Worth Your Valuable Time

If you're anything like me (and if you are, I'm deeply sorry), then you enjoy a good, ol' fashioned 70's cop movie. Especially if it's a 70's cop movie set in New York City, which automatically ups it's "cool points" by a factor of twenty. Which is not to say that a 70's cop movie set in, for example, Minneapolis/St. Paul can't be cool; I'm sure there's all kinds of gritty, horrible crime in and around the Twin Cities and a movie that exposes the frozen Midwest's seedy underbelly would be just fine as movies go. Still, when you've got a 70's cop movie set in New York City, you know you're dealing with a film that's just a little more high-class; kind of like when you order mineral water instead of regular tap water. Yes, they're both water, essentially, but mineral water has bubbles and, as we all know, bubbles equal class and distinction where water is concerned.

But I digress...

My point is, you can't beat a good New York City-set, 70's cop movie and, with that in mind, I'd like to suggest a title that I don't think a lot of people have seen. That movie (if you haven't figured it out from the large picture at the start of this post) is The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3.

See, it's about a group of thieves that hijack a subway train (specifically, the 6 train) and hold all it's passengers for ransom underground. Um... greatest concept ever? Quite possibly. This is doubly true if you happen to be one of the many people in the world who rely on the public transportation offered by a subway system. I'm sure there's not a one of us out there who hasn't thought of forcibly taking control of a train and demanding a large sum of money for it and it's cargo's safe return.

Am I right? Huh, am I... right?

Hm? Ah, it's just me then? Well then... forget I mentioned it. And, um, don't call the authorities.

The movie, though... you've got to see this movie. What's great about it is that it's not flashy, it's not ultra-violent and it's not action hero-y. For fuck's sake, the cop fighting the bad guys in Pelham is played by Walter Matthau! When you cast as your lead a man about as tough and menacing as a comfy leather chair, you've got to know you're dealing with a very different breed of thriller. The lead thief, by the by, is played by Robert Shaw (Quint from Jaws) and his creepy, evilness contrasts perfectly with Matthau's hilarious crankiness.

Anyway, I don't want to say too much more about it because I don't want to give anything away but, no joke kids, give this film a look-see.

NOTE: The cover-art for the current DVD release is very different from the above poster. I just like that poster, is why I used it. I'm sure you can figure it out.