Alone, in my flat, I involuntarily yelled at my screen: "TURN THE SIGNALS RED YOU FUCK FACES!!!".

Any film that gets me to shout something that ridiculous without even realizing it, is doing something right.

Solid '70s thriller with top-notch performances from Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. Not since watching Die Hard have I been so caught up with a villain; though he doesn't get the same level of great dialogue as Rickman had, Shaw makes the most of his role, crafting a memorable adversary to Matthau's cynical traffic cop. The characterisation doesn't go very deep, but that's okay, we're here for the fun of it all, and it delivers on that in spades.

An excellent New York based crime caper that reeks of '70's style and grit. Robert Shaw owns his criminal mastermind role as his Mr. Blue (hello Tarantino) along with 3 other crooks hijack a subway train in an attempt to hold the city at ransom. Walter Matthau is engaging and effective as the negotiator in charge of getting the hostages out alive in a taut and tense thriller that at times is quite subversive and packs a punch in it's delivery of dialogue. Once the final frame hits, you will be cheering at it's genius.

Simple little story that is surprisingly tense. It has a good sense of humor, which really helps.

I haven't watched this movie in years but I was reminded of it when reading about the Tony Scott/Denzel remake that is coming out soon. This is one of my Dad's favourite movies and I have great memories of staying up late with him as a kid watching this on tv. This is a thriller where the old, mean New York of the '70s is one of the main characters; I just can't picture it being made today. I urge everyone to track this version down before wasting your money on what is sure to be a terrible remake.

Really awesome thriller that is further proof movie makers knew what they were doing in the 70s.

An excellent New York based crime caper that reeks of '70's style and grit. Robert Shaw owns his criminal mastermind role as his Mr. Blue (hello Tarantino) along with 3 other crooks hijack a subway train in an attempt to hold the city at ransom. Walter Matthau is engaging and effective as the negotiator in charge of getting the hostages out alive in a taut and tense thriller that at times is quite subversive and packs a punch in it's delivery of dialogue. Once the final frame hits, you will be cheering at it's genius.

Classic 70's crime thriller, filled with salty character actors, great photography, a classic score, and a tight as a drum script. More importantly, it's a great work of pre-Giuliani New York cinema.

Seen under the best possible circumstances:

This was the most recent installment of The Greg Proops Film Club at the Cinefamily. Given the theater's current technical limitation, they only had one working projector. During the downtime in between the changing of each reel, Proops' tangential stream of consciousness ended up being a great asset instead of a distraction. Almost like an IMDb trivia section for the film made manifest.

As for the movie itself, the only sticking point for me would be the mayor subplot (which seems tonally out of place and completely disappears halfway through the film). But the rest of the proceedings are superbly paced and plotted, helped by a perfect ensemble, all the way from Matthau and Shaw, down through Jerry Stiller and Dick O'Neill's delightfully crusty turn as Frank Correll. An excellent button topping it all off, complete with Chekov's [redacted].

Tough to watch a film that limits itself to two prime settings, and feels just that confined. Never really taking too many risks, the film goes for broke with a late second act car chase, a really lame Japanese tour joke and a ring-a-ding ending that, while the half-clever bell goes off in your head, later reflection reveals Grade A hokiness. Too much generic, not enough twist on what could have been a taut, exciting thriller about hostages held in a stolen subway car. The very thought that we'd revere the film because Tarantino "borrowed" the names (Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, Mr. Grey, etc.) used in Pelham for Reservoir Dogs is preposterous. If anything, we should cherish it as another terrific Robert Shaw performance, a surprisingly slick turn by Martin Balsam and a lackluster, jolly well boring showing from Matthau. Jerry Stiller has a small part. We expect him to yell "Serentity Now" any moment.