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The Untouchables

The Untouchables

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $17.99
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Untouchables is First Rate
Review: Costner plays the famous Elliot Ness who, in real life, was hired for the specific purpose of harassing Cappone. De Niro is type cast as gangster Capone, but it is these roles that he excells at. Connery is the quintessential Irish [...] beat cop of the early 1930s. This film moves along at a brisk pace, and does not waste any time. Best scene involves a gunfight in train station. Costner's Ness is a lot like his Garrison in JFK. He is the family man of high prinicple and morals taking on an insidious evil which manifested itself in those days in illegal traffiking of booze violating the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brain De Palma¿s Crowning Achievement.
Review: Out of all the TV shows that have been turned into films, my Three Favourites are "The Fugitive", "The Untouchables" and "Mission Impossible". Two of these Three were Directed by Brian De Palma, and "The Untouchables" is his best.

"The Untouchables" is a Perfect movie, Absolutely Flawless in my opinion. Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Andy Garcia all give their most Likeable Performances to date and Robert De Niro gets Just enough screen time to make an Unforgettable impression as Al Capone.

Everything Works in this film. The Sets and Costumes are Perfect, the Acting is Top Drawer, The Direction is Breath-taking and the Screenplay is Spot on.

De Palma uses some of his Trademark Visual Tricks to tell this Timeless tale, and he never Overdoes it like he has before, Like I said before, Everything Works Perfectly. Sheer Story-telling Perfection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Maybe DePalma's Best
Review: The Untouchables works on so many levels that it's hard to pick one aspect of this film that truly defines it as a whole. Brian DePalma has simplified the story a great deal, making it a clear cut Capone vs. Ness street fight. Sean Connery gives one of his most memorable performances as Jimmy Malone, a tough as nails Irishman who has walked the beat for too many years. Malone and Ness's friendship is one of the central focuses of the film, and it's intriguing. Ness comes to Malone for help because he is so straight that he won't break any law to bag Capone. Malone helps Ness get off the fence and by the end of the film, Ness's transformation is complete when he throws one of Capone's hitmen off the top of a skyscraper. Overall, the action is great, the story-line is excellent, and oh yeah Robert De Niro plays Capone! My only complaint about the Untouchables is that De Niro doesn't get enough screen time. Although when he does, the images are indelibly tattooed into our brains (Baseball bat scene, anyone?). Andy Garcia also plays Stone, a young sharpshooting rookie who helps the Untouchables nab their man. Costner does an admirable job as Ness, but I'd still think that there was someone better suited to play the role. This DVD is a great addition to any collection, buy it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun gritty period piece shoot em up
Review: Simple escapism fun. Kevin Costner plays straight-arrow federal agent Elliot Ness who is initially dedicated to using every lawful means to bring down gangster Al Capone (Robert De Niro). Tough beat cop Malone, played by Sean Connery, disabuses Elliot of his naivete and, along with a raw recruit played by Andy Garcia and a FBI lawyer played by Charles Martin Smith, helps him start to punch holes in Capone's defenses. Needless to say, Capone is unamused and retaliates. The movie is a series of back-and-forth confrontations between good and evil culminating in a more-or-less historically accurate courtroom scene where Capone is tried for tax evasion.

Connery won an for his performance in this film Oscar and deserved it. Tough and smart. An intelligent and complex portrayal of a gruff old man who has one last chance to do some good. Its kind of a shame. Connery is a fine actor when he wants to be. Unfortunately, he seldom wants to be. De Niro is great as Capone. Charming and vicious at the same time. Very over-the-top in just the right way. Garcia and Smith hold thier own. Costner is as wooden as a cutout of himself. I've never understood why Costner is so famous and respected in Hollywood. He is a dreadful actor. He's made one great Western, a couple of clever baseball flicks back in the 80's, this film and a few fairly good films here and there. Hardly the second coming of Sir Lawrence Olivier. Hell, he's not even as good an actor as Connery, De Niro, or Charles Martin Smith. Sorry Andy.

Lots of action, plenty of blood, great lines, the period is very convincingly recreated, the score is great, the shooting is very creative and De Palma did a great job directing. There are some minor gaffs here and there. Mostly in being faithful to the period and sequence pacing. Little stuff. For instance, Canada did not use the red maple leaf as a national symbol in 1930. But so what. All in good fun.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Watching this is one of my enthusiasms...
Review: Guns, memorable lines, and walls covered with ejected grey matter from ballistic exit wounds. It's a Brian DePalma flick, all right. Throw in a semi-romanticized portrayal of 30s gangland Chicago, tweak the actual historical records of the period to make things more exciting and dramatic, get a few big stars to play the central roles, and THE UNTOUCHABLES becomes the logical result. It's also one of the few good feature films based on a TV series (which in turn was based on the novel by Eliot Ness) out there. Ironically, it's probably this movie more than any other that started the trend of TV show-based cinema, which has been a hit-and-miss affair ever since the string commenced.

Okay, enough praise... time for a few very, VERY slight shortcomings (at least what I consider shortcomings) in this classic-look Mob actioner. Although I doubt that Connery would've won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar were this film released in a different year, a nomination still would've been a certainty. His character Malone definitely gets the best lines, which makes him really stand out from the other three stalwarts. His explanation of "The Chicago Way" to Ness in the church is one of the most memorable moments in movie history. Costner does a pretty good job of playing Ness, but he sometimes appears a bit TOO naïve and inexperienced. And he could've emoted a bit more as well. I'm also somewhat irked that none of the original "Untouchables" TV show principals were given any screen time. They could've at least given Robert Stack a small part or cameo. (Heavy sigh)

Like most of my other fellow reviewers, I found the special features to be VERY lacking. Just a trailer, scene selection, and subtitle options. This has been a problem with just about every Paramount DVD out there, especially- at least with me- the Star Trek flicks. And why do I have to waste half a minute waiting for the copyright warnings (In English AND French, no less) to pass? Why can't I fast-forward through it like I used to do on VHS? Hopefully, Paramount will come around to adding more stuff to their Digital releases in the future.

There is one big advantage to THE UNTOUCHABLES being on DVD, though. I really love Ennio Morricone's main title that plays during the opening credits. I'll sometimes replay the opening credits several times in a row before letting it go, and "rewinding" it back to the beginning to hear it again is a snap! It also saves me from having to buy the soundtrack...

'Late

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great.... well, almost.
Review: If you're here, you're probably a fan of the movie but you're not sure whether the DVD is worth purchasing or not. Well here's the big question. Do you value extra DVD features and/or proper 5.1 sound? If you really do, as I do, then you will be disappointed by this DVD. The extra features I don't really care about but half of the DVD experience is the clean discrete 5.1 sound. In this transfer it's as if the sound engineers simply re-recorded the DD stereo and left the other channels blank. If you decide to purchase this, remember you are doing so because you love the movie w/o great sound.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fabulous movie; no extra features.
Review: I've been waiting for this dvd for a long time. I refused to buy the video because I new the dvd would come out one day. It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that The Untouchables is by far the best movie Brian de Palma has ever made. On dvd it looks great, sounds great, has the best trailer I've ever seen for the movie, but it's missing the one defining thing that separates dvd from vhs. It has no extra features. This bothered me untill I actually sat down and watched the movie, I forgot about the extra features half way through it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great flick, but I would have preferred a different director
Review: I'm not a professional movie critic, but I love good movies;movies that draw me into its story and bring out the emotions that we feel in life, then magnified for effect. I can watch great movies over and over to the point of memorizing the lines, without growing tired of the repetition. I give this movie 4 stars for the brilliant performances by DeNiro and Connery, and an outstanding supporting cast (I considered Costner's role "supporting"). I loved that I was introduced to the classic Armani suit and gorgeous Andy Garcia. What I don't appreciate to this day is DePalma as the producers' choice for director. Can anyone name a DePalma movie where females are portrayed as something beyond ditzy, corrupt, and useless? The mother who sends her daughter to a bar for "medicine". The same little girl gets blown up trying to return a ticking briefcase. As for Mrs. Ness, what can one say? Did they have valium in the 1930s? And what about the mother with baby carriage at the train station? (other DePalma movies with useless, helpless females: Mission Impossible, Dressed to Kill, Bonfire of the Vanities, Carrie, Carlitos Way, Scarface). The outstanding male performances truly carried this film. But the one-sided attention they were given will limit the type of casual viewing audience it will attract on say, TNT or TBS (but isn't there a "just for men" equivalent to Paul and Anabelle now? ) If the script were given a bit of a tweak and had a different director who had experience dealing with strong female characters, the movie would have a multi-dimensional feel (OK, a "DATE MOVIE"). Ridley Scott (Thelma & Louise, Alien), James Cameron (Terminator, Aliens). I suppose I've digressed from the point of this review. Bottom line: buy it, watch it, enjoy it, but consider what it could have been.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Never stop fighting till the fight is done...
Review: This is a great film on many levels. As others here have mentioned...the soundtrack is fantastic, the acting is superb, the cinematography is beautiful, and the story is strong.

Imagery and allusions are throughout. The strong contrast DePalma makes between violence and family is intelligent.

Di Nero, Connery, Garcia, (and even Costner) are all terrific.

Watch this film--you will love it!!

...Here endth the lesson."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This DVD is untouchable!
Review: I dont know about most of you, but when I buy a DVD I buy it for the movie and not the extra features. I could care less about the features. If you want a sweet movie on dvd pick this one up today.


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