The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Hey, this one's pretty good! For a 70s action flick, that is. I wasn't expecting much because of its age, even though I'd heard good things about it. It's an interesting mix of action, suspense, racial politics and funky Shaft-like music. Walter Matthau is the good guy, Robert Shaw is the bad guy, and they battle it out over the stealing of a NYC subway train. Actually, there's little action to speak of, but the tone of the film makes up for it. Action films nowadays are almost always over-the-top, guaranteed to make your blood pressure rise and increase your level of stress. I almost felt relaxed watching this film. Especially interesting is how they handle racial issues. I laughed hard at Matthau's scripted reaction to discovering the police chief is black. Important to note: several directors and actors have used elements of this film in their own creations. One, the mayor's reaction to the price tag set by the kidnappers makes you smile, and I'll bet it made Mike Myers smile as well. And, the naming of the criminals was lifted wholesale from this film for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Are there other elements of the film that you see being used as references nowadays?

year: 1974
length: 104 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072251/combined