“The Untouchables” hit theaters on June 3, 1987. It was a little over a month away from my 16th birthday and I still remember my unbridled enthusiasm for the movie. I would perk up with every TV spot. I read the movie novelization. I read “The Untouchables: The Real Story” by Eliot Ness. I watched the old Robert Stack television series (what few chances I had in a small rural town). In other words seeing this movie was a big deal at the time.
I can’t count how many times I have watched it since. I can say that after paying it a visit for the first time in a while, it still excites me. Director Brian De Palma’s Prohibition era gangster picture pulls from an assortment of different inspirations. De Palma certainly infuses it with a specific visual style. At the same time the film features several classic filmmaking and storytelling touches. It was a big success. It did well at the box office and at the Academy Awards. It grabbed four Oscar nominations winning one for Sean Connery’s supporting work.
Kevin Costner plays Eliot Ness, a young and eager Prohibition agent in 1930 Chicago (the role was originally offered to Mickey Rourke). He is assigned the seemingly impossible task of taking down mob boss Al Capone (Robert De Niro). Capone owns most of the city through violence, bribes, and liquor distribution. Ness flounders his first few liquor raids and borders on being a laughing stock around town.
Ness catches the eye of a seasoned cop named Jimmy Malone (Connery) who is fed up with the mass corruption running through the system. Malone pushes Ness to go further and to be willing to get his hands dirty if he wants to stop Capone. The two add a young academy trainee and expert marksman George Stone (Andy Garcia) and Washington bureau accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) to their team. They begin to make dents in Capone’s organization eventually earning the nickname “The Untouchables”. But can anyone be called ‘untouchable’ in De Palma’s corrupt and violent Chicago?
Even at almost 30 years-old “The Untouchables” hasn’t lost a bit of its excitement or intensity. De Palma and screenwriter David Mamet deliver a fluid, high energy story that weaves through rampant police corruption and bloody gangland violence. And there is certainly some bloody violence. At times the film flows with a classic gangster movie vibe. But then De Palma will broadside us with a scene of jarring violence which feeds the film’s unique tone.
The presentation is top notch. It was brilliantly shot by Stephen H. Burum and several of Chicago’s historical locations were used. The settings, wardrobes, and set designs are impeccable. The Grammy Award winning score from the great Ennio Morricone is simply superb. Who can forget the deep piano accompanied by the haunting wail of a harmonica? Like so much else in the movie, Morricone’s score is truly phenomenal.
And how about the cast? A young Kevin Costner is the perfect fit for an earnest and determined Ness. De Niro hams it up to epic levels. Of course he goes really, really big, but he is a ton of fun. And then you have Sean Connery who gives one of the best performances of his impressive career. He’s surly, he’s tough, and he has a ton of charisma. Garcia is really good as the soft-spoken cop in training and Billy Drago is gloriously evil in his version of Frank Nitti. The cast is fabulous from top to bottom.
High expectations can often be a death knell. Thankfully that wasn’t the case with “The Untouchables”. It more than delivered when I finally saw it during the summer of 1987. It was nice to see that it still holds up after all these years. Some have picked the film apart, pointing to everything from Mamet’s script to Connery’s accent. Neither were an issue for me. Instead I see this as a fabulous bit of entertainment that hasn’t aged a bit and is unquestionably one of Brian De Palma’s best.
VERDICT – 4.5 STARS
Keith & the Movies 
While it is in my top list of films that I love by de Palma, it is certainly essential as it’s just a lot of fun but also filled with such style that is engaging to watch as it also features one of my favorite non-Leone scores by the Maestro himself.
The score is absolutely superb! It is so perfectly in tune with the tone of the film. Love hearing you are a fan. You just don’t hear many people talking about it these days.
Morricone to me, is the best film music composer…. EVER!!!! Not John Williams. Not Hans Zimmer. The fuckin’ Maestro. I get high to “Ecstasy of Gold” whenever I hear that piece.
Such an amazing ear for music and incredibly in tune with the movies he scores. Iconic!
No Love for Danny Elfman?
Essential viewing, if you’re a Brian de Palma fan or not. Entertaining, stylish, and something only a filmmaker like this could have successfully pulled off in that special way of his. Haven’t seen this in a while so it’s time again to screen it. Good one to do a retro review of, Keith.
Thanks man! I’m such a huge fan of it. You’re right – essential viewing for sure. Adored this film since I saw it back in the 80s.
Nice review Keith. One of my favorites by Brian De Palma and it’s as entertaining as hell. A lot of people accuse The Untouchables of favoring style over substance, but the style is so good it’s hard not to enjoy this.
100% agree. The style is bold but it never once drowns out the characters or story. In fact I would call it a near perfect mesh of style and story.
This movie should make every film lover happy. The stars are great, the music is memorable and there are at least three great set pieces that I can watch all by themselves and feel like I have been entertained. For ten years or so, DePalma was the director I could watch most obsessively. His films might be over the top but they were shot with verve and an eye that was unfailing. This is his most mainstream masterpiece. Even more than “Mission Impossible”, this is a genre picture elevated by the work of a particular director. The David Mamet script is full of quotable moments. Yep, I’m going to have to put this in again this coming week. Thanks Keith, now I’m going to be two hours late for the next two weeks.
I love your first lines. Man I agree with every word. This movie doesn’t get mentioned much these days but I think it is an absolute gem.
I LOVE this one, man I’d love to see this on the big screen. It’s a great thriller, perhaps one of my fave performances from Connery and Costner.
Costner and Connery are both absolutely tremendous. I would love this movie since I was a young teenager. And it has a extremely well.
Pingback: my mind reels through film
https://sindenlee3.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/561/?preview=true I have nominated you as an awesome blogger.
Wow! Thank you so much. Really appreciated.
This film just does not hold for me. I remember really loving it when I first saw it but, over the years, it has not stuck with me the way other De Palma films do. Connery is great in it though.
Interesting. I’ve been amazed at how well I have still loved it over time. This was the first time I watched it in a few years and still was completely absorbing to me.
Heard so much . . . well, a good bit at least (don’t wanna hype up my pre-viewing expertise too much! 😉 ) . . . about De Palma’s crime drama here and i gotta say this review pushes it even more towards Must See territory for me. That cast, that concept — and I’m spitballing but it has to be a big influence on things like The Departed — and it just being in a genre I’m gradually falling more and more in love with, why not go for it?!
Oh man, it is definitely must-see material. The style is so cool and the performances are superb. It’s a great film and I would love to see a DS review. 😉