"Untouchable" - True Gangster Greatness

Rating: 10/10 (11 March 2005)

I'm going to make this short and to the point:
To me, Eliot Ness and the Untouchables were true patriots, fighting to end corruption wherever it reared its ugly head. With that in mind, 1987's "The Untouchables" is one of the greatest gangster movies - period. Brian De Palma, coming down off of the landmark gangster classic "Scarface" (1983), continued the trend with this carefully woven tale (screenplay complements of David Mamet) about Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner, perfectly cast) and his band of incorruptible federal agents. Ness is as naive as they come - bright-eyed and ready to take gangsterism down the "old" way - but being that this is Prohibition-era Chicago, the police are on the take, and no one can be trusted for fear of retribution from Al Capone (Robert De Niro). Ness finds his most trusted and loyal partner in a beat officer, Jimmy Malone (Oscar-Winner Sean Connery), who so carefully spells the law out out for him, "He {Capone} sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue!" The Untouchables certainly do seem to overstep their boundaries in bringing Capone down, using a number of well-planned and law-bending tactics. The cinematography is beautiful, helping to capture the gangster-era in all its glory, and the Ennio Morricone score really gets you pumping for the action. De Palma is at his greatest in directorial excellence in staging stellar, heart-pumping action sequences (with the Morricone score blasting away too), which come to include the Canadian liquor bust, the train-station shootout, and the ending rooftop chase between Ness and Capone's #1 hit-man Frank Nitti (Billy Drago). Beware though, since this is De Palma territory here, we should be on the lookout for some scenes of pretty stylized bloody violence and the blood + guts action that characterized the times. Still, "The Untouchables" is one of my top 10 "must-see" pictures and I'm sure it's essential viewing for any gangster movie aficionado.
10/10