YMMV / The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

• Adaptation Displacement: Of John Godey's novel, which has largely been forgotten in place of the film remakes. This is somewhat ironic considering that the original, as indicated by its film poster, used the book's popularity as part of its marketing.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: In the 2009 remake, it is never established beyond a reasonable doubt that Garber wasn't involved. The entire movie could have been a Xanatos Gambit by Garber, as evidenced by him arriving home happy at the end - not mentally exhausted or breaking down from the stress. He could well have been The Man Behind the Curtain, Hiding in Plain Sight, and had to resort to some Xanatos Speed Chess, and then taken advantage of the chance to remove loose ends for himself or a larger organization he was working for.
• Awesome Music: David Shire's score for the original movie is drop-dead funky, with sleazy horns and a memorable Epic Bassline, but what lifts it into sheer awesomeness is that the whole thing is written according to the twelve-tone system of modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg - and yet it's still hummable. It's also a perfect piece of Batucada, a style of Brazilian Samba that sounds like a train, replacing many of the drums with more New York-like urban noises.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In the original, The Mayor very closely resembles real-life NYC mayor Ed Koch...who wouldn't take office until three years after the film was made!
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • 1974 original: Bernard Ryder, an out-of-work mercenary looking for a big score to retire on, takes the alias "Mr. Blue" and recruits three other men to assist in his takeover of the titular subway train, holding the passengers hostage in exchange for one million dollars, threatening to begin executing them if his demands are not met. Having his subordinate Mr. Green disable the train's Dead Man's Switch to prepare for their escape, Blue also shows his gratitude to his companions by staying behind to fight the cops after Mr. Brown is shot and killed in a firefight, allowing Mr. Green to escape with the money. Choosing to kill himself to go out on his own terms when caught, Blue's respect for Green and Brown and eventual killing of the psychotic Mr. Grey cement him as a brilliant and honorable criminal.
  • 2009 remake: Dennis "Ryder" Ford is a former Wall Street broker who went to prison when caught skimming large funds. Teaming with a former subway driver named Phil Ramos and two other thugs, Ryder hijacks a train cart for $10 million while warning that a hostage will be killed every minute past the deadline and killing the driver when MTA worker Walter Garber tries to back out of being the middleman and nearly kills another hostage when forcing Garber to admit he took a bribe that he's on the verge of being demoted for. Ryder also shorts stocks through the crisis and betting against them, gets about $307 million as a result too. When the money arrives three minutes after the deadline, Ryder elects to only kill one hostage rather than three and then sets the others free after getting the money by sending the cart off speeding until it eventually stops at a red light. Wanting not to go back to prison when Garber catches him, Ryder then forces Garber to kill him, also wanting Garber to redeem himself by doing so.
• Narm:
  • A lot of critics derided the excessive amount of swearing in the 2009 film, especially Ryder's "He can lick my bunghole, motherfucker!" line.
  • One notable example is the man on the subway train, moments from death telling his girlfriend via webcam he loved her.
• Nightmare Fuel: Mr. Blue's suicide in the 1974 version. When he hears from Garber that New York does not execute criminals, he replies, "Pity," and deliberately touches the third rail; a buzzing noise is heard and Garber cringes as the camera pans from Blue's legs, up his torso, to his hands, which are stiffly jerking, to his face, which has taken on an expression of extreme pain, while all the while, white smoke issues from his body. The buzzing only stops when Blue finally crumples to the floor. The background music (yes there is background music) doesn't make things better. Garber's reaction: "Christ."
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Héctor Elizondo is Mr. Grey, although hardly recognizable without his trademark goatee, baldness and collectedness.
  • Additionally, if Mr. Brown's voice sounds familiar, that's because it's Earl Hindman, better known as Wilson from Home Improvement, in his younger years.
  • Doris Roberts, better known as Ray Barone's mother, appears as the mayor's wife.
  • Jerry Stiller, years before he was Frank Costanza, is Lt. Patrone.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Both the 1974 and 2009 versions reflect their respective eras.
  • The original rested heavily on its '70s New York atmosphere. Many of the hostages on the train are '70s caricatures, while the city is so strapped for cash that paying a ransom of just a million dollars is a stretch for them. The idea of four men stepping onto a subway train with nobody searching their jackets and gift boxes for guns is also something that wouldn't happen after 9/11.
  • Likewise, the 2009 remake incorporated both post-9/11 terrorism fears and the then-recent onset of the Great Recession into the villain's motivations. Ryder was a former Wall Street tycoon convicted of fraud who hijacked the subway in order to create a panic over another terrorist attack, allowing him to make a massive amount of money via put options on certain stocks.
• Values Dissonance: Garber's very '70s attitude toward female cops. You'd never see a film's hero talking like this these days. Other characters also exhibit shockingly racist and sexist attitudes which would never be acceptable today; for example, Caz Dolowicz's ranting about newly qualified female workers. His opening scenes with the Japanese visitors are also very questionable, though made more palatable by how he ends up being the butt of the joke when it turns out they speak perfect English.

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