Prime Just Added a Tarantino-Approved 70s Action With Near-Perfect Tomatometer

Summary

• Quentin Tarantino is known for incorporating many pop culture elements into his films.
• For example, his Reservoir Dogs was inspired by a brilliant 1974 thriller.
• This movie is now available to stream on Prime Video.

Watching Quentin Tarantino's debut film Reservoir Dogs, which has become an undeniable classic of modern cinema, it is hard not to wonder where the nicknames of the eight gangsters involved in the story came from: the names Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Blonde may not fit their characters (and of course this is done intentionally for the sake of disguise), but they are so ingrained in our cultural memory that there is no question that Tarantino simply decided to give his story the darkly comedic absurdity that characterizes his work.

However, fans of the famously eccentric filmmaker know full well that each of his films draws inspiration from American and global pop culture of the 20th century. Tarantino has incorporated the best aspects of the cinema of his time into his own work, building his independent projects around quirky dialogue and brutal action scenes that allude to familiar clichés and tropes. That's why Reservoir Dogs, or rather the names of the characters, refer to a classic crime drama of the 70s. Widely regarded as one of the greatest thrillers of all time, we recommend watching this Tarantino-inspired film, now available for streaming on Prime Video.

What Is This Crime Drama About?

We're talking about The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, a 1974 crime drama directed by Joseph Sargent and written by Peter Stone, based on the novel of the same name by John Godey, published the year before.

At its core, it's a hostage drama that follows four criminals with very different backgrounds. Some are military veterans and mercenaries, some are gangsters, and some are just small-time con artists who have found an opportunity to make a quick buck. They go by the code names of Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw), Mr. Green (Martin Balsam), Mr. Grey (Héctor Elizondo), and Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman). Yes, that's where the aliases in Reservoir Dogs come from.

After stashing their weapons, they mingle with the regular passengers on the train, which arrives at the Pelham Bay Park station in the Bronx at 1:23 p.m. (hence the movie's title). The criminals then take the entire first car, including the conductor, hostage and demand a ransom of $1 million. Little did they know that one of the passengers was a policeman, Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau), who was trying to get the kidnappers to talk to him and at the same time discover their real identities. And maybe he wouldn't have succeeded if the tension between the criminals hadn't been incredibly high due to their mutual animosity.

Take away a few plot elements, like the hijacking of a train car, and remove the characters' backgrounds, and you get Reservoir Dogs: a bunch of gangsters who hate each other, an undercover cop, and a bloody escalation caused by the hijackers themselves.

A Critically Acclaimed Movie

At the time of its release in 1974, the film was a commercial success at the worldwide box office and received high critical acclaim, an opinion that has not diminished five decades later. On Rotten Tomatoes, for example, the film has an impressive 98% approval rating from critics and an 88% approval rating from audiences.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three inspired not only Tarantino, but the crime drama genre in general. It is an incredibly memorable story with distinctive characters, perfectly written dialogue, and appropriate but not constant jokes. Not only does it depict the paranoid atmosphere of 1970s New York, but it also provides a dark yet entertaining ride that has rightfully become a classic of cinema.