from there. (Keep in mind nobody can drive a subway except someone who knows how to drive one, and Sesame Street was pretty much a brand new show at this time.) In November, 2000, my wife and I rode the Lexington Ave subway in NYC, 26 years after the movie was filmed, trying to find spots where the actors stood and where certain scenes happened. THAT's how great this film is. 26 years later it was still good enough that my train-hating wife went train snooping with me for scene locations. Buy it and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best 70s Crime Movies
Review: Dirty New York in the 1970s is fantastic in this movie. Great story, great characters, great suspense. There is quite a bit of dry humor sprinkled throughout the movie - perfect New York sarcasm in many cases. Walter Matthau is an unlikely but very believable hero. I wonder what he thought of this particular movie? Definitely a DVD for anybody's 70s Crime Movie collection.
Rating:
Summary: "I feel like I'm walking into the OK Corral"
Review: ... Colorful, realistic language, be advised, and a non stop film that will actually have you on the edge of your seat. This movie captures the city of New York like only a Woody film might, complete with the grit, the guts and the pace of the greatest city in the World. Walter Matthau and a great suppporting cast of New York actors bring the hijacking of a subway train to the realm of tonights news, and use a dialogue pulled right from the city streets "...They're underground...how they gonna to get away...." I wish I had it here in front of me so I could site all the fine performances and the excitement....one thing you'll take away from this film....."they only know what we tell them" buy it, you'll like it.......If you're a New Yorker, you'll love it....
Rating:
Summary: Talk about Genre Creating
Review: The Taking of Pelham 123, is the grandfather of all terrorism thrillers including such well know film series as Lethal Weapon, and Die Hard. Were it not for this film the genre would never have been born and we'd never have seen danny glover and mel gibson team up 4 times in about ten years. Any serious film buff who likes action movies should check this film out. Find out what movie gave birth to modern day blockbusters like speed and watch The Taking of Pelham 123
|
