Past its prime?

I was in the mood for a classic, so I watched:

The Taking of Pelham OneTwo Three (1974).

Four heavily armed men, Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw), Mr. Green (Martin Balsam), Mr. Grey (Hector Elizondo and Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman) hijack a New York subway train and demand one million dollars in one hour, otherwise they execute one hostage per minute. Against them are Transit Authority Police Lieutenant Garber (Walter Matthau) and basically every cop in New York City.

This movie was adapted from the bestselling novel of the same name by Morton Freegood writing under the name John Godey. The name Pelham One Two Three means that the train left the Pelham station at 1.23 pm.

Apparently this movie is a huge classic, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 98% and a 7.6 on IMDB. It is counted as one of “those” movies that are always rated extremely highly, and I don't get it.

Don't get me wrong. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a fine movie. The actors are excellent, the story is good and the cinematography works. Apparently filming was a nightmare due to the dust, the noise and the ever present threat of being electrocuted by the third rail. Yes, the power to the third rail was turned off, but no one wanted to trust that it was really turned off... The crew looked like coal miners at the end of each day. Serious film making in other words.

The problem is, at least for me, that the movie doesn't give you a chance to care about the victims. Sure, they are innocent, but the movie spends more time getting to know the hijackers, than anyone else. We also spend a lot of time with the rail managers and the Transit Authority police. If the movie was right then being a loud, angry and cantankerous man was essential for running a subway. There is a lot of angry yelling in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, but I didn't care about the hostages one bit.

I guess that the movie was groundbreaking in '74, and there have been so many movies since that a lot of the magic has dissipated. I had a good time, sure, but I was also glad when the movie was over. I read famous critic Roger Ebert's review and the way he talked about The Taking of Pelham One Two Three makes me think my view is correct. It was a golden movie then, but it isn't now. Most of the surprises were pretty obvious, and the story was predictable enough once the film got going.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, I guess so. As I said, there isn't really anything majorly wrong with The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, but like Bullitt (1968) the magic was there for those who saw it back in the day. It is absolutely worth watching, and I'm glad I did, just temper your expectations accordingly.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!