Product Description The critics and public agree. Brian De Palma's The Untouchables is a must-see masterpiece - glorious fierce larger-than-life depiction of the mob warlord who ruled Prohibition-era Chicago... and the law enforcer who vowed to bring him down. This classic confrontation between good and evil and stars Kevin Costner as federal agent Eliot Ness Robert De Niro as gangland kingpin Al Capone and Sean Connery as Malone the cop who teaches Ness how to beat the mob: shoot fast and shoot first.Runtime: 119 minsFormat: DVD HD Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 097361247441 Manufacturer No: 124744
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
Amazon.com 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
Incredible Blu-Ray Disc
Well. we all know the film is a masterpeice.
But the question was, is the Blu-Ray a good quality enough?
I just received and saw the film and I am totally satisfied.
The sound and picture are almost like 2008 Blu-Ray.
The sound include 5.1 EX and DTS-ES which is way better than True HD sound or PCM uncompressed, in my opinion.
The picture is nearly perfect. Even the night scenes, there's almost no bleeding or spots.
Great Blu-ray disc.
Highly recommended.
Great gangster film
Maybe no rivalry other than the Hatfield's and the McCoy's, is as well known as the rivalry Hollywood presents us in stories of Elliot Ness vs. Al Capone. This 1987 version of their story is very graphic in its portrayal of the dangerous struggle going on between the two men.
The story is very well known. In the years of Prohibition, Robert DeNiro stars as Al Capone, the leader of illegal alcohol distribution in Chicago. As Kevin Costner's Elliot Ness tries to take Capone down he tries to get the Chicago police force to crack down on alcohol and assembles a small group to work along side played by Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, and Charles Martin Smith. Throughout the story, the violence in this movie is much more graphic then other versions, but it added to the effect of the war between Capone, his employees, and the police who wanted to take him down.
Some of the things going on in this movie, I have to believe, were put in to make the movie exciting, though I don't mind that. A mix of biography and fiction can often intensify the level of excitement in movies. As Ness and his team got closer to taking Capone down, Capone was always there to try to scare them, or in some cases, kill them to stop their progress.
The cast was excellent. Kevin Costner played Ness as if he knew the man, though I suppose there was brash cockiness added to the story to make the character more interesting. Robert DeNiro as Al Capone was perfect. You knew it was an actor, and still, from our previous information, and the menacing performance of DeNiro, you knew this guy was not to be messed with. Sean Connery played Jim Malone, another somewhat overconfident character but a very likeable one, as well. Andy Garcia was kind of the tough guy of the police group, but he really didn't seem too macho which could have been an easy mistake. Charles Martin Smith, at first sight, does not seem like the man to play the role of an assistant to Elliot Ness, but the fact is, the character was sent by the FBI to investigate tax fraud not shoot guns and try to fight Capone, so it turned out to be a fantastic casting call. One more lesser known actor, Billy Drago as the character Nitti. Here was a performance who almost out did the acting job done by Robert DeNiro. Like Capone, you knew Nitti shouldn't be messed with.
Great performances and a very well done story proved to make this story very exciting, though not always believable.
One of the best mob movies ever
While it's a mob movie, it's really about Elliot Ness and his band of "untouchables". The script is excellent and the acting is superb. The recreation of the time period is exquisite and the cinematography is awesome. The railway station scene is one of the best suspenseful scenes in any movie, period. Sean Connery rightfully won the supporting actor Oscar for his part. Assuming you like suspense, action and great acting, you can't go wrong with this movie.
3 IMPRESSIONS OF NESS
The first impression I had of Eliot Ness came from Robert Stack's classic TV weekly of the very early 1960's. I later tearned, perhaps erroneously,
that Ness was really a rather timid, behind the scenes type, controlling the Chicago operations from behind a desk. Costner's performance is superior to both, thus justifyng a superior movie rating. Connery literally teaches Ness the ropes before his untimely death, teaching Ness that morals have no place in this quarter. DeNiro is an excellent backup, who knows Chicago's south side, follows orders, and blends into the action perfectly.If the casting is good, then the picture's tenor is superb, steadily rising in suspense as time goes on, with Nitti meeting a surprise demise from the suddenly immoral Ness, to the courtroom climax, where all of Capone's bribery plans go awry. This is first class entertainment,not to be missd by any age group.
Wonderful edition of a favorite movie
This high definition copy of "The Untouchables" was an incredibly wonderful transfer of one of my favorite movies of all-time. The quality of the cinematography as rendered in high definition was a revelation. The quality of the sound (in DTS) was astounding. The extra features were absolutely worth the price of admission. This is the sort of disk that high definition is all about.