The Untouchables (1987)

The crime genre is my favourite movie genre. Why? Because it's the most interesting, especially when based off a true story. 1920s Chicago, and Al Capone is reigning supreme. Elliot Ness has put together a special team of incorruptible officers, namely 'The Untouchables', and they will take down Capone by all means necessary. I expected nothing less of director Brian De Palma, who also directed one of my favourite films of all time, Scarface. I always feel excited watching a gangster film, especially when I know it's based on a true story. The Untouchables is a fantastic film, but it's not Goodfellas. True, this was released before Goodfellas, but I think Goodfellas is generally the gangster film to compare with all others. Now, think of all the greatest gangster films you've seen: Goodfellas, Casino, The Untouchables, Once Upon a time in America, Mean Streets, Jackie Brown, and many others. What's the common factor? Robert De Niro. The way I see it, you're gang film will be fantastic if you've got De Niro in the cast. De Niro does a wonderful job as Al Capone, but the shining star of the film is Sean Connery in his Oscar winning performance as Jimmy Malone. "They pull out a knife, we pull out a gun. They put one of ours in the hospital, we put one of theirs in the morgue!" Fantastic film indeed. However, it doesn't have a great watchability factor. It's not something you can enjoy again and again. Overall, a fantastic film, with a great cast and a dman great story. 4 Stars