The Untouchables main backdrop
The Untouchables main poster

The Untouchables

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7.8/10 • 5.6K

1987-06-031h 59m

CrimeHistoryThriller

What are you prepared to do?

Elliot Ness, an ambitious prohibition agent, is determined to take down Al Capone. In order to achieve this goal, he forms a group given the nickname “The Untouchables”.

Directors
Brian De Palma
Writters
David Mamet, Chip Miller
Editors
David Mamet, Bill Pankow

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Kevin Costner

    Kevin Costner

    Eliot Ness

  2. Sean Connery

    Sean Connery

    Jim Malone

  3. Charles Martin Smith

    Charles Martin Smith

    Oscar Wallace

  4. Andy García

    Andy García

    George Stone

  5. Robert De Niro

    Robert De Niro

    Al Capone

  6. Richard Bradford

    Richard Bradford

    Mike

  7. Jack Kehoe

    Jack Kehoe

    Payne

  8. Brad Sullivan

    Brad Sullivan

    George

  9. Billy Drago

    Billy Drago

    Nitti

Reviews3

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Jan 12, 2020

10/10

Never stop fighting till the fight is done, here endeth the lesson. As good a gangster movie that has ever been made as DePalma does justice to Mamet's electric script. The acting on show is right out of the top draw, the inevitable ease that DeNiro puts menace into Capone is quite impressive, whilst the fresh faced pugnacious tenacity of Andy Garcia's George Stone is something of a delightful experience. Yet that is not enough because we still need the central actors to carry the film if it is going to triumph. Connery is a given performance wise (accent aside of course, but then again who cares when the character portrayal is as sharp as it is here?) but it is Costner as Eliot Ness that shines like the star he was soon to become, it's a magic performance that manages to fuse genuine tenderness of family love with little trips to the dark side in pursuit of making good triumph over evil. I love that the film is showing how violence and fear affects families, mother and child is a theme that is central to the film's heartbeat, notice how some of the more violent scenes are followed by tender scenes of Ness and his family. The set pieces here are attention grabbing entertainment, a roaring Canadian border rumpus and a smashing roof top pursuit and face off are top value, but it's DePalma gold watching a brilliant Battleship Potemkin homage at the Union train station that takes the cake as the film enters the last quarter. Surely historical facts does not matter when films are as sharp as this one is?. It's frightening, touching, and even witty. So for me at least, the film is 10/10 in every department (and yes, even with Sean's accent). Footnote: The academy saw fit to nominate Ennio Morricone for his wonderful score, yet strangely he used some of it for the main theme in John Carpenter's 1982 film "The Thing", they must have missed it that time I presume! Must be the genre angle one thinks...

Media

  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster
  • The Untouchables poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$25,000,000.00
Revenue
$76,270,454.00
Keywords
chicago, illinoisprohibition eragangsterbaseball batwhite suittough coptreasury agentuntouchabletax evasionjury tampering1930s