The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

 

DIRECTED BY-:
Joseph Sargent
STARRING-:
Robert Shaw
Walter Matthau
Martin Balsam
YEAR OF RELEASE-:
1974
PREMISE-:
Four armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

THE NEGATIVES:

• The hijackers’ final plan relies on the police not having a clue that one of the hijackers is a motorman and can override the dead man’t switch. Considering this, it was highly stupid of them to reveal to Doyle (the conductor) that Mr. Green is a motorman. Even after they revealed that to him, they shouldn’t have let the conductor go free as he could inform the police that one of the hijackers is a motorman. 

• Why did the hijackers even NEED Doyle to walk the people in the left behind car back to the station? What strategic purpose did that serve?

• The film makes it seem like Garber deduces that one of the hijackers is a motorman simply because they were able to separate the two cars. But wasn’t the original motorman also on board at that time? What should have clued him in was Danny, the original motorman, TELLING the police that there is a Mr. green who apparently is a motorman.

• Garber shouldn’t have dismissed his fellow police officer’s theory that the hijackers might jump off the train, especially since he was at least SUSPICIOUS (even though he shouldn’t be just suspicious, he should be sure because Danny would've presumably told him) that there is a motorman on board. So, just for insurance, he should’ve put at least one police officer on all emergency points WAY before he’s actually shown to do so.

• The undercover police officer CONVENIENTLY gets a clear shot at Mr.Brown.

• There was absolutely no reason for Mr.Blue to go back and engage in a shootout with the undercover police officer, especially when he COULDN’T have known that there was only ONE officer shooting. He could’ve just escaped through the emergency exit which was only a few meters away from him. We’re given absolutely no reason to justify why this supposedly smart character made such a stupid decision.

• Garber CONVENIENTLY arrives at one of the emergency exits JUST AFTER Mr. Green escapes but also conveniently JUST BEFORE Mr. Blue can. 

• It was very stupid of Mr. Green to return to his house after escaping. He should've anticipated that the police would come knocking, especially since he’s a disgruntled former motorman.

• Mr. Green CONVENIENTLY sneezes JUST BEFORE Garber leaves. 

THE POSITIVES:

• The performances by everyone in the cast was good.

• The film had many moments of satirical humor which mostly worked for me, with the final shot of the film undoubtedly being the funniest joke of the movie.

• Good Pacing: Thanks to its tight editing, crisp dialogues and to-the-point screenplay, the film never felt dull or uninteresting.

• The use of music to increase tension was done effectively.

• The cinematography was also very proficient; everything from the claustrophobic nature of the train compartment and the subway to the vast cityscapes of New York were captured efficiently.

• Although the characters weren’t particularly complex, they were given sufficient clashing characteristics that helped maintain the tension throughout the film and made it very entertaining to watch.

RATING-: 5/10