Film

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Name: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Action, Comedy
Released: 1974
Cast: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Héctor Elizondo, Earl Hindman

A New York subway car gets hijacked by four cool professionals demanding a ransom, and the transit cop stuck negotiating is having, frankly, a terrible day. It's grimy, funny, and procedural all at once — walkie-talkies crackling, bureaucrats bickering, criminals with colour-coded names being scarier for their manners than their guns. Essential 70s NYC cinema for anyone who likes their thrillers dry, dirty and unhurried.

TMDb rating

7.5

If you liked this

Dog Day Afternoon1975

Same city, same decade, same sweaty procedural tension — a hostage standoff that turns into a media circus, with Pacino unravelling in real time. The tonal cousin of Pelham, right down to the gallows humour.

But More tragic and character-driven than plot-driven — if you wanted another tight caper mechanism, this is looser and sadder.

The French Connection1971

The definitive grubby, unglamorous 1970s New York thriller — cops who are barely holding it together, chasing criminals through a city that looks like it needs a wash. Same grit, same air of institutional exhaustion.

But Less dialogue-driven wit, more legwork and silence — the chase substitutes for banter.

Inside Man2006

A slicker, modern descendant — a meticulously planned New York heist, a wry cop matching wits with a calm, controlled criminal mastermind. Spike Lee having fun with the same negotiator-versus-genius setup.

But Glossier and twistier than Pelham's straight-ahead procedural — some may miss the rougher, more analog texture.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Hijacking2012no page yet

Same hostage-negotiation engine as Pelham — a calm captor, an institution deciding what a life is worth — but stripped of comedy and relocated to a grimmer, subtitled register where nothing is played for a laugh.

A Danish cargo ship seized by pirates, and the agonising, unglamorous negotiation back at the shipping company's headquarters — cost-benefit spreadsheets standing in for gunfire. Bureaucracy as the real battlefield.

But Bleak and slow-burning by design — no wisecracks, no release valve, just dread accumulating.

Die Hard1988

The template Pelham helped invent, pushed into blockbuster overdrive — one exhausted everyman against composed, businesslike villains. If you liked Matthau's weary sarcasm, you'll like McClane's.

But Much bigger, louder, and more action-forward — the comedy is punchier, the stakes more cinematic than procedural.

Assault on Precinct 131976

Carpenter's lean siege thriller shares Pelham's stripped-down, professionals-under-pressure structure and B-movie efficiency, with a similarly matter-of-fact view of violence and competence.

But Trades subway sprawl for a single besieged building — much smaller scale, fewer moving parts.

The Negotiator1998no page yet

If the transit-authority phone calls were your favourite part, here's a whole film about the psychology of hostage negotiation, cop versus cop, word games as weapons.

But More slick 90s thriller mechanics than 70s grime — the twists come faster and land harder.

Speed1994

Takes the trapped-transit-vehicle premise and turns it into pure adrenaline — a bus instead of a subway car, but the same claustrophobic captive-audience tension.

But All momentum, no digression — you lose the shaggy bureaucratic comedy entirely.

Phone Booth2003

A different kind of confinement thriller — real-time, one location, a captor who talks more than he shoots. Shares Pelham's love of a controlled, ticking-clock standoff.

But Single-location and single-character focus — much smaller canvas, no ensemble to enjoy.

Money Train1995no page yet

The most literal descendant — a New York subway-system heist played broader and dumber, for anyone who wants the setting again with none of the restraint.

But Genuinely worse film — buddy-comedy energy over craft, more explosions than atmosphere.

The Narrow Margin1952no page yet

Pelham's transit-set, professionals-under-pressure formula existed decades earlier in miniature — this is the era before the joke got told with a subway map, an NYPD, and a wisecracking lead.

A tight, black-and-white train noir where a cop must protect a witness across a claustrophobic overnight run — cramped corridors, hard-boiled patter, tension built almost entirely from confined space.

But Much smaller and quieter — 70 minutes, no ensemble cast, no citywide bureaucracy to poke fun at.

La Casa de Papel2017

It's the same siege-and-negotiation skeleton — captors, hostages, a watching public, a clock — dragged out of 1970s dry procedural into maximalist, serialised, subtitled soap opera. Same bones, opposite volume.

Spanish crime robbers in red jumpsuits and Dali masks hold hostages while the whole country watches on live TV — same standoff structure blown up into operatic, cliffhanger-stuffed melodrama across dozens of hours.

But Wildly different tone — telenovela romance, stylised speeches, and plotting that prizes spectacle over the plausibility Pelham insists on.