By Todd Garbarini
The
quintessential and politically incorrect New York movie The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) has arrived on
Blu-ray from MGM. Adapted from John Godey’s novel
of the same name and brilliantly directed by Joseph Sargent with loads of
smile-inducing and laugh-out-loud humor, The
Taking of Pelham One Two Three concerns four heavily armed men, all sporting
moustaches and machine guns, and named after colors to mask their identities
(this idea was lifted by Quentin Tarantino and used to great effect in his 1992
film Reservoir Dogs), who commandeer
a train from the New York City subway system and hold eighteen passengers
hostage. They demand one million dollars
in cash for their release – a mere pittance in today’s money. Robert Shaw shines as the lead baddy and heads
the superb cast which also features Martin Balsam as a confederate, Walter
Matthau as the police lieutenant who negotiates with Shaw, Hector Elizondo who is
virtually unrecognizable as the monkey-in-the-wrench who causes problems for Shaw
with his own sense of bravado; and Kenneth MacMillian as the Borough Commander. Among the film’s highlights are Matthau’s off-handed
and embarrassing treatment of the representatives of the Tokyo Metropolitan
Subway System who are visiting; Tom Pedi’s role as Caz Dalowicz whose no-B.S.
approach to the hijackers results in a shootout in the tunnel; Lieutenant Rico
Patrone (Jerry Stiller) who reads the newspaper and is bothered that he is
being “interrupted†by the Japanese reps touring the facility; Lee Wallace’s
turn as the Mayor (he’s a near dead ringer for Mayor Ed Koch who became the New
York Mayor four years after the film’s release) and his inefficacy in dealing
with the situation at hand, including his deputy mayor, played well played by
Tony Roberts; Robert Weil as a transit worker (he’s a character actor who
appeared in dozens of great New York films) and the film’s priceless ending. Film composer David Shire, who wrote
excellent music for Francis Ford Coppola’s The
Conversation (1974) and Martin Ritt’s Norma
Rae (1979), provides a spectacular score that one cannot help humming long after the film is over.
The Taking of
Pelham One Two Three is
a terrific balancing act of high suspense and tension and outright hilarity,
something that few films are ever able to achieve. (One notable exception is
Bob Clark’s 1974 thriller Black Christmas,
which manages the same feat). What the
film captures perfectly is the sense the people working in New York City have
about themselves and their jobs, a veritable “another day at the office†mentality
as they go about their routines no matter how outrageous the circumstances. The film couldn't have come to Blu-ray at a
better time. With politicians using the
safety and well-being of Americans as a bargaining chip for political gain
(i.e. health care), the sentiments of the film are timeless and ring true in a
city where corruption and racism run behind-the-scenes and are perfectly sized-up
by Doris Roberts’s turn as the mayor’s wife when she tells him what he’ll get
in return for paying out the ransom: eighteen sure votes.
There
is no mention on the Blu-ray packaging of a remastered image and sound, so the
transfer appears to be derived from the same master that was used on the
standard definition DVD released in February 2000. The image is sharper this time with just a
few instances of dirt and some scratches that are barely noticeable. The Blu-ray also adds subtitles in English, Spanish
and French and retains the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer. I originally hoped that with the release of Tony
Scott's 2009 remake, itself a well-made version with less emphasis on humor and
more on action, there would be a reissue of the original with commentaries and
a documentary on the making of the film, but no such luck. Still, despite the lack of the usual bells
and whistles that generally accompany far less entertaining films, the upgrade
to Blu-ray is worth it as this is one of the best films made during the
American cinema's most riveting decade. Lensed
also in 1998 for television by Felix Enriquez Alcala (how can you make this
film without profanity?), this 1974 original is the most entertaining version of this
story.
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