The Taking of Pelham 1:23: **** (A+)


Never heard of this movie until just recently. Glad I followed through on my friend's recommendation, cause this movie is top 100 material almost assuredly. I may even put it in my top 50. The movie is that good.

It's about 4 criminals who take a train car and its 18 civilians hostage for 1 million dollars. Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, Mr. Grey, and Mr. Green are their aliases (later borrowed by Tarantino for Reservoir Dogs). They ask for 1 million dollars in 1 hour or they will kill a hostage for each minute after the deadline.

A fantastic ending highlights an already fantastic movie going into that ending. The last 10 seconds may be a bit too corny for my tastes, but I prefer to remember the 20 minutes that came before it.

I may even like this movie more than Reservoir Dogs. Shockingly excellent.

Awesome Squee reccomendation.

Ill write more later, but ace movie.

This is a terrific, tight and funny thriller and it never missteps.

Peter Stone's screenplay is just bursting with smart, authentic dialogue. The bickering in the transit office, the casual racism and sexism, the riotous scenes with Tony Roberts (what a pleasant surprise to see him!).

And that ending...just brilliant. Squee's too hard on the last 10 seconds. I was giddy for at least a half hour after the movie ended. I even rewound the DVD to see final moments again.

I liked it. It's witty and entertaining. But I can't help but feel they could've done more with it. The plot goes in a totally conventional direction, and at no point are you unsure of where it'll end up; it never really seems to build to anything, and then it's over. The dialogue is sharp and crackling, but doesn't gets a chance to breathe; the radio conversations should've been a lot more. Shaw and Matthau are both unrelentingly dry, and the film needed a spark to play off them. The whole thing feels too slight.

Who was Tony Roberts, yosh?

Great movie, I wish they made more action movies like this, grounded in reality dealing with real people. Not every action movie has to have a national monuments being destroyed and about superheroes.

What a great movie! Very intense throughout even though it shows a step by step response to the crisis rather than just focusing on the hero and the villain like the remake. That's not an easy balance to achieve, especially for an old movie. Yet the pace never falters and the movie is never not thrilling.

9.5/10