The Taking of Pelham One Two Three1974
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Breezy, thrilling, and quite funny, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three sees Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw pitted against each other in effortlessly high form.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Lieutenant Garber
as Blue
as Green
as Grey
as Brown
as Denny Doyle
as Correll
as The Mayor
as Coed #1
as Caz Dolowicz
as Coed #2
as Mrs. Jenkins
as Mr. Mattson
as Marino
as Lt. Rico Patrone
as Patrolman James
as Dispatcher
as Plumber
as Police Commissioner
as T.A. Chairman
as Borough Commander
as Ptl. Miskowsky
as Mayor's Wife
as Inspector Daniels
as Ptl. O'Keefe
as Ptl. Ricci
as The Maid
as Muscat
as Mother
as Mr. Tomashita
as Homosexual
as Secretary
as Mr. Yashimura
as Man on Platform
as Delivery Boy
as Salesman
as Police Sergeant
as Hooker
as Train Expediter
as Old Man
as Stunt Driver
as Stunt Driver
as Older Son
as Spanish Woman
as Stunt Driver
as Stunt Driver
as Alcoholic
as Pimp
as Hippie/Plainclothes Policeman
as Budy Carmondy
as Mayor's Nurse
as Warren LaSalle
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Critic Reviews for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
All Critics (38) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (0) | DVD (5)
The large, well-characterized cast is ably headed by Walter Matthau, whose wonderfully weary sense of irony is perfect.
Taps into viewers' paranoia over a decrepit, vulnerable infrastructure and then provides bitter laughs and a harrowing catharsis.
What's good about Pelham's example of the form is that the performances are allowed enough leeway so that we care about the people not the plot mechanics. And what could have been formula trash turns out to be fairly classy trash, after all.
The original version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three was made 35 years ago, yet it retains a quality of cool that will remain long after people have forgotten the current version.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a good action caper about a subway car heist under the streets of Manhattan.
Superior exercise in urban paranoia; the superb location work of director Joseph Sargent goes a long way toward tempering the artificialities of the plot.
Audience Reviews for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
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Super Reviewer
Excuse me, do you people still execute in this state?
For me personally, the best Robert Shaw performance ever. No one scarier than Mr. Blue, I kid you not. He asks this of Matthau right before he . . . Don't want to give it away. It's an electrifying scene.
As if his work in The Laughing Policeman just the year before was a tune-up, Matthau appears again as the dogged cop dutifully dealing with the bad guys. This is for me, his most memorable dramatic role. He and Shaw, as adversaries, give a performance for the ages. I miss them both.
Super Reviewer
A ruthless gang with colour coded pseudonyms (sound familiar?!) and automatic weapons hijack a New York subway train in this hugely entertaining heist movie. Walter Matthau is at his sardonic best as the transport cop in charge of the situation, with Robert Shaw as the coldblooded mercenary heading the hijackers who include Hector Elizondo as the obligatory psychotic loose cannon ("they threw him out of the mafia"!) It concentrates more on the dialogue and characters to build tension than fireworks including some great behind the scenes banter as the mix of trademark New Yorker foul-mouthed ill temper, pragmatism and sarcasm come into effect when dealing with the situation, all set to a cool Schifrin-esque soundtrack. One of the best thrillers of the 1970s.
Super Reviewer
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