Customer Reviews

Not up to all the hype. - By: Mr. J. H. LANDAU, 04 Jan 2009
I can't understand all the praise for this film.Now I am a big fan of hard hitting American crime movies like Goodfellas,Mean Streets,Casino,American Gangster etc,but this one failed to move me.The music was intrusive & not ''of the time'',some of the outdoor sets looked like cardboard,and the main players were all stereotypes.Sean Connery as the old tired Irish cop mumbled his way through the film with a strange mid Atlantic Celtic(Scottish or Irish??) accent,and the guy who played the accountant just had to have a big pipe to smoke to scream NERD.Even he becomes a heroin the ambush at the Canadian border where they all miraculously turnedin to expert horsemen.
All too obvious.And those silly episodes at Ness's home with his perfect American wife,the notein his sandwich box, & litte blonde kid made me reach for the sick bag.Too many of thesein a lot of US films. If it was a boy there would have been Daddy/Kid baseball catchingin the backyard.Ugh.
Even De Niro who I lovein gangster roles,didn't convince me as Capone.
Ultimately dissapointing.Was it a serious film,a comedy film, or a parody?

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Excellent and fast delivery - By: A. Muralidaren, 23 Oct 2008
Always wanted to buy this but had second thoughts about the price,bought this along with The Prestige & Equilibrium as part of the 3 for 10 offer.
Speedy delivery & great value for money!

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We can never forget the absolute vanity of the cause - By: Jacques COULARDEAU, 22 Oct 2008
The film came long after the 1960s series & it was able to improve the discourse a lot from pure police & gangster violence & counter violence & counter counter violence to some kind of calmer & sounder vision of prohibition. The least we can say is the whole case was absurd. Absurd because prohibition was an idiotic policy &in 1931 it was on the very verge of being abrogated, nullified & voided. Absurd because they could never get Al Capone for his crimes since he never did anything himself but only through & via other people. Absurd because even tax evasion was nearly derailed by bribes to the members of the jury, to the judge probably & many other people. But it is also true that this famous case managed to make gangsters & the mafia think twice & start moving to legal operations for their own gangs & abandoning illegal operations to the street gangs, those they did not even try to control. It was also before the time of street gangs, mainly held & controlled by the Blacks & the Latinos, which was supposed to happen after WW2 with heroin & cocaine. The film here shows how fragile & brittle the police is when confronted to that crime. Apart from shooting first they have little moral certainty to holdin front of heavy corruption & hefty bribes. The film shows how these battle are necessarilyin public places & they become some kinds of street war & there have to be collateral victimsin the public. This is emphasized by the pram & baby scene, a scene borrowed from Eisenstein & transposedin that context with great art, though the meaning is a lot triter than Eisenstein's. On the Soviet side a babyin the middle of a real war act from the political powerin place against some demonstrators who have to be eliminated by bleeding them to death. On the US side a babyin the middle of two shooting camps transforming a central station into a shooting gallery with cops on one side & criminals on the other. And what's morein a battle that will come to an end incessantly by political decision. The law was on the side of criminal absurdity. In Eisenstein the law was on the side of anti-historical repression. Andin front of the law Eisenstein had romantic revolutionaries who will eventually win a few years later whereas the Untouchables had a band of criminal gangsters whose business was to make money by illegally importing & selling alcohol. In fact the whole value isin the punch line. Roosevelt has won & prohibition is out, what will you do Mr. Ness? I guess I'll get a drink. That's just the point. A battle that should never have come up if the bad policy that brought it up had not been adopted by a bunch of bigots.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

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"That's the Chicago Way!" - By: Mr. C. J. Aldridge, 30 Sep 2008
Brian De Palma's depiction of Probition-era Chicago is a masterpiece of modern film-making, with Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) & Al Capone (Robert De Niro) fighting it out for control of the city. Malone (played by Sean Connery) is a cop who teaches Ness how to get the seemingly "untouchable" mob boss, & the film (with dramatic & often violent scenes) chronicles the demise of the legendary gangster. Sean Connery received an Oscar (Best Supporting Actor) for his efforts, which is testament to the quality of this picture.

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Brilliantly Made, But Not A Classic - By: Marlyly, 01 Sep 2008
I watched this film for the first time today, oblivious as to what it was about & only interestedin it because of the rave reviews I'd heard. Well, it definatley wasn't what I ewas expecting, but it was very good none the less. Setin the 1930s when alchohol was illegalin the US, Al Capone is the Crime Lord trading the stuff for masses of money, & Eliot Ness, the federal Agent who is determined to bring him down. I wasn't particularly blown away by any of the acting, I guess Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness is worth a mention, but although each character played their part well none of them stood out or really made the character their own. What does deserve a mention however is the stylein which the Untouchables was filmed - lots of weird camera angles & shots, lots of dramatic music, all building up suspense, tension, fear, excitement, sadness, etc. The viewer gets sucked into this film, as long as they have the patience to sit through the first 30 or so minutes until it gets really interesting.

A good film, very well made, but not one I'd be quick to recommend to friends or want to watch againin a hurry. Watch, but don't expect to be blown away.