The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Take Speed with Keanu Reeves and put it in a grinder with the Liam Neeson B-movie Non-Stop. Now go back in time to 1974, put in Robert Shaw (Jaws) and Walter Matthau (yeah, the guy in Grumpy Old Men), and baby, you got one hell of a heist movie cooking. There’s also not a little Die Hard in the mix here, as the crew holding this NYC train hostage are fairly polite in between their moments of relentless terror… except for Mr. Gray (Hector Elizondo), who’s intent on being a dick the whole time.
It’s not a great day to be a transit cop, and Matthau as our hero, Lt. Gerber, epitomizes that with a solid deadpan flair that still feels minty fresh. With Shaw as his nemesis, the two spend the movie outthinking each other while rarely ever being in the same shot. It’s a movie that genuinely stands the test of time while somehow having been left behind by zippier modern fare.
Rollerball (1975)
1975’s Rollerball is the movie you notice on Tubi a few blocks over from Death Race 2000, with a picture of what appears to be Godfather star James Caan in a football helmet with a metal-studded fist, and think “that looks rad” but then forget about because Death Race is a trip. Scroll back. It’s directed by Norman Jewison, one of the finest directors to never win a Best Director statuette, and it’s The Running Man with a hell of a lot more to say about the endgame of individuality vs. capitalism.
Not that it’s some dull diatribe about the topic; James Caan rarely ever gave a boring performance. He was best in roles that let him be explosive, quietly or otherwise, and as a Rollerball champ who’s become too popular, he’s here to help his team literally murder the other guys on an incredibly unsafe-looking track. If you think this is some Battle Angel Alita-level stuff, you’re not wrong. I will go to my grave swearing this movie inspired the Alita spinoff manga, Ashen Victor.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Rolling Thunder is a loaded title; yeah, it’s an atmospheric effect in a storm, but it’s also the name of a relentlessly violent, years-long bombing campaign by the U.S. that accompanied the ground war in Vietnam. Residual ordinance still does damage today. That’s the bleak metaphor within the 1977 film, which depicts a Vietnam vet (and Hanoi POW) cracking under horrifying pressure five years before John Rambo had a bad day.
Rane (William Devane) is already on a rough ride adjusting to civ life when four violent crooks ruin everything he’s got left. With his family gone, his body mutilated, and his PTSD triggered to the point of sociopathy, Rane can’t even confide in his only buddy, Johnny (Tommy Lee Jones), about what actually happened until he’s ready for the final shootout. Bleak and shocking, there’s no cute sequels where Rane goes back to Vietnam with a cool red headband, a bow, and a thirst for vengeance. There’s only the cold comfort of surviving with everything you’ve lost still gone.