Search - Taking of Pelham One Two Three on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1974 DVD Release: 02/29/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 4 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 26 Genres: Thriller, Action Thriller, Crime Thriller, Police Detective Film

On a quiet midday in New York, along the Lexington Avenue subway line, the train designated "Pelham One Two Three" -- so named for its station of origin and time of departure -- makes its way down the East Side of Manhattan. One by one, three men board the train, and at 28th Street, a fourth man approaches the motorman (James Broderick) and points a pistol at him, ordering him to unlock the door to his cab and admit the man waiting there; meanwhile, another man points a gun at the conductor and threatens to kill him unless he holds the doors open and then closes them when the man talking to the motorman is aboard. Once on board, "Mr. Blue" (Robert Shaw) and "Mr. Green" (Martin Balsam) halt the train between stations, while "Mr. Brown" (Earl Hindeman) and "Mr. Gray" (Hector Elizondo) seal off the lead car. With Mr. Green at the controls, the front car is separated and isolated in the tunnel with 17 passengers aboard, and then Mr. Blue presents their demands over the radio: one million dollars in cash, within one hour, or they will start shooting one passenger each minute. On the other end, Transit Police Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) must overcome his initial disbelief to deal with this threat, amid the confusion of a subway system that's chaotic even when it's running normally. With the mayor reluctantly aboard to pay the ransom, Garber must keep the hijackers from carrying out their threat while the money is transported, and keep the hotheads around him and on the police force under control -- and figure out how they intend to get away with a million dollars from inside a subway tunnel with police on all sides. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Walter Matthau - Lieutenant Garber
Robert Shaw - Blue
Martin Balsam - Green
Hector Elizondo - Grey
Earl Hindman - Brown
Thomas LaFleur - Older Son
Maria Landa - Spanish Woman
William Snickowski - Hippie/Plainclothes Policeman

This classic New York City subway-heist film suffers from a stripped down DVD release. Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw are both excellent in this hard-boiled, '70s cops-and-robbers drama that relies heavily on black humor. The film was ahead of its time in combining laughs with violence, and Quentin Tarantino was obviously watching. (Notice how the bad guys use color-coded aliases like Mr. Brown, which popped up in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs). Matthau's dry one-liners predate the sensitivity of the P.C. era and give the movie its edge. Presented here in theatrical widescreen, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three offers no extras other than its trailer, joining an annoying trend of bare-bones DVD releases. The package does include a liner note booklet with information about the production, focusing instead on the film's use of the NYC subway. This archaic feature easily could have been digitized and expanded; the fact that it was not displays the lack of creativity that marks this entire release. ~ Chris Lawrence, All Movie Guide