The Untouchables Reviews and Ratings


  • SkywalkerJones
    November 25, 2009
    SkywalkerJones
    You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way! And that's how you get Capone.-Jim Malone

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    Director:Brian DePalma
    Cast:Kevin Costner,Robert DeNiro,Sean Connery,Andy Garcia,Charles Martin Smith
    Genre:Action,Gangster
    Year of release:1987
    Running Time:119 minutes

    Plot:
    1920's prohibition Chicago is corrupt from the judges downward. So in going up against Al Capone, Treasury agent Eliot Ness picks just two cops to help him and his accountant colleague. One is a sharp-shooting rookie, the other a seen-it-all beat man. The four of them are ready to battle Capone and his empire, but it could just be that guns are not the best way to get him.

    Review:
    The Untouchables is a incredible film and one of the reasons that atracted to watch this movie is because i love gangster movies and this movie is on the same level as The Godfather,Scarface and Goodfellas.When i was a kid,i got a litlle uncomfortable with the violence of the movie but now i m all grown up,i absolutely loved The Untouchables and the idea of one man has the courage to stand against corruption.The Untouchables is definetly a masterpiece and no other movie of the genre can reach the same level of Brian De Palma s crime epic.

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    Kevin Costner delivers an amazing perfomance as Elliot Ness,the federal agent who swore taking down Al Capone.Costner is perfect as Ness and proves to manage the role perfectly.What i love about Elliot Ness is the fact that he s a man with principles and rules but he soon realizes that the only way to face Capone is hunting down with no mercy.This is probably Costner s best roles but i m curious to see him in Dances with the Wolfes.Sean Connery gives a memorable perfomance as Jim Malone which earned him his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.Malone becomes not only a father figure but he s also the heart and soul of the group.Connery delivers here one of his best peformances of his career,proving that he s not only the best James Bond,he s one of the greatest actors of all time.Robert DeNiro was phenomenal as the legendary gangster Al Capone.I didn t recognize him but boy he was amazing.DeNiro is one of the greatest actors of all time and he shows here why.Capone is a little different of the other gangsters.He basically looks more a buisness man than a criminal.Well a honest criminal who won t hesitate to take down his enemies.The other actors were amazing including Andy Garcia as George Stone,Charles Martin Smith fantastic as Oscar Wallace and Billy Drago sinister as Frank Nitti,Capone s henchman.

    Brian De Palma directs his ultimate film and probably the best movie he has ever done since Scarface.De Palma is a genious and he managed to create a memorable crime epic like he knows best with memorable scenes like the train station gunfire and of course Ennio Morricone s amazing score.

    The Untouchables is one of the greatest movies of all time and probably of the 80 s.An american classic that will alwalys live forever as one of the most stunning crime epics of all time and i hope Mr.De Palma delievers more masterpieces like The Untouchables.Classic piece of cinema.
  • rayld02
    November 25, 2009
    rayld02
    This probably is one of the most exciting and most riveting mobster films I have seen for years since ?The Godfather?. There?s a whole dramatic reform in the life of Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner), a federal agent who in full vengeance and despair tried to capture Alphonse ?Al? Capo...( read more)ne (Robert De Niro), the most notorious mafia leader in the 20?s and the 30?s.

    The story was set in the 30?s where Al Capone reigned supreme over everyone in the city. He was one of the most powerful forces in Illinois that no one could possibly turn him down from his prized position in the state. He was a gang lord, a smuggler, and a criminal with overriding cases of abhorring federal insults and abuses. He was the leader of the increasingly huge organization of mafia leaders who bootleg liquor, meaning, they sell alcoholic beverages illegally. Since the 20?s and the 30?s was the Prohibition Era, the time in the United States when alcohol consumption was permanently banned nationally.

    Capone was accused of selling alcoholic beverages during the Prohibition era and also of not paying his taxes for years. Federal agent Elliot Ness who was working for the treasury department was eager to put him down and have him imprisoned. But things all went wrong for Ness. It seemed like Capone was a tremendous and impossible opponent to beat. He was a powerful hierarchal figure in society that nobody dared to stand against him. From that, a battle of good and evil delivered its exuberance on screen. But the predictability of the storyline was as interesting as it turned out.

    Elliot Ness formed a group of gun-carrying cops to prevent Capone from doing his evil deeds. It was composed of the other three major characters in this film: the tactical and outspoken Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery), the sharpshooting fierce-eyed George Stone (Andy Garcia), and the small but terrible Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith). Altogether they fought against Capone and his regime.

    Opening scenes were done Hitchcock-like. I remember opening shots of Alfred Hitchcock?s ?North by Northwest? and ?Vertigo?. In ?The Untouchables?, there was an intense music playing while names were flashed. And that I mean intense. The drumbeat and the intense action of the stringed quartet suggest something unusual was going in the next two hours of viewing. And that opening was such an outstanding mass of expressive arrangement of sounds; simply because it never failed the audience who anticipate its congruent feel.

    Next, bird?s eye view camera shot of Al Capone in his hotel room. The floor was red, which I think Capone?s favorite color ? for blood.

    There?s so much violence in this film which I think adds more excitement and thrill to the audience while watching it. What?s ironic is, scenes were very predictable but still you won?t get disappointed when all what you were thinking happened. That?s what makes this film pretty interesting. Example, when Ness was breaking the wooden package of products in the factory they searched in, you can simply put out a wild guess that there?s no illegal in that box, but still you won?t get disappointed how predictable it turned out. Why? Because it was hilarious and not upsetting. Another example, when the little girl was holding the bag the man left in the restaurant, you know that there was a bomb inside that bag, but still you hope there was none. But when the bag exploded together with the girl, you find excitement after seeing much violence. Why? Because that is something audience go for movies.

    There is nothing quite that too interesting events in this film. It is just the exploitation of the Prohibition Era in the United Stated and the over-exploitation of the life of Al Capone. The interesting parts in the movies are when forces of good and evil collide; it?s hard to assess which is the most probably saying the right things.

    Technically, I think the film has a good register for film critics and movie fans. Lighting, cinematography, and sets were done meticulously. Music is incredibly dramatic and at the same time persuasive. There?s so much drama hidden in the screenplay and dialogues. Acting wise, I highly commend Robert De Niro?s acting for him being so natural and pure. I think he was the best fit for that role and his image I as a middle aged mobster still I can vividly remember. Sean Connery made a good impression of his role. The lead star Kevin Costner did not exhibit much of his acting skills, yet it is just good.

    As for the camera movement, I like the way cameras are placed on set. There were always those tracking shots in which camera moves to different parts of the set to signify different places the actors were in. in this film, the camera always follows Al Capone; which means, he was always in the center of fame. Certain close-ups which I proved good and made this film a classic; see Kevin Costner?s close-ups with his fierce eyes. Those were like those close ups, for example, of Clint Eastwood?s Sergio Leone?s westerns. Extremely low camera angles were used to make characters look so powerful and impregnable.

    Certain films I remember when I saw this film: John Ford?s ?The Searchers? and Sergio Leone?s ?The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?, Alfred Hitchcock?s ?North by Northwest?, Francis Ford Coppola?s ?The Godfather?, Martin Scorsese?s ?The Departed?, and Curtis Hanson?s ?L.A. Confidential?.
  • ythelastman89
    November 22, 2009
    ythelastman89
    A weak attempt from Brian De Palma and not a great film at all. The cast looks great on paper, but almost no one gave a decent performance. Robert De Niro seemed to be the only one that put in any effort and actually played a great Al Capone. It is a forgettable film that has ve...( read more)ry few shining moments.
  • InfamousHugo
    November 19, 2009
    InfamousHugo
    THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987)
    dir. Brian DePalma
    cast. Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia

    This is the fictionalized true story of how Elliot Ness went after Al Capone and brought him down. The Untouchables is most likely one of the best adaptation of a TV series a

    ...( read more)long with The Fugitive. Brian DePalma goes all out here, doing great references to such great filmmakers as Seirgei Eisenstein without ever making it feel like a copy, like in previous films - DePalma's usual biggest problem - Dressed to Kill comes to mind. As usual, he uses complex camera movements and great long take making this film technically impressive sometimes. The train station scene is a classic.

    The score by Ennio Morricone helps the intensity of the film and a few scenes are simply great because of his music. He also absorbs you right into the movie with the opening credits. Definitely a memorable score.

    Kevin Costner had his big break in 1987, in part thank to this film, he gives a fair performance but Sean Connery steals the show as the old agent Malone while Robert DeNiro is almost overacting or parodying himself.

    David Mamet's screenplay is clever, we get real characters with some development and some real struggle when they deal with killing people, even if they are bad guys. One of DePalma's best.
  • odonoghuematthew
    November 16, 2009
    odonoghuematthew
    Best Score 1987 - Best Sound Mixing 1987 - Best Film Editing 1987
  • clairebear44
    November 16, 2009
    clairebear44
    Brian DePalma is a master, and this is a really wonderful example. The Untouchables is a really great look into the era of the rise of gangsters in America. Fantastic acting on the parts of Sean Connery, Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro makes for a really great movie.
  • Dannyrovira
    November 11, 2009
    Dannyrovira
    A outstanding gangster film directed with great skill by Brian De Palma with a superb cast, Kevin Costner preforms to perfection there is grand Oscar winning performance by Sean Connery and memorable one by Robert De Niro as Al Capone. A sharp and clever script by David Mamet, gr...( read more)eat period production design by Patrizia von Brandenstein and William A. Elliott, impressive cinematography by Stephen H. Burum and a emotionally rich score by Ennio Morricone. This is DePalma's finest film, a triumph.
  • theloneowl
    November 6, 2009
    theloneowl
    Io film in sé non mi è piaciuto, ma per la prima volta ho apprezzato quel carciofo di Kevin Costner.
  • delorescunningham1
    October 23, 2009
    delorescunningham1
    this movie is a classic of all times







    one of the most classic movies i love it hits hard u dig.
  • danuaji2000
    October 20, 2009
    danuaji2000
    Great film, great story with great actors....
  • Nenebelle
    October 12, 2009
    Nenebelle
    Not my kind of movie but i did enjoy a few scenes.
  • barbarawalker656
    September 23, 2009
    barbarawalker656
    nice period lawman type movie.... all good actors... highly watchable
  • supernowhere
    September 22, 2009
    supernowhere
    Excellent casting. Mise en scène remarquable. Musique incroyable qui colle parfaitement à l'action. Scènes d'action mémorables. Beauté des plans. Référence à Potemkin qui fait sourire. Un film EPIC.
  • missreed1984
    September 21, 2009
    missreed1984
    need to watch this again
  • ElCochran90
    September 20, 2009
    ElCochran90
    A classic gangster film; an unforgettable legend. This film has the most absolutely perfect movie reference ever put to screen. Brilliant development and acting.

    88/100
  • Wanicola
    September 7, 2009
    Wanicola
    Storia del cinema, poco da dire
  • SirPant
    September 4, 2009
    SirPant
    Historical Inaccuracy, dodgy accents and plagiarism didn't seem to bother anyone and it was a huge success. Personally, I believe its the most overrated gangster film of all time. The 'pram on the staircase' scene was a nice tribute to Sergei M. Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin t...( read more)hough.
  • G0thicm0nk3yET
    September 2, 2009
    G0thicm0nk3yET
    I cried several times. IT WAS AWESOME
  • neoleo86
    August 27, 2009
    neoleo86
    Very dramatic and thrilling specially the Central Station scene
  • herrychristyanto
    August 27, 2009
    herrychristyanto
    Yang ini musti ditonton..
  • Monksgirl
    August 26, 2009
    Monksgirl
    Great movie! Sean Connery and Kevin Costner, not to mention Andy Garcia.....what's not to like???
  • SageSlowdive
    August 26, 2009
    SageSlowdive
    Awful piece of crap. Connery DID NOT deserve the Oscar.
  • RachelJezel
    August 24, 2009
    RachelJezel
    Normally a no, but I do like Kevin Costner (hate if you want).
  • austinmh
    August 21, 2009
    austinmh
    Justice is badass in this great film.
  • laiglesias22
    August 20, 2009
    laiglesias22
    Eliot Ness y su grupo tratan de atrapar a Al Capone. Muy buena fotografía de época.
  • rohitskale
    August 17, 2009
    rohitskale
    Totally Awesome movie :)
  • SquishyAngieFan
    August 8, 2009
    SquishyAngieFan
    Ahh what can i say about the film that turned me on to mafia movies. the acting was top notch in this film as was the directing. De Niro does an amazing job as Capone, i still love the baseball scene. and the shootout with the baby carriage is top notch. the score from this film ...( read more)is also amazing.
  • jsd35
    August 2, 2009
    jsd35
    It's really a bit of send-up of the events surrounding Capone and Eliot Ness all done in the name of heroism, but it's still a great film. Nasty at times (with an unforgettably intimidating Niro wielding a baseball bat in ways no man should during lunch), comedic at others (the t...( read more)ax-inspector is given dialogue from geek heaven), but gripping throughout, propelled in part by a great score and decent direction that keeps the odd problem in the film under-the-carpet.

    And speaking of which ... I have one thing I need to get off my chest about this film: why-oh-why was Connery given an Oscar in this? Was it a sympathy vote?? His accent isn't even close to wear it should be (well, basically his accent remains rooted in Scotland), and even apart from that his acting is simply by-the-books. You might as well give Hayden Christiansen an Oscar for his role in Star Wars.

    Sorry about that. Just needed to get it out. You know.
  • TomBowler
    August 2, 2009
    TomBowler
    possibly one of the greatest musical scores ever, the untouchables is a brilliant look into crime and punishment. kevin costner is surprisingly good. sean connery and his incredibly quotable script also helps
  • LCampM2
    July 30, 2009
    LCampM2
    One of my favorite movies. One to own.
  • mattdonovan2004
    July 30, 2009
    mattdonovan2004
    Superb crime thriller with a great cast and brilliant direction. Ennio Morricone's score is the icing on the cake in creating an authentic 1920s Chicago feel.
  • crichardson5
    July 28, 2009
    crichardson5
    "Did he sound anything like that?"
  • SEGI62
    July 24, 2009
    SEGI62
    IS INTERSTING AND REALITY HISTORY . GREAT FOR THIS MOVE
  • goldbond66
    July 22, 2009
    goldbond66
    Semi classic-De Niro is superb as Al Capone,Sean Connery excellent as a tough Irish Cop(with a Scottish acent lol)Costner is crap as usual.
  • nicolemarley4
    July 21, 2009
    nicolemarley4
    finally got around to watching this today! i really enjoyed it,had alot of suspeseful moments in and i thought robert dinero and sean connery were brilliant! the only downside is the music although it is wonderful music i found it to be unnessasary in parts and offputting. also k...( read more)evin costners acting isnt the best either. but overall i enjoyed it, a good old fashioned gangster movie!
  • doctordoom
    July 21, 2009
    doctordoom
    This is a great film about Eliott Ness and his crew who bring down the famous gangster Al Capone. Great performances from Kevin Costner, Robert DeNiro, Sean Connery and Andy Garcia. The film is based off of a true story and shows the style and look of the times. The story is grea...( read more)t and full of action and gun fights. The acting all top notch and the characters are interesting. Well worth checking out.
  • xPadacklesx
    July 20, 2009
    xPadacklesx
    Pretty good, but do not think that (no offence to him) Sean Connery deserved the oscar he got for it.

    Kevin Costner or Robert De Niro should have or even Andy Garcia.
  • smagmaro
    July 15, 2009
    smagmaro
    A pesar de ser un filme clásico esta película parece tener muchas carencias a pesar del gran reparto y de todo el ensamble de cosas alrededor de esta.
    Las actuaciones son buenas pero hay puntos en que se vuelven exageradas y aveces malas; las escenas son difusas y parecieran ser ...( read more)grabadas con un dejo de ficción que hace ver al filme en un estado de ridiculez.
    Aunque todo esta muy bien ensamblado incluyendo el soundtrack el filme carece de algo que no mantiene al espectador en total atención. No hay que tampoco quitarle sus créditos pues hay ciertas pequeñeces que la hacen resaltar incluyendo a Sean Connery que a pesar de no ser buen actor dio un muy buena actuación.
  • fungirot
    July 14, 2009
    fungirot
    Did you bring a knife to a gun fight? You fail.
  • Passenger1986
    July 9, 2009
    Passenger1986
    Eliot Ness is a personal hero of mine. He couldn't be bought, he was all for upholding justice, he had principles. OK, his life outside of work isn't so inspiring but as an officer of the law, he was someone to look up to.
    While this film takes a lot of dramatic license, if you l...( read more)ook at it like this is an alternate universe where this really did happen, it just reaffirms my belief in Ness and makes for an exciting "cops and gangsters" film.

    Ness is played by Kevin Costner, who does an admirable job as the upstanding FBI agent. He's stern and determined throughout but it's nice to see the scenes with his family and how at peace he can be, even when he's concerned for the state of the city.
    After an initial raid fails, Eliot seeks help from a beat cop known as Malone (Sean Connery, who deserved the Oscar he got for this) on another strategy to take down Al Capone (Robert De Niro, more on his performance later) and later teams up with two more men to form a squad to deal with Capone.

    Now onto De Niro: despite his small role (or small compared to most of the other actors), he makes the screen his own, much like Capone would have back in the day. As I said in Scarface, sometimes people look at gangster figureheads and choose to emulate their style while forgetting how they usually end up, but at least with Capone, oddly enough, he's a little more human than Tony Montana. He keeps his family and business lives separate, he supports the arts (the opera scene) and he is fairly charismatic and funny. That said, don't ever cross him. Ever. The infamous baseball bat scene is evidence enough.

    In addition to that scene, the action in this film is fast paced and would make your jaw drop at least once or twice. The first ten minutes of the film, a bomb is set off in a building and a little girl calls out to the goon who left it, thinking he had accidentally left it behind. She's holding it, doesn't even get to finish calling out before it goes off. That right there should be enough to get people to just think "Holy crap".
    But on the lighter side of action scenes, Malone's idea to get one of Capone's guys talking is to grab the corpse of one his associates, pretend he's still alive, interrogate him and then shoot him right in the mouth.
    All capped off with the shootout at the train station (which was originally supposed to happen inside the train itself but was deemed too costly). Anyone wanting a good shoot-out should check this out, really.

    Besides confirming my faith in the work of Eliot Ness and his Untouchables, I adapt one of the most popular quotes ever into a way of living life: "He pulls a knife, you pull a gun, he sends one of yours in the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue!" as said by Malone (I haven't really sung enough praise for Connery in this review, this is the kind of performance I imagine people use as a measuring stick for anyone trying out a role similar to this. The man was just that good and his retirement is, while well deserved, a blow to those of us who enjoy the greatest actors/actresses on screen).
    How I adapt that, even though this is not the obvious intent, can be viewed like this: life screws you around, you one-up it. The world throws you a hurdle, you jump it and make it so damn graceful that the world looks foolish for testing you. Obviously another quote in this movie fits that better (Ness' "Never stop fighting till the fight is done") but Malone's has a little bit more conviction.

    A film about gangsters but this time it's the cops we're here to see. Bravo, Brian DePalma! Bravo!
  • n4thanl
    July 8, 2009
    n4thanl
    Crime movies don't get much better than this!
  • DoctorXQuinzel
    July 7, 2009
    DoctorXQuinzel
    Overrated to the max, this was just a midly decent film.
  • onesandman72
    July 6, 2009
    onesandman72
    deniro is the best!!!
  • Creasy
    July 6, 2009
    Creasy
    One of the best cast in movie history in a... well... more of a comedy than anything else. Laughed more than most comedies since a lot of scenes are so horrible.
    Awful score by Morricone (great main theme which doesn't fit any scene at all though just like the rest of the score).
  • chanfan71
    July 6, 2009
    chanfan71
    Own it on DVD and Laser Disc
  • SarahG1988
    July 5, 2009
    SarahG1988
    Photobucket




    Federal Agent Elliot Ness sets out to...( read more) take out Al Capone; because of rampant corruption, he assembles a small, hand-picked team.

    Review to come soon...
  • assassincree
    July 5, 2009
    assassincree
    One Of My Favourite Films Of ALL Time

Summary

The Untouchables Summary