The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Movie Review

Reposting some old reviews.

 

The first installment of our Robert Shaw marathon. After my last post my dad suggested we have one and since we watch Jaws on the 4th of July every year, I thought a marathon would be a nice lead in. I will be giving a brief review of each in the upcoming days.

 

This is a great concept film. A gang of men take a train car hostage and demand one million dollars from the city of New York. It’s simple but well executed and wonderfully cast. Walter Matthau is perfect as the cynical and biting Lt. Garber and Hector Elizondo does a great job playing the hotheaded and leering Mr. Grey. Even the supporting cast was given careful consideration, with Jerry Stiller as the smart-mouthed Rico Patrone and Lee Wallace as the sniveling, political driven Mayor of New York. However, it is Robert Shaw who yet again steals the film in his role as Mr. Blue (side note: I believe this may have been where Quentin Tarantino got the idea to name his characters after numbers in Reservoir Dogs). His character is cunning and ruthless and he plays it brilliantly. I think this is one of his less well-known roles but he does it justice.

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