[.ca] The Untouchables

Amazon.com Essential Video:
As noted critic Pauline Kael wrote, the 1987 box-office hit The Untouchables is "like an attempt to visualize the public's collective dream of Chicago gangsters." In other words, this lavish reworking of the vintage TV series is a rousing potboiler from a bygone era, so beautifully designed and photographed--and so craftily directed by Brian De Palma--that the historical reality of Prohibition-era Chicago could only pale in comparison. From a script by David Mamet, the movie pits four underdog heroes (the maverick lawmen known as the Untouchables) against a singular villain in Al Capone, played by Robert De Niro as a dapper caesar holding court (and a baseball bat) against any and all challengers. Kevin Costner is the naive federal agent Eliot Ness, whose lack of experience is tempered by the streetwise alliance of a seasoned Chicago cop (Sean Connery, in an Oscar-winning performance), a rookie marksman (Andy Garcia), and an accountant (Charles Martin Smith) who holds the key to Capone's potential downfall. The movie approaches greatness on the strength of its set pieces, such as the siege near the Canadian border, the venal ambush at Connery's apartment, and the train-station shootout partially modeled after the "Odessa steps" sequences of the Russian classic Battleship Potemkin. It's thrilling stuff, fueled by Ennio Morricone's dynamic score, but it's also manipulative and obvious. If you're inclined to be critical, the movie gives you reason to complain. If you'd rather sit back and enjoy a first-rate production with an all-star cast, The Untouchables may very well strike you as a classic. --Jeff Shannon

i love the movie and it's series:
hello,my name's aaron johnson the reason i'm writting this review for the untouchables film is because i've seen it so many times that i enjoy how malone says his famous line to elliot , the one about getting capone anyway, the whole entire plot is excellent especially when the federal agents try to stop capone's men in time the other reason i'm writting in this review , is because i've seen the untouchables tv series and i'm wondering this very question ; "when will the untouchables tv series from 1993 be out on dvd" because i think that people would enjoy the entire \owhatever how many seasons it ran for \oif it was one or two\c of the series i'm sure a lot of other customers would appreciate the untouchables tv series on dvd

Touchable...:
This film marks several remarkable firsts: The first true representation of a David Mamet film script (although "The Verdict" in 1980 came first), the leading-man status of Kevin Costner (deservedly so, since despite disasters like "The Postman" and "3000 Miles to Graceland", he's a very good actor with a very impressive resume and an Oscar to boot), Sean Connery's first Oscar win, also very much deserved, and most importantly, the first good film from Brian De Palma. People call films like "Body Double", "Carrie", "Blow Out" and "Dressed to Kill" classics... why they do, I have nary a clue. Those are some of the worst rip-off films in history. His "Hitchcockian" feeling is, to me, straight-up plagarism. He rips off plots and shots that are embarassing mish-moshes of Hitch's best (and worst) stuff. And did you see "Mission to Mars"? I didn't think so. And the only people that I can imagine that liked "Femme Fatale" were fans of the bathroom sequence (If you saw it, you know what I'm talking about). The only other film of his that was worth watching was "Mission: Impossible". But "The Untouchables" is a real work of art. I won't go into plot points, but I'll comment on the film's great points: 1) The dialogue is sparkling. Mamet makes these people real as opposed to just making them standard action caricatures (the young idealist, the grizzled old wise-man, the cocky rookie, and the dorky fifth-wheel). 2) The performances are top-notch. Costner, Connery, Martin Smith, Garcia, De Niro, and an underrated performance from Richard Bradford as Chief Dorsett really help to pull this film off. They give it all they got. They make the tragedy and drama and excitement and horror and triumpth of this film work. 3) The visuals are stunning. Stephen Burum really makes that camera work, especially with those beautiful shots of LaSalle Street. This film is a great revisionist telling of the Eliot Ness vs. Al Capone brawl. The film obviously takess a lot of liberties with history, but they really work, especially with the dispatching of one particularly bad man which in my opinion makes for the MOST satisfying film death EVER. It really makes you happy to watch this guy bite it ("Did he sound anything like THAT?!?"). This is a great film and I could not recommend it more highly. But go ahead and skip the rest of De Palma's 'classics'.

Stylish Film, Neat Edition:
Besides Sean Connery and Robert De Niro the actors in this low-budget film were mostly unheard of before this classic blockbuster hit the big screen. It made Keven Costner a star, and helped the careers of Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith as well. A chacter-driven, stylish gangster film, with De Niro giving a gang lord performance of the ranks of "the Godfather". His performance is truly remarkable to watch, but then so are those of the other actors. The story doesn't really go into gangster politics or how the Untouchables made their busts, it but it focuses instead on the characters -- the Untouchables family, Capone's family, and Ness' home family. (Family seems to be its central theme.) It's a great film to sit back with some popcorn or beer and enjoy. This edition has special features which look into script, cast, the making and release of the film. It interviews Costner, Connery, Garcia, Smith, and its director, Brian DePalma, in the process.

Great gangster cartoon!:
The Untouchables tells the story of four policemen who fight Al Capone during the prohibition of the 30's. Don't expect anything like The Godfather though: this movie merely aims at -sometimes cartoonish- entertainment. Don't be surprised with the stereotypical characters and story and the all too colourful 30's setting. It's just how this movie works. Robert de Niro's Al Capone is excellent as the funny bad guy, Kevin Costner and Sean Connery both fit excellently in their roles as two persistent police officers with a mission. Yes, several happenings in the story may be somewhat cliché, but it is nothing less an exciting movie to watch. Executions, shoot-outs, trials and much more: it's all here. It's still better to pinch something well than to invent something badly!

"Somebody messes with me, I'm gonna mess with him":
I am what you could call a relatively new movie fan. I have always liked movies, but I didn't use to watch too many of them. Things have changed, but due to that previous attitude, I still have a lot of old movies to "discover". That is the reason why from time to time I find some jewels that were released a long time ago, but that are totally new to me. "The untouchables" (1987) is, of course, one of such movies. This film is set in Chicago, during the prohibition, a time were mobsters had enormously increased their influence due to the contraband of alcohol. The most important of all mobsters was Al Capone (wonderfully played by Robert De Niro), whose influence was pervasive and somehow accepted by most as a fact of reality. Capone controlled Chicago with force and bribes, and a philosophy that the scriptwriter of this movie (David Mamet) summed up in a phrase that the actor that plays Capone said: "Somebody messes with me, I'm gonna mess with him". Things change when a newcomer to the city, federal agent Elliot Ness, forms a small group to fight crime and target Capone's shady dealings. The team formed by Ness, an old Chicago cop (Sean Connery), a rookie police officer (Andy Garcia) and an accountant (Charles Martin Smith), replays in a highly entertaining way Brian de Palma's cinematographic version of the group called "The untouchables". It is worthwhile to highlight the fact that you shouldn't expect a movie that tells the historical truth about that period in America's history. If that is your purpose, I think that you are likely to be sorely disappointed. However, if you want to watch a great film, with wonderful performances and marked by a dynamic pace, rent this movie :) Belen Alcat