Untouchables, The - Special Edition

Untouchables, The - Special Edition [DVD] [1987]
Directed by Brian De Palma

Price:

£3.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
The DVD extras follow the adage that if one has lemons, make lemonade. This "special" edition has no commentary track, and no new input from stars Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Andy Garcia or writer David Mamet. Yet DVD director Laurent Bouzereau has an ace up his sleeve that makes the four new featurettes (about 50 minutes of content) worth listening to: candid talk. The usual, stiff promotional take is jettisoned as producer Art Linson and director Brian De Palma honestly talk about the film's origins, the tricks of shooting, and the casting of Robert De Niro. These refreshing comments (plus insight from the cinematographer Stephen H. Burum and actor Charles Martin Smith), and better-than-average vintage interviews makes for valuable watching--even if the footage is intercut too often with film clips. To top it all off, there's a new Dolby Digital 5.1 EX soundtrack. --Doug Thomas

Special Features
• The Script, The Cast • Production Stories • Reinventing the Genre • The Classic • Original Featurette - The Men • Theatrical Trailer

Synopsis
Kevin Costner is idealistic federal agent Eliot Ness, whose assignment to clean up Prohibition-era Chicago leads to violence and manly questions about upholding the law. Initially powerless to stop the flow of booze into the city (the police force is corrupt and everyone in town seems to be on the mob's payroll), Ness finds guidance from an older streetwise cop (Sean Connery, who won an Academy Award for this role) who convinces him he'll need to break some rules if he wants to bring down head mobster Al Capone (Robert De Niro). Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith play Ness's other recruits, who together must stand tall against a city full of assassins. Director Brian De Palma (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE) packs the film with violence and creative camera movements while David Mamet's intelligent script capably dodges cliche at every turn. There's a real sense of what's at stake for these characters on a personal level, which contrasts nicely with the futility inherent in enforcing Prohibition in the first place. The film is based on the autobiographical book by Ness (cowritten with Oscar Fraley) and the 1959-63 TV series; Ennio Morricone (THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY) composed the uninhibitedly bombastic score.

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