Featured Products Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 [VHS]  enlarge Director: Joseph Sargent Actors: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, Earl Hindman Studio: MGM (Video & DVD) Category: Video Buy New: $9.98 as of 3/10/2010 01:47 MST details Qty In Stock New (3) Used (11) Collectible (4) from $5.49 Seller: Amazon.com Rating: 100 reviews Sales Rank: 10256 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) Rating: R (Restricted) Media: VHS Tape Number Of Items: 1 Running Time: 104 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 4.2 x 1.1 ISBN: 6304084315 UPC: 027616581433 EAN: 9786304084311 ASIN: 6304084315 Theatrical Release Date: 1975 Release Date: July 16, 1996 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Tell A Friend Add to Wishlist Add to Wedding Registry Add to Baby Registry Similar Items: The Laughing Policeman The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 Fort Apache, the Bronx The Seven-Ups Black Sunday Editorial Reviews: Amazon.com essential video Dog Day Afternoon. Annie Hall. Taxi Driver. In the pantheon of classic New York films, these three take pride of place. But there are, of course, others, some of which have fallen through the cracks over the years, criminally overlooked and unjustly relegated to commercial-riddled Saturday-afternoon TV broadcasts. Joseph Sargent's The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is just such a picture. This taut 1974 thriller about four armed men who highjack a New York City subway train and hold it and its passengers for ransom may be hopelessly dated (it's loaded with ethnic stereotypes, impossibly wide neckties, and bad hairdos--and there are no explosions!), but that's part of the fun. A gruffly sardonic Walter Matthau heads a fine cast that includes Jerry Stiller, Hector Elizondo, Martin Balsam, and a perfectly villainous pre-Jaws Robert Shaw. Think you'll find a better film that depicts a nearly broke city led by an inept mayor forced to deal with armed terrorists? Fuhgeddaboutit! --Steve Landau Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...20Next » Excellent Movie! Almost film noir...Corpus Christi Tx   February 23, 2010 Mummy I've been wanting to buy this movie for some time now. Good thing I waited. Found it at WalMart for five bucks this weekend. Good things come to those who wait! If you know nothing about the New York City subway, you will once you see The Taking of Phelam 123 (1974) version with Robert Shaw, Walter Matthau, Martin Balsam, and Hector Elizondo. And the language and the accents you hear is like being there! Lots of action and there's something about the movie that keeps you at the edge of your seat/sofa throughout, to the very end. Bless You! It's a good movie for your collection. Check it out... Captain Quint Halts the NYC Subway!   February 22, 2010 Ellen C. Maze (Montgomery, AL United States) I saw the remake with John Travolta first and enjoyed it immensely. So then I decided to check out the original. Off the top of my head, my first remark is that this is a good movie. Take into account the time it was shot and the technology afforded in those days, and you have a very suspenseful and chilling account of domestic terrorism. The bad guy played Cpt. Quint in JAWS so you know he can be scary! Walter Matthau played his role perfectly and I saw absolutely NONE of his other characters in this one. I guess I've only seen him play grumpy old men...but he was really believable in this movie as the Lt of the Transit Police. I was amazed at how closely the remake followed this original. It made it seem familiar to me, and I did not miss all of the computerized technology (that I loved in the Travolta version). It was cool to see how they ran the subways back then! Lastly, the subway system was full of employees who swear a lot. This is understandable, actually, but I naively thought there'd be less F-words because it was made in the 70s, but I was wrong. Oh well -- the language was appropriate for the situations! Enjoy the movie! Ellen C Maze, author Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider also on Kindle Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider A Brand New Mythos for the Vampire Tale! The Taking of Pelham 123   December 15, 2009 Jesse L. Brookman (Seattle, WA USA) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful This is a very good movie and story line. However the new release is better... Too Much Farce   December 12, 2009 John F. Rooney "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (1974), the original version, deals with a group of four homicidal cutthroats who have hijacked a subway train and taken hostages. They face as adversaries, the good guys, who are like a bunch of slapstick comics. Today we are more aware of the dangers of terrorism. Before the tragedy of Nine-Eleven New Yorkers were perceived as wisecrackers in the face of serious situations, a cliché that has now been abandoned. The criminal element is serious enough but the transit authorities, the ones on the other side of the law are played partly for laughs, and are farcical. The latest movie remake (2009) is very serious and intense, probing psychological motivations of the gang boss. This older version has some very hammy performances. The believability is in question at the movie's beginning when the chunky, blustery transit supervisor goes storming down the subway tunnel. With the casting (really miscasting) of Walter Mathau as the lead transit cop/negotiator, you're bound to get yuks, way too much broad humor. Matthau's assistant is Ben Stiller, so beware. The mayor is a clueless clown. Watch for small performances by Broadway regular actor Tony Roberts and James Broderick, Matthew's dad. The gang boss, Robert Shaw, uses the expertise of former motorman Martin Balsam. I think movie makers have learned to establish one mood and tone for thrillers and don't switch back and forth between the serious life or death drama and creaky, inappropriate burlesque. The conflict between Walter Mathau and the transit supervisor seems forced and nonsensical. The supervisor is unbelievably dense in the face of a hostage situation. It's just conflict for the sake of conflict. Even this movie has some very exciting sequences, and, of course, an exciting and fascinating premise. The time-element suspense (one hour to go) is handled well. The race to deliver the million dollar ransom is a real grabber. All in all, though, the 2009 version is a better movie, sharply focused and unified in tone. 5 stars for the movie, 2 for the DVD   November 18, 2009 Ryan Agadoni (Whittier, CA USA) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful Great little movie. Poor DVD. The story: New York subway car Pelham 123 is hijacked by four identically dressed and armed men lead by Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw). They hold seventeen hostages on the car and demand one million dollars within an hour or they will begin executing hostages. Lt. Garber (Walter Matthau) is the transit cop on duty who must handle the situation. Though the idea of hijacking a subway is unique, it's still a rather basic hook. The excellence lies in the execution. The story takes all kinds of interesting little turns. The movie drops you in right as the hijacking begins. No background about the planning or characters yet. As the movie progresses we are still only given hints and short glimpses into the characters' backgrounds. Why would anyone hijack a subway? It's underground, with limited exits. If these hijackers are so smart, how do they plan on getting away? This is the great mystery that we ponder with Garber. The characters are full of subtly textured details. Mr. Blue has a British accent and mentions a military background. Mr. Green (Martin Balsam) is conflicted and uncomfortable about the whole affair, and I wondered what his recruitment looked like. Mr. Grey appears to be a misanthropic loose cannon, and when Mr. Blue confesses (early on in the caper, I might add) to Mr. Green that he distrusts Grey, I was led again to wonder at the recruitment process, especially given Mr. Blue's penchant for strict planning and control. Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman) is mostly a mystery, but he has a stutter and possibly a professional history with Mr. Green. On the other side of the law we have Lt. Garber, who is introduced to us giving four Japanese visitors a boring tour of central transit control. Matthau plays Garber in his good old subdued Matthau way. I believed he genuinely cared about the situation and the passengers' lives, but he keeps his emotions pretty low-key (save for one scene where he finally explodes at an irate transit controller played by Dick O'Neill). I thought it was a good performance which played to Matthau's strengths and fit both his character and the tone of the movie. Two humorous scenes really highlighted the core of his character for me, but describing them would spoil a lot. They occur towards the end and involve Matthau's interactions with two of the hijackers separately. The large and colorful supporting cast is also quite fun. I won't name them all, but some highlights include a younger Jerry Stiller as Lt. Rico Patrone and Doris Roberts as the mayor's wife. The direction (by Joseph Sargent) and pacing are very well done, and it was refreshing to see such a story told without the sort of pounding musical cues, forced emotional conflicts and obvious story/character details that I'm expecting from the Tony Scott remake. The direction lets the viewer decide their reaction to the characters and story rather than being obviously manipulative. Movies are all about manipulation, of course, but Sargent keeps his choices subtle. The script allows some natural humor, but doesn't shy away from a few bits of dark violence that enforce the movie's intention to be a serious crime flick rather than light-hearted caper. Mr. Blue's last scene is particularly memorable and shocking. While I'm sure I'm the millionth person to discover this, I noticed that Tarantino took some inspiration from Pelham for Reservoir Dogs. In both films, the villains are codenamed for colors and all dress identically for the crime. I loved the costumes worn by the hijackers in Pelham. Each wears a drab coat, a mustache, glasses, and a hat. Combined with the nasty looking machine guns, the ensemble makes for quite a memorable image. (Speaking of the guns, they were S&W M76s, the same kind that Ledger carried as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Just a note for the gun nerds like me out there.) I heartily recommend a rental. This DVD is, unfortunately, non-anamorphic, so if you have a widescreen TV, be prepared for either a tiny picture or some fiddling and a slightly stretched picture. I had hoped that, with the release of the remake, we'd see a Blu-Ray release of the original like we did with The Day the Earth Stood Still. I'd even accept a new anamorphic DVD! Sadly, it looks like MGM has decided to continue punishing us with this cruddy old DVD for a great and little-seen movie. Showing reviews 1-5 of 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...20Next » Bestsellers in Toys & Games Buy With Confidence Secure Checkout by Amazon.com Your order is secure and backed by Amazon's A-to-Z Guarantee which guarantees your purchase, the condition of the item you buy, and its timely delivery.

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