The Untouchables (1987)

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Oscar Fraley (suggested by book) and
Eliot Ness (suggested by book) ...

Release Date:

3 June 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | History | Thriller

Tagline:

The Chicago Dream is that big

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Treasury Agent | Accountant | Federal Agent | Prohibition | Police

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 9 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Eliot Ness
Sean Connery	...	Jim Malone
Charles Martin Smith	...	Agent Oscar Wallace
Andy Garcia	...	Agent George Stone / Giuseppe Petri
Robert De Niro	...	Al Capone
Richard Bradford	...	Police Chief Mike Dorsett
Jack Kehoe	...	Walter Payne
Brad Sullivan	...	George
Billy Drago	...	Frank Nitti
Patricia Clarkson	...	Catherine Ness
Vito D'Ambrosio	...	Bowtie Driver
Steven Goldstein	...	Scoop
Peter Aylward	...	Lt. Anderson
Don Harvey	...	Officer Preseuski
Robert Swan	...	Mountie Captain

Also Known As:

Los intocables (Argentina) (Peru) (Venezuela) [es]
Die Unbestechlichen (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Les incorruptibles (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Os Intocáveis (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
мЕОПХЙЮЯЮЕЛШЕ (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
Aki legyözte Al Caponét (Hungary) [hu]
Az érinthetetlenek (Hungary) [hu]
De omutbara (Sweden) [sv]
De ubestikkelige (Norway) (video box title) [no]
De uovervindelige (Denmark) [da]
Dokunulmazlar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Els intocables d'Elliot Ness (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Lahjomattomat (Finland) [fi]
Los intocables de Eliot Ness (Spain) [es]
Neúplatní (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Nesalomivi (Yugoslavia: Serbian title) [sr]
Nietykalni (Poland) [pl]
The Untouchables - gli intoccabili (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:16 (cut) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

40 miles south, Great Falls, Montana, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Robert De Niro hadn't much time to gain the extra weight needed for his role, so that he had to wear pads and pillows for the desired effect of looking like the chunkier Capone.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the knife-man goes to look into Malone's house, he climbs onto a dumpster to reach the very high first-floor window. However, from his perspective, we move from looking in one window to another, then a third across the side of the building. This is would be impossible without stilts; the dumpster was only positioned under one of the windows.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title Card: 1930. Prohibition has transformed Chicago into a City at War. Rival gangs compete for control of the city's billion dollar empire of illegal alcohol, enforcing their will with the hand grenade and tommy gun. It is the time of the Ganglords. It is the time of Al Capone.
Reporter: [to Al Capone] An article, which I believe appeared in a newspaper, asked why, since you are, or it would seem that you are, in effect, the mayor of Chicago, you've not simply been appointed to that position.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Real Untouchables (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

MOOD INDIGO

Brian De Palma's Masterpiece

"The Untouchables" is in my opinion De Palma's greatest work, with his other masterpiece, namely "Scarface", coming a very close second. In "Scarface" the focus is on a paranoid and self-destructive gangster who rises to meteoric heights and then falls; in "The Untouchables" the focus is on a very honest man with a noble mission, Elliot Ness (Kostner), who is prepared to do anything to clean Chicago from the corruption and mayhem caused by the notorious gangster Al Capone (De Niro). His quest is really tough, as his opponent is determined and powerful, but he has the help of three invaluable partners: Malone (Connery), a no-nonsense experienced cop, Wallace (Martin Smith), an accountant who will try to help bring tax charges against Capone, and Stone (Garcia), a great shooter.

As I noted before the film is brilliantly directed, with some scenes such as the one with the baseball bat, or the one with the baby in the train station, having become classic. The acting is superb, and while Connery was the one who received his well-deserved Oscar, Kostner and De Niro made Oscar-class performances too.

Although belonging to a typical genre, this film certainly stands out. Don't miss it! 10/10.