In an era where a group of people in grave danger sold tickets The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is small scale compared to stuff like The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, and Airport. The film is practically a real time film about a group of hijackers led by Mr. Blue (the intense Robert Shaw) that take over the New York subway train out of Pelham as 1:23 PM. The hijackers begin a dialogue with transit authority Lt. Garber (Walter Matthau) where they reveal their demands: one million dollars in cash delivered in one hour or they start killing a hostage a minute. The film becomes a race against time to get one step ahead of the hijackers AND to get the money to the train in such a short time period.Since this film is real time it lends to the thrill of watching everything unfold before us on the screen. It's a confined space throughout the film as we see race after race to save as many hostages as possible. Director Joseph Sargent keeps the action flowing without overwhelming us with too much too fast. The cast is excellent, making you feel like you're watching a bunch of well seasoned New York public servants going through the intense two hours that afternoon. Martin Balsam's role as a fellow hijacker is a surprising turn for the actor and he gives us a great performance that is almost as memorable as Shaw's psychotic Blue.
I guess we could call this a disaster picture. It's just a scaled down version and comparing it to the larger films of the day this one is more thrilling, better acted, and more believable than the others. A great film that combines the disaster genre with the 1970's New York films that everyone enjoys. A classic cops and robbers flick.
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