← Back to Reviews
in
1987: The Untouchables
1987 was a good year for film, with many good films released. My main runner up is Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, which I do rate highly in Kubrick's body of work. My other runner up is Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II, which is a superior sequel and a first rate horror-comedy. Other films I liked from 1987 are Lethal Weapon, Good Morning Vietnam, Bad Taste, Dirty Dancing, Hamburger Hill, The Lost Boys, Near Dark, Spaceballs, Predator, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Princess Bride, and to a very lesser extent, Superman IV.
During the Prohibition era, Eliot Ness is determined to bring down Al Capone. He and a hand-picked team, including Ness, a Irish-American police officer Jimmy Malone, a trainee cop George Stone & accountant Oscar Wallace. Together, they try to bring down Capone.
While not as iconic or memorable as Scarface, I give much more credit to Brian De Palma for The Untouchables. It's a cinematic masterpiece of a film, as De Palma delivers excellently staged action sequences and great character development. David Mamet's script is very quotable, even more so than De Palma's other masterpiece, with many great lines going to Sean Connery's Irish cop.
What I love most about this film is the grand, comic style it is delivered in. I believe this is the gangster genre at it's most exciting and entertaining. It offers humour, drama and genuine thrills, and it effectively pulls it off.
I also really love the performances in this film. Kevin Costner delivers a good lead performance, but it really comes down to those of Sean Connery and Robert De Niro. As Malone, Connery delivers what may be the best performance of his career, in a dynamic and genuinely humourous performance. And De Niro's Capone is monumental. His Method skills fit perfectly into the role. It's the definitive take on Capone, in my opinion.
I also have to give a special mention to Ennio Morricone. His work in this film is dynamite. The opening theme is dynamite and is what instantly gives off that comic book style I mentioned earlier.
This may be a short review, but there isn't really much more to say about The Untouchables, except it's a well acted, glorious gangster film, which in my opinion, is the best of Brian De Palma's career.
1987 was a good year for film, with many good films released. My main runner up is Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, which I do rate highly in Kubrick's body of work. My other runner up is Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II, which is a superior sequel and a first rate horror-comedy. Other films I liked from 1987 are Lethal Weapon, Good Morning Vietnam, Bad Taste, Dirty Dancing, Hamburger Hill, The Lost Boys, Near Dark, Spaceballs, Predator, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Princess Bride, and to a very lesser extent, Superman IV.
During the Prohibition era, Eliot Ness is determined to bring down Al Capone. He and a hand-picked team, including Ness, a Irish-American police officer Jimmy Malone, a trainee cop George Stone & accountant Oscar Wallace. Together, they try to bring down Capone.
While not as iconic or memorable as Scarface, I give much more credit to Brian De Palma for The Untouchables. It's a cinematic masterpiece of a film, as De Palma delivers excellently staged action sequences and great character development. David Mamet's script is very quotable, even more so than De Palma's other masterpiece, with many great lines going to Sean Connery's Irish cop.
What I love most about this film is the grand, comic style it is delivered in. I believe this is the gangster genre at it's most exciting and entertaining. It offers humour, drama and genuine thrills, and it effectively pulls it off.
I also really love the performances in this film. Kevin Costner delivers a good lead performance, but it really comes down to those of Sean Connery and Robert De Niro. As Malone, Connery delivers what may be the best performance of his career, in a dynamic and genuinely humourous performance. And De Niro's Capone is monumental. His Method skills fit perfectly into the role. It's the definitive take on Capone, in my opinion.
I also have to give a special mention to Ennio Morricone. His work in this film is dynamite. The opening theme is dynamite and is what instantly gives off that comic book style I mentioned earlier.
This may be a short review, but there isn't really much more to say about The Untouchables, except it's a well acted, glorious gangster film, which in my opinion, is the best of Brian De Palma's career.