Okay, first the good things. Robert Shaw was good as the main hijacker. Walter Matthau was fairly good as the subway cop who was frustrated by everything (including, I'd guess, the plot). Photography was good. I liked the musical score. Now the bad things. SPOILERS AHEAD. The whole plot boils down to this: bad guys hijack a subway car filled with riders who become hostages, and demand one million dollars or they will murder the hostages. That's it. That's the plot. And it just does not work. I knew from the very beginning that the hostages would never be murdered. I knew from the start that the hijackers would not get away with it -- either they would wind up dead or arrested, or they'd lose the money. That was the entire basis of the "suspense." So for me, there was no suspense. This made the entire remainder of the movie an exercise in futility. I can hear the director and producers saying, "How many different complications can we stick in this movie to keep the audience worried? Let's have the hijackers demand a million dollars in an impossibly short period of time, so that it's obvious it won't be delivered and all the hostages will be killed. Let's have the mayor sick and weak and stupid and unable to make a simple decision, unable to decide to pay the ransom and save the lives of innocent hostages. Let's make the main hijacker (Robert Shaw) really really smart, but so stupid that he makes one impossible demand after another, despite the fact that what he supposedly wants is the million bucks. When the cops finally try to deliver the ransom, let's put every conceivable roadblock in their way, literally, to make it appear that they will never reach the subway on time. Meanwhile, let's inject a lot of absurd "comic relief," like maybe having some Japanese people visit and be treated in a racist manner. When the hijackers finally leave the subway car with their money, let's not end the movie there, let's have the subway car become a runaway car, so now the audience has to worry about whether they will all be killed when the car crashes. Let's not end it there, either -- let's have a shootout at the subway corral, and then the hero (Walter Matthau) can get the drop on the bad guy (Robert Shaw). No, wait, what if the bad guy refuses to give up, and instead electrocutes himself on the notorious third rail? Wow! No, wait, let's not end it yet -- what if one hijacker is still at large, the one who sneezes all the time, and Walter Matthau tracks him down and thinks he's innocent until he sneezes? Bottom line, I can't believe I'm in such a tiny minority here, I can't believe people were entertained by this stuff. One of the most irritating, unbelievable, and annoying "thrillers" I've ever seen.

Being a life long (straphanger) New York metro terminology for subway rider, I was drawn to this subway story of ransom,murder and the chain of events that lead up to the a subway ride for the ages.Four crooks plan to take a New York City subway train. Each wears a colored hat and bears the same name i.e. green hat, Mr. Green. One of the crooks is a New York City Motorman/Conductor Harold Longman AKA Mr. Green (Martin Balsam) who is the essential player in this ransom heist because of his knowledge of the Subway cars and system guidelines. Armed and motivated Mr. Green ousts the regular motorman well known actor James Broderick who would star on the hit TV show Family a few years later.The other colored hated rogues are played by popular TV Icon Earl Hindman(Mr. Brown)who found success on the hit TV show Home Improvement starring Tim Allen. You remember Earl who played the neighbor of reason Wilson only showing half his face behind a picket fence. That leads us to this strange connection of actors as our other partner swindler Mr. Grey is played by Hector Elizondo. Elizondo also co-stars with Tim Allen on the hit TV Show Last Man Standing. The star racketeer in all this is English Actor Robert Shaw Famous for his work in Jaws and Henry The VIII . AKA Mr.Blue the brains, the plotter, making the calls all the way as he demands one million dollars in cash within one hour or he'll shoot each passenger on a separate detached subway car each minute the authorities from the transit system are late. Enter Police Lt. Zack Garber (Walter Matthau) with his dead pan demeanor and wisecracking way of speaking to his co-workers. Matthau is a natural here. Not shouting or losing his cool but via a radio is the negotiator between ring leader Blue and the NYPD. The lives of the seventeen innocent passengers on that lone subway car are at stake. Nail biting action throughout with funny lines thrown in to relieve the tension. A race to the finish but this movie doesn't end with a bang. An anachronism of sorts as the Mayor is portrayed by Lee Wallace who bears a striking resemblance to former Mayor Ed Koch but during the film Abe Beame was mayor. Koch was elected four years later. Uncanny! Honorable mention to Jerry Stiller as Lt Rico Patrone. I particularly enjoyed the negotiating between Matthau and Shaw which was riveting as well as entertaining. Gesundheit!

Dear George Carlin,in one of your shows you spoke about how New York is the toughest city in America and if a hurricane ever came to New York it would show the hurricane its middle finger.Well, The Taking of Pelham 123 is the quintessential New York film I guess. It is about the people who run the city's subway system and how they handle a hostage situation. The film is full of badass characters who don't blink an eyelid even when they learn that a train has been hijacked. John Godey and Peter Stone deserve special mention for writing some really clever, funny and politically incorrect dialog. The dialog really helped in emphasizing the city's tough third world culture that you spoke about, George. The dialog really made this movie. The action mostly takes place inside the train and the offices of the people who run the system.Walter Matthau is effortlessly cool as an efficient detective. The scene where he takes the visiting Japanese officials around was very funny.A terrific rip roaring score by David Shire is perfect for the film's tough characters but it is underused.Best Regards, Pimpin.(8/10)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is directed by Joseph Sargent, is based on the novel by John Godey, has music by David Shire and stars Robert Shaw, Walter Matthau, Martin Balsam, Earl Hindman, Hector Elizondo, Julius Harris and Lee Wallace.This is one of the best thrillers of the 1970's a film filled with suspense, action, tension and a great deal of humour too.Four heavily armed men(Robert Shaw, Hector Elizondo, Martin Balsam and Earl Hindman)hijack a New York subway train and hold the passengers hostage. The leader of the group Mr Blue(Robert Shaw)contacts the Transit Police and demands payment of one million dollars cash. There is a deadline when the money has to be delivered by or Blue and his men will kill hostages until it's delivered.The Transit Police officer who ends up speaking to Mr Blue over the train radio is Lt. Zachary Garber(Walter Matthau). Garber tries desperately to get the deadline extended knowing that it is not going to be easy persuading the Mayor's office to decide to let them have the money, let alone deliver it to the subway on time. Garber also tries to figure out what nobody else is asking, how do the gang intend to escape the subway if they get the money? An added complication arises when the Garber learns that a Police officer is on the train, Garber doesn't know if it's a man or a woman and worries what will happen if they try and take on the hijackers.Given the subject matter it's a surprise to hear quite a bit of funny dialogue in this. The cast are all superb with Matthau proving he could be a fine dramatic actor as well as a brilliant comic. Shaw is chilling as Mr Blue but is never monstrous, unlike Hector Elizondo as the crazy Mr Grey, who can't wait to start shooting hostages. Martin Balsam is excellent as Mr Green who is responsible for driving for the train, he is suffering from a cold which he will end up wishing he had gotten rid of long before taking on this job. Earl Hindman is also very good as Mr Brown.Lee Wallace is hysterical as the Mayor who is also suffering from a bad cold and must decide whether to allow the payment of the ransom or not. James Bond fans will enjoy seeing Julius Harris in this as a Police Inspector. This is a really good thriller and is there any chance that the gangs colour cover names were an inspiration to Quentin Tarantino when he made Reservoir Dogs?