The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (You’ve Heard of Train Robbery but How About Train Ransoming?)
A subway train is taken hostage by a team of criminals sporting automatic weapons. They demand a hefty sum of 1 million dollars US or they will start executing passengers - one every minute. Walter Matheau stars as a Transit Detective named Zachary who ends up with the unlucky job of negotiating with the hostage takers. Robert Shaw is the lead bad-guy, “Blue” an ex-mercenary who leads his team with a deadly poise. Martin Balsam stars as a disenfranchised transit worker, the accomplice - and inside man.
This film was heralded as an accomplishment in scale and for its visual characterization of New York, nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards in 1974. One for Best Supporting Actor (Martin Balsam), the other - a BAFTA for Film Music (Anthony Asquith).
But I’m going to be blatantly honest…
‘The Taking of Pelham One Two Three’ just didn’t do it for me.
