I suppose any era when you make the transition from child to adult is a tough one, but the 1970s was when I did, and New York was where. It wasn't a pretty time, with headlines like "Ford To City: Drop Dead" and about Kitty Genovese. At times the City seemed in free fall, and every adult's job consisted of ducking your head, walking into the oncoming storm, and keeping things working until the end of your shift. After that, it was some other adult's problem.

That's why this movie is so good: it captures that moment in the City, when the cleaning was imperfect, adults expressed their frustration freely and profanely, and efforts by film crews to make sure there was no trash on the street when the cameras rolled were doomed to failure. All the men wear ties like they're nooses around their necks, and confronted with a gang of crooks which have taken over a subway train on New York Transit Police Lieutenant Walter Matthau's shift, he's the adult who has to deal with the problem. Joseph Sargent did such a good job, that it's been remade twice; each time, it's been a decent thriller, but little more, a dependable property. This version is the real deal.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is one of those films plundered by movie magpie Quentin Tarantino, the director stealing the whole 'criminals with colours instead of names' idea for his debut Reservoir Dogs. It's easy to see why Pelham would appeal to QT: it's a gritty '70s thriller with a cool cult following, focusing on a group of violent ne'er-do-wells who carry out a daring hijack on a New York subway train. The dialogue is snappy, the cast is excellent, and David Shire's music is big, bold, brassy and badass.

Leading the hijackers is Robert Shaw, whose cold, calculating Mr. Blue is truly chilling; on the side of the law is Transit Police Lt. Zachary Garber, played by Walter Matthau, whose job it is to converse with the criminals whilst trying to figure out who they are and how they plan to make their escape. Much of the movie consists of exchanges of dialogue between the two men, but don't make the mistake of thinking this is a dull blab-fest: the tension runs high throughout, the race to deliver the ransom money against the clock being a particularly exciting highlight. And with one of the hijackers a dangerous loose cannon (Hector Elizondo's Mr. Grey, surely the inspiration for Michael Madsen's Mr. Blonde),the potential for the loss of innocent life is ever present.

A thrilling final act sees the train speeding out of control with the terrified passengers still on board, the gang having disembarked between stations. Meanwhile, Garber and his men tighten the net, and one-by-one the hijackers pay for their crime, with one death proving very shocking indeed. The fun continues right up to the final frame, an amusing ending that is nothing to be sneezed at.

"The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" is a very good film. My only reservation is the language. Even compared to films made in recent years (with the possible exception of "Good Fellas" and "Snatch."),the language is very, very 'spicy'--with tons of G-D this and G-D that (IMDB will not allow me to actually write what they said). This may or may not be realistic for the characters....I dunno. But it certainly is NOT a film to watch with young kids, your mother or Father Jenkins!

The film has a very simple plot--four guys hijack a subway train and threaten to kill all the passengers unless they are paid $1,000,000. The problem is that these are VERY smart and ruthless criminals--and they are more than willing to kill passengers and they seem to have thought out all the details very, very well.

I appreciate how the mastermind (Robert Shaw) was portrayed and I like how he and his men weren't tripped up because of stupid mistakes. I also like how the man in charge of the case was portrayed--with Walter Matthau putting in a great performance as a man who is competent, smart and also a bit cynical and funny. And, in fact there were LOTS of wonderful performances by the ensemble cast. Well written (very intelligent, VERY tense and darkly funny) exciting and memorable--this is a great film to watch...without your kids!