A Brilliant,Unnforgettable Classic That Mixes Crime Drama,Gangter Film And Action And One Of The Greatest Films Ever Made. Brian De Palma At His Best.

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2013)

The Untouchables is a brilliant,stylish and unforgettable classic and one of the greatest films ever made. Filled with excellent direction,a great cast,a powerful film score,an amazing script and fantastic cinematography,The Untouchables is Brian De Palma,Crime Drama and Cinema at it's best.
Based on the television series and book of the same name and set in Chicago,Illnois in the 1930s during prohibition,The Untouchables tells the story of Elliot Ness(Kevin Costner),a Federal agent in the Treasury Department who has been brought to Chicago to stop the flow of illegal liquor and to stop gangster crime boss Al Capone(Robert De Niro). After finding little success,Elliot enlists the help of veteran Chicago Cop Jim Malone(Sean Connery)to help form a team of cops called The Untouchables to get Capone. Now,with the help of two other cops Oscar Wallace(Charles Martin Smith)and George Stone(Andy Garcia),Elliot and Jim prepare to take down Capone at all costs and do it the Chicago way.
The Untouchables is one of those excellent films that is an instant classic from beginning to end and is a film that you will never forget and it's also a film where everything the direction,the writing,cast and score just seems to work in a flawless way. The Untouchables is an epic Crime Drama that pulls into the world of the violent prohibition era of the 1930s in Chicago where violence is the name of the game and the only law in Chicago is a gun and money and gangsters rule the world. The Untouchables is great film because of the way it rewrites history and takes real life characters(Elliot Ness,Al Capone)and puts them in a fictional tale that feels very real but in a cinematic way and everything in the film is bigger than life. I know that some critics and viewers have complained about this film not being very realistic or true to real life events or facts but The Untouchables is a movie of entertainment not a documentary. The Untouchables is a great Gangster film and one of the few Gangster films where the events is mostly told from the cops point of view and not the Gangsters and instead of rooting for the gangsters you are rooting for the cops in a battle of good and evil and you want The Untouchables to win. The Cinematography by Stephen H. Burum is beautiful and visually stunning,with Burum bringing a stylish feel to the film where the atmosphere is dark with harsh lighting at night with blue colors and beautiful orange and yellow lighting during the day while bringing an accurate feel of Chicago in the 1930s. Flawlessly,The Untouchables balances out the light and dark not just with the characters but with the cinematography. The main characters Elliot Ness and Jim Malone are great because it's almost like a Father and son relationship where Jim is trying to teach Elliot the ways of how Chicago works and how you get Al Capone. Where as Elliot wants to do everything within the law,Jim tells Elliot to do it the Chicago way with a gun and aggressiveness and take Al Capone down that way. The relationship between Elliot and Jim is truly classic and will stay with you. Al Capone in The Untouchables is portrayed as being larger than life a gangster who rules the city of Chicago with a gun and iron hand but is loved by the media because of his charisma and quotes but underneath that charisma is a guy that is evil and brutal and will kill you when he gets the chance. Capone in this film is evil personified. The screenplay by David Mamet is excellent and memorable,with Mamet giving the main characters tough and gritty dialog that reflects Chicago but is also done in Mamet's masterful style and most of the great scenes with Mamet's dialog is classic and doesn't miss a beat. The Action and gunfight scenes in the film are great and electrifying because each Action scene is done with fantastic build-up and suspense and when the Action happens you are on the edge of your seat especially the Train station scene which in my opinion is one of the best Action scenes in movie history. The ending of The Untouchables is wonderful and will have you cheering at the screen and is one of the many reasons The Untouchables is an amazing classic.
The whole cast is amazing. Kevin Costner is brilliant as Elliot Ness,with Costner bringing optimism,toughness and depth to the role. Sean Connery earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his excellent performance as Jim Malone. Connery brings grit,humor and greatness to the role and has great chemistry and scenes with Costner. Charles Martin Smith is wonderful as Agent Oscar Wallace,an accountant. Andy Garcia is fantastic as George Stone,a cop that is a great sharpshooter. Robert De Niro is amazing and at his best as Al Capone,with De Niro bringing charisma and pure evil to the role. Billy Drago is great and unforgettable as Frank Nitti,a Capone guard and assassin Richard Bradford(Police Chief Mike Dorsett),Jack Kehoe(Walter Payne),Brad Sullivan(George),Patricia Clarkson(Catherine Ness),Vito D'Ambrosio(Bow-tie Driver)and Steven Goldstein(Scoop)give good performances as well.
The direction by Brian De Palma is brilliant and stylish,with De Palma always moving the camera using great camera angles as well as zooms and close-ups and giving the film a masterful visual style. Great direction,De Palma.
The score by Ennio Morricone is excellent,epic,powerful and one of the greatest scores in movie history. Morricone's score is big,stylish and unforgettable and fits in with the tone of the movie and matches every scene in the film and raises the film to a higher level. Another masterful score from Morricone.
In final word,if you love Brian De Palma,Crime Dramas,Gangster Films or films in general,I highly suggest you see The Untouchables,a brilliant and unforgettable classic that will stand the test of time and is a film that you will watch again and again. Highly Recommended. 10/10.