The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Directed by Joseph Sargent
In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers while the authorities question about the method of their escape.
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What critics compared The Taking of Pelham One Two Three to
Last year, he remade that classic 1974 heist flick, “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” to mixed results.
Spike Lee's The Inside Man puts a fresh spin on the heist/hostage thriller, while retaining enough of the cynical New York City attitude that made Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) so memorable.
Joseph Sargent’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three…
A pastiche of classic plot devices scrounged from The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Conversation, Blue Velvet, and dozens of other movies, the story often feels familiar, but director Anderson (The Machinist) has such a flair for suspense that even the most jaded viewers will find themselves in a sweat.
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Building the mood out of spare parts from westerns and cop movies from the 1970s (the charging score by Mark Mothersbaugh is a distant cousin to David Shire’s work on “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three”), the filmmaker maintains a steady pace of evasion, keeping Luke and Mei on the run as they figure out a master plan of survival, with the ex-cop firing up his protective instincts to ensure that his young charge remains unharmed and her mental parcel is handled with care.
It’s a bit like The Taking of Pelham One Two Three with added cannibalism on this journey from Seoul to Busan.
Quentin Tarantino established his movie-geek cred with his 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs, a thriller that copped classic moves from Hong Kong actioner City on Fire, noir classic The Killing and '70s heist flickThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
Filled with colorful characters and crackling dialogue — and always with another surprise up its sleeve — his exemplary adaptation (by Charade scribe Peter Stone) of John Godey’s novel inspired not only the naming of the central criminals in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs after colors but also led to that misguided and mediocre 2009 remake with Denzel Washington and John Travolta.