The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
When Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, and Earl Hindman board the Pelham 123 train, no one thinks anything of it. They don’t appear to know each other, and they keep to themselves – until they don’t. Robert is the ringleader, staging a kidnapping and hostage with demands for one million dollars in exactly one hour or they’ll start killing the passengers. Walter Matthau is the police lieutenant in charge of negotiations, and with New York traffic, unavailable politicians, slow manpower at the bank, and other obstacles, he struggles to buy time to save lives.
Though a fun diversion for the evening, this movie has been remade twice, and this one definitely has the flavor of the 1970s. Also, I didn’t care for the screenplay. In particular, the scenes with Mayor Lee Wallace and Lieutenant Walter Matthau felt glib and unrealistic – as though screenwriter Peter Stone thought, “People will think this sounds so cool!” In a realistic situation, the people involved on the other side of the hostage negotiations would never be so cavalier. Matthau would not step away from the phone for a smoke break, needing to be summoned when the kidnapper is ready to talk again. Wallace would not trade witty barbs about his political career when first confronted with the news of the crisis.
However, if you like disaster movies with a train setting, like The Incident or Unstoppable, you can check it out. It’s definitely entertaining, as long as you can get past the slick screenplay. And if you can pretend someone besides Walter Matthau is the lead, like Glenn Ford or Paul Newman. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see Walter as either the “hero cop” type or the fellow someone would turn to in a crisis.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "ASA Movie Craze" for posting!
More Martin Balsam movies here!
Though a fun diversion for the evening, this movie has been remade twice, and this one definitely has the flavor of the 1970s. Also, I didn’t care for the screenplay. In particular, the scenes with Mayor Lee Wallace and Lieutenant Walter Matthau felt glib and unrealistic – as though screenwriter Peter Stone thought, “People will think this sounds so cool!” In a realistic situation, the people involved on the other side of the hostage negotiations would never be so cavalier. Matthau would not step away from the phone for a smoke break, needing to be summoned when the kidnapper is ready to talk again. Wallace would not trade witty barbs about his political career when first confronted with the news of the crisis.
However, if you like disaster movies with a train setting, like The Incident or Unstoppable, you can check it out. It’s definitely entertaining, as long as you can get past the slick screenplay. And if you can pretend someone besides Walter Matthau is the lead, like Glenn Ford or Paul Newman. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see Walter as either the “hero cop” type or the fellow someone would turn to in a crisis.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "ASA Movie Craze" for posting!
More Martin Balsam movies here!