The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
94%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 7 nominations
Breezy, thrilling, and quite funny, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three sees Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw pitted against each other in effortlessly high form.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” is a classic heist film that will keep you on the edge of your seat. With a talented cast led by Walter Matthau and Jerry Stiller, the movie is a perfect blend of suspense and humor. The plot revolves around a group of criminals who hijack a subway train, and the transit authority police lieutenant and his team who try to outsmart them. The film’s unique take on the heist genre and its memorable title make it a must-watch for any fan of crime movies. So grab some popcorn and get ready for a wild ride!
Production Company(ies)
Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Relativity Media,
Distributor
United Artists
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Grand Central Station, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence and pervasive language
Year of Release
2009
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:SDDS DTS Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 44m
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Language(s):English, Ukrainian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 2, 1974 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 29, 2000
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Héctor Elizondo, Earl Hindman, James Broderick, directed by Joseph Sargent, written by John Godey, Peter Stone, action, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Jerry Renshaw, John H Dorr, Michael Sragow, Roger Ebert, MPAA rating R, produced by Gabriel Katzka, Edgar J Scherick, subway, hijack, ransom, hostage, New York City, criminal gang, Mr Blue, Zachary Garber, transit policeman, mayor’s office, police, deadline, thriller, heist film, Walter Matthau’s wonderfully weary sense of irony, colorful characters, crackling dialogue, surprise twists, electrifying plot, intense thrills, Robert Shaw’s tour de force demented performance, classic, unfiltered action film, nifty special effects, power of a terrific script, wonderful acting, memorable, underrated, ride, action thriller, 1970s, New York, time capsule
Worldwide gross: $150,166,126
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $207,546,213
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 672
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 22,633,175
US/Canada gross: $65,452,312
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,462,342
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 801
US/Canada opening weekend: $23,373,102
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $32,304,215
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 411
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $100,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $138,211,072
Production budget ranking: 250
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $74,426,662
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$5,091,522
ROI to date (est.): -2%
ROI ranking: 1,411
Robert Shaw – Blue
Martin Balsam – Green
Héctor Elizondo – Grey
Earl Hindman – Brown
James Broderick – Denny Doyle
Director(s)
Joseph Sargent
Writer(s)
John Godey, Peter Stone
Producer(s)
Gabriel Katzka, Edgar J. Scherick
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 7 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (43) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (43)
Stiller is terrific as a transit authority police lieutenant, as is Matthau as the rather sour cop who has to outsmart the bad guys.
March 7, 2021
Jerry Renshaw
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
The large, well-characterized cast is ably headed by Walter Matthau, whose wonderfully weary sense of irony is perfect.
October 3, 2018
John H. Dorr
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
Taps into viewers’ paranoia over a decrepit, vulnerable infrastructure and then provides bitter laughs and a harrowing catharsis.
August 27, 2018
Michael Sragow
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
What’s good about Pelham’s example of the form is that the performances are allowed enough leeway so that we care about the people not the plot mechanics. And what could have been formula trash turns out to be fairly classy trash, after all.
April 29, 2018 | Rating: 3/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
The original version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three was made 35 years ago, yet it retains a quality of cool that will remain long after people have forgotten the current version.
June 10, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
September 24, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Nev Pierce
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three’s title is as memorable as its unique hold-a-subway-car-hostage take on the heist film
September 13, 2021
Joe Nolan
Nashville Scene
…masterful…
April 1, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Sargent keeps the focus firmly on his leads. Shaw is admirably fanatical, and the world-weary, wisecracking Matthau is magnificent.
March 7, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
David Parkinson
Radio Times
It is in essence a flawless film: you could improve bits and pieces perhaps, but there is nothing in the film that doesn’t work.
July 22, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Grant Watson
Fiction Machine
… hasn’t the credentials of Dog Day Afternoon or The French Connection but this ingenious crime caper / hostage drama is one of the great New York crime films of the 1970s.
March 30, 2017
Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com
This exceptional thriller is filled with colorful characters and crackling dialogue — and always has one more surprise up its sleeve.
July 9, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing…
Plot
In The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, a group of criminals hijack a subway car in New York City and demand a million dollars in cash within an hour, while veteran transit policeman Zachary Garber tries to outsmart them and deliver the ransom before the deadline.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Walter Matthau’s “wonderfully weary sense of irony” is perfect in his role as crusty veteran transit policeman Zachary Garber.
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