One of the best films of the 1980s

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2008)

I have high regard for THE UNTOUCHABLES. It is as enjoyable and watchable even today as it was 20+ years ago. I say that either this or ROBOCOP is the best film of 1987. I wish the Oscar would go to the most rousing, enjoyable film of the year (like this one) rather than overlong epics (ironically, this film has an epic feel to it, but it is so fast-paced that it doesn't feel like a long film) or gimmicky, schmaltzy films. It received 4 Academy Award nominations in technical categories (Costume, Art Design, Original Score, and won for Best Supporting Actor Sean Connery). It should have won in the other 3 categories too, esp. the score one (one of the best I've ever heard!).
Kevin Costner is perfection and a revelation as crime-fighting G-man Eliot Ness, sent to Prohibition-era Chicago to take down legendary gangster Al Capone. Costner became a huge star with this film and exudes that old, stalwart movie star quality without seeming stale and monotonous. For me, this is a highly underrated performance. Rather than play it macho and act like a tough guy, Costner plays it close to the vest and more real. To him, Ness is a human being trying to do the right thing, but he also has a family (wife, daughter, and expecting another child) and wants to go home to them every night! Al Capone is portrayed by the great Robert DeNiro (who gained 30 pounds to play this role) and essentially is a glorified cameo role that Mr. DeNiro (obviously!) makes the most of, showing that the truly great actors can do a lot with very little to work with.
At first out of is league and seen as a joke, Ness quickly gets smart and tough by enlisting the aid of aging, world-weary Irish beat cop John Malone (played by the aforementioned Oscar-winning Connery, in his greatest film performance). Ness and Malone enlist a couple of other 'Untouchables' in Ness' fellow G-man accountant Wallace (the funny and quirky Charles Martin Smith) and rookie cop Stone (Andy Garcia in extremely solid work).
The perfectly cast and executed film has some of the greatest set pieces ever in the history of film (1) the Untouchables and Canadian mounties' charge against Capone's men at the US/Canadian border, as well as Hitchcockian-style sequences (2) a long, uncut tracking shot in the halls of the police dept. hallway after Ness' men have supposedly nabbed the guy that can finger Capone, (3) Capone's goons going after Malone in his apartment, (4) Ness' confrontation with Frank Nitti at the courthouse, and finally (5) the great sequence at the train station of Ness and his men fighting Capone's men's to nab the accountant who can put the nail in Capone's coffin.
Directed by the legendary Brian DePalma, I say this is his greatest achievement as a director. The Untouchables is a highly entertaining movie experience that reminds you of how much fun movies can really be! Superb!