Watch a Movie Online: “The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3″ Starring Walter Matthau

There’s a Tony Scott remake in the works starring Denzel Washington, James Gandolfini and John Travolta due out next summer, but you can watch the original 1974 version of The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 right here on Fancast.

Pelham 1-2-3 is the name of a subway train, so dubbed for its origin station and times of departure. Transit cop Lt. Zachary “Z” Garber (Walter Matthau) has trouble keeping a handle on the chaotic subway system under normal circumstances. But when he suddenly has a train sealed off and isolated in a tunnel and 17 people held hostage by a crew of hijackers demanding a million dollars in cash, he not only has to race against the clock to keep them from carrying out their murderous threats and figure out how they plan to escape with the money, but he has to keep his own trigger-happy cops in check before they queer the whole deal. In other words, his day just got a hell of a lot worse.

The criminals (Robert Shaw, Hector Elizondo, Earl Hindman and Martin Balsam) are color-coded (Blue, Grey, Brown and Green), which is an idea you may remember seeing in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, and being the 70s-film fanatic he is, you can bet this film was a strong influence. It even gives us sitcom stars Jerry Stiller and Doris Roberts in dramatic roles, and it was directed by Joseph Sargent, the man who helped give us Kojak. There’s no reason not to check this movie out.

Watch the original The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 in its entirety right here, right now on Fancast.