If there’s two things I love in movies, it’s Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau. Seeing the two of them on screen together facing off during a hostage situation wasn’t anything I’d ever expected to be able to see, but I assure you, such a thing exists.
For context: Robert Shaw is the James Bond villain in From Russia With Love and was Quint in Jaws. Walter Matthau is… well, he’s just Walter Matthau.
In this film, Robert Shaw plays the mastermind of a ransom situation, where he and his team of mustachioed men (all named after colors, a precursor to Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs) take over a New York Subway Train and take everyone inside hostage for a million dollars.
The film is cleverly written for what is essentially a throwaway of a suspense/heist thriller. The dialogue is snappy and all parties deliver it brilliantly. In fact, the supporting cast in this film is as good as the leads. Jerry Stiller plays a great transit cop, Martin Balsam and Hector Elizondo do fantastic turns as robbers, Tony Roberts is an incredibly compelling deputy mayor. The whole film works masterfully, even though it’s very much a by-the-numbers robbery movie.
Seeing it on Blu-ray for the first time (it came out theatrically years before I was born) was a real treat and I tried to imagine what it would be like to see this film in the theatre in 1974 when it came out. In fact, going to the movies, even to see the big dumb action movies like this must have been a treat. The craft of screenwriting and filmmaking on display for even popcorn movies like this seems head and shoulders above what passes for popcorn entertainment these days.
I never saw the remake of this film and after watching this version, I’m not really interested. This film worked so beautifully for me as a document of classic 1970s cinema that I’d hate to tarnish it with a remake. It should be a rule (with very few exceptions) that you only remake bad movies. This film is anything but.
It’s fun to watch and it’s incredible to witness it unfolding.
If you’re looking for a well-put together movie with great actors, you could do a lot worse than this film. In fact, I think you almost have to watch it. It informs quite a lot of cinema today (especially the parts Tarantino stole).