Someone recently told me about a Hungarian movie called Kontrol, which is set in and is all about people who work in the Budapest subway system. It made me think of the French movie Subway, one of Luc Besson’s first movies, which is set almost entirely within the labyrinthine corridors of the Paris Metro.
It made us wonder about other movies that are set primarily in subway systems. I’m wondering if our readers can help us in coming with other such feature films (in the spirit of Spacing‘s upcoming “Public Space Invaders” evening of public space movies).
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There is Subway Stories, a TV special from ’97 that featured 10 different stories centred around the New York subway.
check it out here…
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120240/
Not a feature, but there’s the Martin Scorsese directed Michael Jackson “Bad” video.
“The Bed Sitting Room” has a whole tribe who live in the subway after a nuclear war. It’s a very silly movie: http://imdb.com/title/tt0064074/
Are we counting documentaries?
There’s always the original “Taking of Pelham 123” from the 1970s, starring Walter Matthau. Set and filmed, of course, in the New York subway system. (Not the cheesy 1990s remake, which was filmed in Toronto’s Lower Bay)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_One_Two_Three_%28film%29
Oddly enough, Kontroll wasn’t the only subway-set thriller to play in the Midnight Madness section of TIFF 2004; there was also a British film called Creep, starring Franka Potente and set in the London Underground. It was directed by Christopher Smith, who most recently made the horror-comedy Severance, which played in MM at TIFF ’06.
The French Connection has a famous subway scene, which, ironically, is actually a car chase.
Rami> That’s right — there’s also the foot chase in the French Connection where Gene Hackman and the french guy duck in and out of the subway car while it’s parked in the station.
The “Lust” segment in the movie “The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins” is mostly set in the London Underground.
While the “Pride” segment isn’t set in the subway, it is still a wonderful take on car culture.
For those who are interested in “Kontroll”, it is available on DVD (both the Toronto Public Library and zip.ca have it).
I’m drawing a blank on others except for, sadly, “Sliding Doors” (London Underground).
If we want to include scenes and not just whole movies, my favourites include American Werewolf in London, Jacob’s Ladder and The Incident (1967, Martin Sheen plays a tough kid who holds folks hostage on a New York subway car), though my all-time favourite would have to be Risky Business, in which Tom Cruise shows what a very good little actor he is, with the dreamy Tangerine Dream soundtrack.
How about Money Train?
Surprised nobody mentioned The Warriors yet.
I went to a film festival back in 2000 here in Toronto which I believe was called Britflicks. One of the movies I saw was called “Tube Tales”, a collection of short films written and directed by different people, but all filmed in the London Underground. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I haven’t been able to find a copy of it.
Does Neverwhere count?
On the scene theme, the Montreal subway appears in Jesus de Montreal.
Technically, Kontroll isn’t set in any city in particular, and certainly not Budapest – they screwed this up on the packaging of the English release that I’ve seen. All the station signs are JUST out of focus and they only make reference to “North line”, “Platform 5” and equally generic places.
“Warriors” is a classic.
I’m suprised nobody mentioned our local contributions:
“Abandoned but for TTC training exercises and film shoots, Bay Lower sits quietly beneath its bustling big brother. Untouched by the general public for more than 30 years, it’s likely Keanu Reeves (Johnny Mnemonic) and Mira Sorvino (Mimic) have spent more time in our city’s coolest underground hideout than you ever will.”
from: http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/data/200211230005.shtml