Review of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) by Craig T — 10 Mar 2011
This is the best slice of life from New York City in the '70s, ever! As a kid riding the subway, my first exposure to this movie was the ominous, black and white billboard showing a subway train moving past the viewer with just one thing out of the ordinary: a man with a machine gun standing at the back door.
Jaded as I was by the crime rate in those days, that image freaked me out. Too young to see an R rated movie at the time (by today's standards it's a PG), I saw it when it came out on network TV, and WOW!!! This is a wonderful work of suspense that's totally character-driven, with Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw and all the rest giving outstanding performances.
But the main character is New York City, with all the supporting characters and bit players providing a beautiful, tragicomic tableau of NYC as it was in those days. Ten years later, after I'd moved to the Midwest, this was the film I watched when I was feeling wistful for the old days.
It brought it all back to me, and it still does. Five stars.
This review of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) was written by Craig T on 10 Mar 2011.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three has generally received very positive reviews.
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