History Film / TheTakingOfPelhamOneTwoThree

* NobleBigotWithABadge: Walter Matthau's character is somewhat dumbfounded when the high-ranking officer he's been talking to on the radio turns out to be black. He also mistakes the hippie cop for a woman because of his long hair.

--> '''Frank:''' I don't give a rat's ass to your fuckin' instructions! I'm not lifting a finger to help the killers of Caz Dolowicz!

* TheVietnamVet: The black hostage, not that it earns him any respect from [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Mr. Grey]], although it seemingly does from Mr. Blue [[spoiler:(having been in the Army himself)]], who admonishes him.

--->"No thanks, my accountant says that I've accepted enough for this fiscal quarter."

--->'''Caz Dolowicz:''' Why didn't you go grab a goddamn airplane like everybody else?\\
'''Mr. Gray:''' 'Cause we're afraid of flying!

-->'''Police officer:''' If they know the truck is wrecked, how can they expect us to be on time?\\

* MathematiciansAnswer: Brown's exchange with a passenger:

-->'''Brown:''' Yeah I would!
* MissedHimByThatMuch: [[spoiler:Green]] escapes from the subway via the emergency exit moments before Garber arrives.
* MoneyFetish: In the final scene, Mr Green is back at his apartment lying on his bed surrounded by the all the cash he's retrieved, gleefully revelling in it. Then there's a knock at the door...

-->'''Blue:''' Now, ladies and gentlemen, do you see this gun? It fires 750 rounds of 9mm ammunition per minute. In other words, if all of you simultaneously were to rush me, not a single one of you would get any closer than you are now.

--> '''Frank''': I don't give a rat's ass to your fuckin' instructions! I'm not lifting a finger to help the killers of Caz Dolowitz!
-->'''Garber:''' (''grabbing him by the shirt'') Now you listen to me, you dumb son of a bitch. You don't do what I tell ya, you''ll be havin' dinner tonight with Caz Dolowitz!

** Early in the 1974 movie, a repairman asks why a gate isn't locked. Cas Dolowicz retorts: "who's gonna steal a subway train?"

--->'''Mr. Grey''': I warned you, stupid! [[spoiler: shoots Dolowitz]]

* TheVietnamVet: The black hostage, not that it earns him any respect from Mr. Grey, although it seemingly does from Mr. Blue [[spoiler:(having been in the Army himself)]] and admonishes him.
-->'''Mr. Blue''': Be quiet! Nothing will happen as long as you obey my orders.
-->'''Black Guy''': That's what they said in Vietnam, and I still got my ass shot full of lead.
-->'''Mr. Grey''': Shut your mouth, nigger, [''hits him with the butt of his gun, splitting his lip''] and keep it shut!
-->'''Mr. Blue''': Mr. Grey!

* YoureInsane: Lt Garber to Blue after he repeatedly threatens to shoot a hostage if anything goes wrong.
-->"I hope you take this in the right spirit but when all this is over you should seek psychiatric help."

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0821.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Thank you for choosing the UsefulNotes/NewYorkSubway.]]

A 1974 HeistFilm adapted from John Godey's thriller novel published the previous year, directed by Joseph Sargent and starring Creator/WalterMatthau as NYC Transit Police lieutenant Zachary Garber and Creator/RobertShaw as (leader of the hijackers) "Mr. Blue".

--> '''Mr. Grey''': I warned you, stupid! [[spoiler: shoots Dolowitz]]

-->"We've got four submachine guns in front of us, and all these jokers behind us. I feel like I'm walking into the fuckin' OK Corral."

-->"No thanks, my accountant says that I've accepted enough for this fiscal quarter."

-->'''Caz Dolowicz:''' Why didn't you go grab a goddamn airplane like everybody else?\\

* BilingualBackfire: Garber is told to look after a group of Tokyo subway executives who follow him around obediently without speaking. He quickly gets sick of playing tour guide and, assuming they don't speak any English, gets ever more insulting towards them, casually referring to them as "dummies" and "idiots". When the hostage situation occurs, they say goodbye and thank him for the tour in flawless English and leave.

-->'''Mr. Blue''': What's happening sir is that you're being held by four very dangerous men armed with machine guns.

-->''(after the train screeches to a halt)'' "[[AlcoholHic *hic*]]... 42nd Street already?"

-->'''Doyle:''' They were gonna kill me for God's sake!

* ImmediatelyProvedWrong: They say they are "closing off every intersection" to make sure the money gets there on time. After that, every time the money motorcade is shown, it's to show it crash into some car that hurtles in the way, and it's painfully obvious no care whatsoever was taken to actually ensure a secure passage.

!!This Film Provides Examples Of:

* AffablyEvil: Mr. Blue in the original. He is unfailingly polite to the hostages, rebukes Mr. Grey for using excessive force and harassing a female hostage, is angered when Mr. Brown is wounded [[spoiler: and subsequently killed]], makes sure that [[spoiler: Mr. Green gets away]] but doesn't even get angry when Garber corners him. He only kills two people, one of them a colossal Jerkass who had become a liability to his team and another because he had made a threat to do so unless his conditions were met, and they were not met, so he had to carry it out.
* AllIsWellThatEndsWell: In the end of the 2009 remake Garber shoots a man dead. This is a big deal for a transit worker or any human who had never even used a gun before - let alone shot a person, but doesn't come up as it would mess with the HappyEnding.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Ryder in the remake. Probably a case of DepravedBisexual, since he's quite proud of his female conquests.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: In the 2009 remake, a trained NYPD sniper shows exceedingly poor trigger discipline by resting his finger on the trigger while awaiting the order to take the shot. [[spoiler: See IJustShotMarvinInTheFace below.]]

* BabyCarriage: In the original film the police car racing to bring the money to the station by Mr. Blue's deadline crashes after swerving to avoid a bicycle vendor.

* TheBigRottenApple: NYC's dysfunctional '70s glory is showcased in the original, albeit to mostly-comedic effect.
* BilingualBackfire: Garber in the original is told to look after a group of Tokyo subway executives who follow him around obediently without speaking. He quickly gets sick of playing tour guide and, assuming they don't speak any English, gets ever more insulting towards them, casually referring to them as "dummies" and "idiots". When the hostage situation occurs, they say goodbye and thank him for the tour in flawless English and leave.
* BrickJoke: In the original the unpopular Mayor doesn't want to visit the scene of the hijacking because he'll be booed. Later in the film he does show up (offscreen)--and:

* CasualDangerDialog: In the 2009 version, when on a runaway train car filled with screaming passengers a young man takes a moment to tell his girlfriend he loves her via webcam.

* ChekhovsSkill: In the 2009 version Garber mentions having been a motorman. This later explains why Ryder insists on him bringing the money: with Ramos dead, they need ''someone'' to drive the train.

* ClusterFBomb:
** The original had quite a high quotient of expletives for a mainstream 1974 release. One character even says "How the hell can you run a goddamn railroad without swearing?!"
** Ryder in the remake, to the point where one could mistake him for having motherfuckin' Tourette's.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: In the 2009 remake [[spoiler:Ryder is actually a former Wall Street tycoon convicted for fraud. The hostage taking was not for the ransom itself but due to the resulting suspicions of terrorism causing the stock market to plummet, which Ryder makes a massive profit from via put options.]]

** The police officer onboard the train survived the original [[spoiler: and winds up foiling the hostage takers’ plans]], is the first passenger to die in the 2009 film.

* DramaticIrony:
** A train board controller early in the film walks through an unlocked gate into the tunnels. After all, "Who's gonna steal a train?"
** In the remake, the mayor, informed about the hostage situation, says that he'll take the subway to get there because "It'll be faster."
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:In the original film, Mr. Blue fries himself on the third rail when he's told New York won't be able to oblige him since the death penalty's no longer on the books.]]

* EvilBrit: Mr. Blue in the original.

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller:
** In the 1974 movie, jokingly employed when Garber meets Inspector Daniels (to whom he's only spoken via radio) face-to-face for the first time and discovers he's black. He says that he was expecting someone shorter.
** In the 2009 remake, Ryder says to Walter Garber that he was taller than expected.

--> '''[[spoiler:Ryder (2009):]]''' You're my goddamn hero.

* GenderLift: Mr. Brown in the 1998 remake is Ms. Brown.

* HollywoodLaw: In the 2009 version, Ryder makes Garber confess to taking the bribe. People around him speak as if that is an actual confession, but no one brings up that this confession was made under duress - Garber would have a very solid case in any court of law to have that particular confession thrown out as evidence because if he continued to deny the allegations ''a man would have died'' - which is far worse than taking a bribe.

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: But instead of a road bump, it's a rat. [[spoiler: Someone still gets shot in the face, though.]]
* ImmediatelyProvedWrong: In the 2009 remake, they say they are "closing off every intersection" to make sure the money gets there on time. After that, every time the money motorcade is shown, it's to show it crash into some car that hurtles in the way, and it's painfully obvious no care whatsoever was taken to actually ensure a secure passage.

* JustTrainWrong:
** In the 2009 version, the train is made of [=R142A=] cars, that have a train horn similar to that used by locomotives on Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad.
** Also in the 2009 version, the car number on the exterior of the lead car is #8837. But in the motorman's cab, the car number is #7426. The #7400 number range is correct for the [=R142A=] rolling stock, but #8837 would be in the #8800 number range, which is assigned to the larger [=R160B=] cars used in the BMT and IND divisions.
** When the conductor is watching the passengers get on and off, she is in the fifth car of the train. This would be correct if the train were comprised of [=R46=] or [=R68=] cars that the BMT and IND use (which are 75 feet long and can only operate as eight car trains - two four car sets- in regular service, thus, the fifth car of the train would be the cab unit for the second set), which in a ten car train would be the second A-unit in the first five car set.
** [=R142=] and [=R142A=] cars are permanently linked into 5-car sets and cannot operate as single units. The only subway cars capable of operating as such are a select number of [=R62A=] cars that are assigned to the IRT Flushing Line and the 42nd Street Shuttle.

* MoodDissonance: When TBS offered the 2009 version On Demand - they had their CommercialPopUp saying "[=TBS=] Very Funny" in the lower right all through a movie that includes seven on-screen deaths and terrified hostages.

* NeverGoingBackToPrison: In the remake Ryder is set against going back to prison, [[spoiler:and eventually forces a SuicideByCop rather than be captured]].

** Averted in the original with Mr. Green, who has a bad cold (and whose sneezing [[spoiler:leads to his capture at the end]]).

* PornStache: Ryder.

* RaisedCatholic: (Remake) Ryder who, for a robber, talks about God an awful lot.
* RedHerring:
** The repeated comments that the plainclothes cop on the train might be a woman. Actually the cop is the hippy. Played straight with the 1998 remake which changed the undercover cop to a woman.
** In 2009, the Deputy Mayor points out how the ransom is 10 million because that's the maximum they can withdraw without paperwork hassle. The Mayor asks how the deputy mayor knows this but is cut off, leaving the viewer wondering.
* TheRemake: In 2009.

* ShootOutTheLock: (remake) Ramos sees there's a padlock on the power switchboard and starts griping. Bashkim just draws his gun and shoots it.
* ShoutOut: In the 1974 film, Garber asks Patrone to get a list of fired subway motormen: "Somebody down there knows how to drive a train. You don't pick that up watching ''Series/SesameStreet''."
* TheSociopath: Ryder in the remake. He spends his time threatening the hostages, killing them when orders aren't following, and generally [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking acts like a dickhead who]] [[ClusterFBomb frequently curses]].

* SuicideByCop: Bashkim and Emri in the remake.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: For the 1998 TV version, Mr. Grey is a man with white-blond hair.

** Mr. Green, twice [[spoiler:in the final scene -- when the police knock on his door and he has to hide the money, and again when he sneezes.]]* PerfectHealth:

* BigApplesauce: Where else is someone gonna hijack a NYC subway train? Also the original novel was written by a born and bred New Yorker.

** Mr. Blue's 1-hour deadline is also is. Their plan depended on not giving the authorities a chance to think or negotiate. Another reason is LampShaded by Mr. Blue that someone "got nervous or bored" and "they've been there a long time" after [[spoiler:Mr. Brown got shot]]. The longer they stayed in that tunnel, the more likely a shootout would occur.

** Mr. Blue's 1-hour deadline is also this. The longer they stay in that tunnel, the more likely their plan of escape would fail. It's LampShaded by Mr. Blue that someone "got nervous or bored" and "they've been there a long time" after Mr. Brown got shot.

* GoingDownWithTheShip: An exchange between the driver Doyle and Caz Dolowicz, who is infuriated to find Doyle has left the train and is leading some passengers back to the station.
-->'''Doyle:''' They were gonna kill me for Christ sake!

* PragmaticVillainy: The Mafia's reason for kicking out Mr Grey (mentioned in the novel) is he was bad for business. While running one of their protection rackets, he tended to beat the people up whether they paid or not, so most of them just stopped paying in the end.

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Cal Donowitz]]’s death at the hands of Mr. Grey is what finally establishes that a serious crisis is going on.

**

-->'''Doyle:''' They were gonna kill me!
-->'''Dolowicz:''' You're like the captain of the ship, you're supposed to go down with it!

* NotSoStoic: Garber finally gets tired of Correll's crap:
-->'''Correll:''' I don't give a rat's ass for your fucking instructions. I'm not lifting a finger to help the killers of Caz Dolowicz.
-->'''Garber:''' (''grabbing him by the shirt'') Now, you listen to me, you dumb son of a bitch. You don't do what I tell you, you'll be having ''dinner'' with Caz Dolowicz!

** The behavior of Frank Burnell, the Train Master, is borderline dangerous. He cares more about keeping the subway running smoothly than the very real life-threatening danger the hijacking poses; as in he could get the hostages killed by not cooperating. It gets so bad that Garber has to threaten him to get him back in line.
--> '''Frank''': I don't give a rat's ass to your fuckin' instructions! I'm not lifting a finger to help the killers of Caz Dolowitz!
--> '''Garber''': [seething] Now you listen to me, you dumb son of a bitch. You don't do what I tell ya, you''ll be havin' dinner tonight with Caz Dolowitz!

'''Garber:''' They don't know anything down there. How can they know anything when they... that's it.\\

''<switches on the radio with Mr. Grey>''\\