the taking of pelham one two three (1974) - joseph sargent

The old school version of the film, as The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three was remade in 2009 (but l haven't seen that one, so can't comment on it). As you could probably guess (unless you were an idiot), a subway train (guess which one) is hijacked, and a ransom of one million dollars is demanded (it is, after all, 1974), or the hijackers (headed by 'Mr Blue' (Robert Shaw) state they will start killing the hostages one by one. Lieutenant Garber (Walter Matthau) negotiates and tries to stall them, but the money is paid. Now all the police have to do is work out how the hijackers plan to escape, and how they can catch them. It's pretty slowly paced for most of the film, but it is also absorbing and believable. George from Seinfeld's dad is in it (Jerry Stiller, father of Ben), as is Woody Allen's best friend in 'Play it Again Sam' (Tony Roberts), so there are distractions, albeit good ones. Tarantino ripped off the 'colours instead of names' idea for Reservoir Dogs, so there's an bonus recommendation, not that it is needed. Class.

toodle pip