Nice effects though.

A different way of telling a story

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

I'm a subway buff. Love underground/elevated trains, stations, etc., and am especially fond of the NYC subway. This is the best subway movie ever made.(I know - some folks will reference "The Taking Of Pelham 123", in one or another of its versions, as being better, and it certainly is fine, but this is better. Just my opinion.) What truly blows me away about the making of this film is that NYC Transit would not allow the filmmakers to shoot, but they did, anyway. The hid cameras in bags and just went ahead and shot without permission. Then they had a NYC subway car interior built for them by the original manufacturer, for the interior scenes. So, perfect realism in all aspects of the scenery.OK, the plot. Marvelous. Two punks terrorize a train full of passengers during the late night/early morning hours. This continues until one of the passengers (I won't tell you which one) finally stands up to them. While the punks are basically abhorrent, they occasionally do something to one or another of the passengers that perhaps makes you believe that they might begin to behave reasonably. Then they don't go in the direction you might wish. They do something even more reprehensible, and that's how the tension is kept razor sharp.Acting? Superb all around. Tony Musante is especially good as one of the punks, as menacing as any character in the history of motion pictures. Hell, just his look is enough to make most of the passengers back off. Martin Sheen, as his buddy, looks more reasonable, but is actually pretty much as vicious. Among the passengers, Beau Bridges is great as a soldier on leave. Another great performance comes from Mike Kellin as the henpecked husband of Jan Sterling. Very surprisingly good dramatic performance from Ed McMahon (!) as parent of a young girl.The ending is both satisfying and sad. We see the punks get some payback, but the hero is never thanked, never given anything even close to what he deserves. Lives have been changed - some irrevocably - but one is also left with the feeling that some of these characters are so into self-denial that they will be just fine with everything in a few days.Fine time capsule of the time period - the 1960's - and of the subway at that time.Highly recommended, even if you're NOT a subway buff.

Poster "Sol1218" wrote that he found it not credible that none of the other passengers on the train tried to interfere with the thugs or help their fellow passengers. But the reality of 1967 was that it was a rare New Yorker who would stick his neck out for a stranger.Just three years earlier, in 1964, a terrible crime occurred in Forest Hills, Queens that made headlines world-wide. A barmaid named Kitty Genovese was attacked and killed on the street while dozens of neighbors in surrounding apartment buildings listened to her screams. During the attack, apparently one person yelled from a window and the attacker backed off for a few moments. But when no further interference took place, the attacker returned and stabbed Miss Genovese to death.None of the neighbors even called the police. They all later said, when interviewed, "I didn't want to get involved." That sentiment reflected the majority of New Yorkers in that era of rampant street crime: mind your own business, don't get involved.The passivity of the passengers in The Incident was perfectly in line with the sensibilities of the time, and the fact that it took a visitor from Oklahoma (Beau Bridges) to step up to the plate, was also very apt.All that being said, this movie is extremely powerful. The first time I ever saw it, on television, I was shaking for hours.

This film which stars an array of notable celebrities, including Ed McMahon gives a portrayal of the era that changed our country and the split between generations. While the message of uncaring New Yorkers is the description of this film one can't help, But to see the attempt at expressing the anti-war sentiment as wheel as issues that highlighted the 60's. This film also represents how film makers continue to preach their political one sided agendas to audiences. Any 4th grader can see through this film and its not so hidden format. This film has the creativity of a bad high school play and proves that movie companies need tax write offs because this was a waste of film and money, liberalism at its finest.

Despite budget limitations, the final product in this Independent Film Classic is outstanding. With a few familiar faces (although everyone looks so incredibly young here), and a relatively confining story line, the viewer becomes acquainted with several very unique characters. Two street thugs on a crime spree decide to continue their night of "fun and games" by accosting the passengers in a subway compartment. Regardless of appearance, ethnicity, age or gender, everyone appears to be free game for the hooligans.Although it may be painful to watch how innocent people are subjected to threats as well as emotional and physical abuse, this film offers much more than simply insight into an all-too-familiar nightmare. Through this "incident", people with their own problems are suddenly compelled to share with the world what they had kept hidden for so long. The outburst by the middle-aged woman, fed up with her small-time life as a school-teacher's wife, shows how emotional exhaustion can lead to an eventual explosion. As able bodied men look on in fear of the violent punks, a less likely hero emerges in defiance.This is a quiet gem of a film, much overlooked at the time of release in 1967. Fans will enjoy a look at the very youthful Martin Sheen, Donna Mills and Beau Bridges. Even Ed McMohann looks like a "kid". I highly recommend this film to enthusiasts of Independent Films. "The Incident" is easily among the very best of them!