The Untouchables: Revisiting Brian De Palma's Gangster Classic

[@asifkhan4822]

Sean Connery is a truly legendary actor, the only guy who get away with playing a Russian, a Spaniard and an Irish man in this film all the while keeping his own Scottish Accent in place and winning an Oscar for it too.

[@biffwellington1782]

I guess people had a hard time questioning a guy who threw smacks around like candy.

[@marconeves1979]

And I never even questioned it. Ever. His performances are so good, I never cared. Ah, yes... Juan Sanchez Villa Lobos Ramirez. Brilliant.

[@StephenLeGresley]

He wasn't Spanish in Highlander, he was an Egyptian who spent a lot of time in Spain.

[@marconeves1979]

@@StephenLeGresley Yes, true (his orginal name was Tak-Ne or something). Still....a Scot-sounding Egyptian. Which was marvelous no matter what.

[@fistimusmaximus6576]

I'm not Spanish, I'm Egyptian.

[@davidmylchreest3306]

The legend is that the Odessa Steps sequence was devised by DePalma at the last minute when the original plan was too costly to shoot. His mates, like Spielberg and Scorsese were so excited that he was doing a tribute to a movie they all loved that they all visited the set on the days this was filmed.

[@asmodeus0454]

I have seen "The Untouchables" several times and thoroughly enjoyed it on each viewing. De Palma did a bang-up job and the full cast's performances were superb as was Morricone's score.

[@daveghaxton]

Ennio M should definitely have won the Oscar for the score

[@jooei2810]

Absolutely!

[@nothanks...]

Not only this, but for the Good the Bad and the Ugly and Cinema Paradiso. He was truly not recognized for his talent by the Academy

[@wstine79]

"What's your real name? Before you changed it?" I love that scene at the shooting gallery.

[@jules-yi8rn]

Billy Drago was an awesome henchman! Everyone was on top of their game for this....suspenseful, thrilling, and memorable.

[@DelightLovesMovies]

I love the Untouchables. The acting, music, and story, keeps me stuck to the screen for its entire runtime.

[@mtrich8113]

The soundtrack for The Untouchables was so unique.

[@virgil3241]

Excellent video. Reminds me to watch this with my son who has really taken an interest in watching all these great older movies. Most I am remembering from all the JoBlo videos

[@grandmufftwerkin9037]

Connery doing what he did best; delivering flawless cool dialogue.

[@sergeipohkerova7211]

"What! Are! YEH! gon'Dooo! Blarghagzvsgehzbaksndveybwzbhee!"

[@motorcycleboy9000]

I'll take Le Tits Now! for $400.

[@HILAL19564]

​@@sergeipohkerova7211😂😂😂😂 your comment cracked me up. Thst scene was pretty good actually

[@pramendhbridgebunsee9242]

I remember watching this movie in the cinema back in 1987. They don’t make movies like this anymore❤

[@alisterfolson]

"They don't write 'em like that anymore." - The Breakup Song

[@ravishankersunderam1241]

Couldnt have said it better . But those times WERE different

[@TheBenjil]

You missed the fact that the iconic Union Station scene is an hommage to the famous "Potemkin Battleship" Russian movie of 1925 that has a very famous similar scene.

[@jamesmorant1406]

My favorite Brian De Palma movie well deserved oscar for Sean Connery but the whole cast was fantastic my favorite scene is the union station so well done 10/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@hendo337]

That was a sympathy vote...

[@jamesmorant1406]

@@hendo337 what do you mean

[@thomasseery7570]

Highly stylised old fashioned fun. Uplifting acting and the great scene in the railway station made it unforgettable. Sean Connery was fantastic, he lived the role

[@jackruttan3545]

As a film nerd, I appreciated the reference to the Odessa Steps sequences from the silent film Battleship Potemkin.

[@peanutismint]

Unexpected and lovely to hear a Geordie accent on the JoBlo channel! Great job Adam.

[@Captain-Cosmo]

Saw it on opening weekend at the fabulous Columbia theatre in Atlanta. Morricone's score is magnificent, and the opening credits were amazing. It helped establish Costner, brought Connery once more to the cultural forefront, introduced Garcia, and reminded us just how overlooked Smith had been. A tour de force by DePalma that helps cement his legacy.

[@misterkiji]

The slow motion runaway baby carriage scene is an homage to the Odessa scene in Battleship Potemkin.

[@BuckarooBanzai84]

This was one of my late father's favorite movies, so no matter what, it will always have a special place in my heart. That being said, I just wanted to point this out; the famous "runaway-baby-carriage-shootout"-scene was actually meant as a subtle homage to a similar scene in a famous Russian silent-film called 'The Battleship Potempkin"; a scene which has been spoofed/homaged many times in films before and since this one. (Although that doesn't mean it's not a great scene.) Just an interesting little bit of trivia. =)

[@mattstakeontheancients7594]

One of my favorite movies. No matter how many times I’ve seen it if it’s on I will watch it. One of the few movies along with Gladiator that never gets old. Only wish I was old enough to have seen it in theaters

[@8584zender]

No discussion of Morricone's score? A key part of this production.

[@michaelhorning6014]

One of my favorite films of all time, one I'll watch again and again.

[@rick9977015]

What a great cast this was. I would have liked to see hoskins play Al Capone...but Deniro did an awesome job.

[@timwodzynski7234]

I watched this film for the first time when I was ten. The shootout at the train station is my favourite scene and I watched again for the upteenth time on Netflix a few months ago.

[@tperk]

I moved to the Chicago area at almost the same time the movie was released, and saw the movie more than a dozen times. Whenever I took the train into Union Station I made sure to walk up and down the steps where the memorable shootout scene was filmed to pay homage LOL.

[@Yvolve]

6:58 Oscar Wallace is not the one who came up with the tax evasion theory, but an Assistant United States Attorney called Mabel Walker Willebrandt. Her nicknames were First Lady of the Law by her contemporaries, and Prohibition Portia, Deborah of the Dries and Mr. Firebrand by her opponents. She was a hardliner who aggressively upheld the Volstead Act as prohibition was officially called in law. She had a very interesting career, especially for her time.

[@IsaacKuo]

There's so much I love about this movie, but Union Station is absolutely the highlight for me. It's such a perfect scene, the way it ratchets up the tension and suspense, and then nails the payoff. The movie's action scenes have been mostly realistic up to that point, but the heroes are in such a desperate situation that we accept the impossible things that they had to pull off in order to prevail (seriously, there are a couple shots that Andy Garcia's character make which are mind blowingly impossible).

[@Micke12312]

Not really. Its a movie you love or hate.

[@docsamson198]

I had a chance to be an extra in this as they were filming near the University of Illinois at Chicago. I was a student there and had an important final the day of filming. So I couldn’t go to the set. Yes, I blew it. I could have been in The Untouchables!

[@alisterfolson]

Your Future Self: we're just glad you made that test and graduated 👍

[@jooei2810]

Ennio Morricones music is the icing on this cake.

[@andrewah15]

The Untouchables is an absolute classic movie. The staircase shootout is an amazing set piece.

[@8584zender]

Eisenstein would have been proud.

[@hendo337]

I liked it better on The Naked Gun

[@Omar-wq9dz]

I know Sean Connery won the Oscar and Robert DeNiro is in it, but I actually thought the best performance in the movie was Andy Garcia

[@JoBloOriginals]

so cool in it - made him a star

[@PhantomFilmAustralia]

I'd love to see Andy Garcia and Mark strong in a movie playing brothers. Apart from the accent and hairline, they're practically identical.

[@hendo337]

That Oscar was a sympathy vote...

[@ShadowStoryteller]

Sometimes you just want a Cops and Robbers story. The fact this one has Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Al Pachino (and I apologize if I spelled it wrong) in it is a bonus.

[@8584zender]

Yeah, it's spelled Robert De Niro.

[@jamesbednar8625]

Awesome review!!! Can remember seeing this movie when it came out in the theaters (golly it is THAT OLD???). Anyway, can remember that I really did not care too much for this movie at the time, but it definitely is one of THOSE movies that GROWS on you and gets BETTER with each viewing.

[@mysteriousstars122]

*This was a masterpiece ☺great movie cast and a grate performance*

[@MarioLamRedRebel]

Love and respect the Palma. I have the Untouchables on 4K and its a must have 👍👍

[@graham1979]

I don’t care what anyone says, the untouchables is one of the best movies of all time.

[@maverickslb80]

Masterpiece of a movie.

[@boris1387]

Great to hear a geordie on hear👌👍🏻

[@samanthanickson6478]

a spontaneous dorm floor girl’s trip got me to see the untouchables opening weekend and i was totally sold! the union station scene was particularly riveting because most of our group was from chicago. it was such a good movie. we had a great time. ☺️

[@kathyastrom1315]

The locations were terrific-they used that block of LaSalle Street just north of the Board of Trade building extensively, and it looked straight out of 1930. BTW, you can also briefly see Union Station in the film The Sting, which has another connection to the baby-carriage shootout. The actor who played the bookkeeper who Ness and Stone were trying to get, Jack Kehoe, was also in The Sting, where he played Erie, Hooker’s friend from Joliet.

[@DiviAugusti]

“Are there any other films you don’t want me to be in?” Is the most hilarious line.

[@garetjax19]

The way the scene with the baby in the pram is filmed. Is De Palma referencing the film 'Battleship Potemkin' (1925). Peace All

[@morgand.3809]

It feels odd to see a discussion of this movie that doesn't mention "Battleship Potyomkin", given that the train station shooting scene is taken from Eisenstein's masterpiece. Anyway, "The Untouchables" is still one of my favorite movies. Excellent performances all around.

[@archivemedia1140]

It’s no secret that “The Untouchables” have taken some, if not all, Creative Liberties to “Portray” the events and people within that time period. The History Buff channel and others have already disclosed that claim for many years since the movie’s release. Overall, it’s still a fantastic cinematic thriller that is enjoyable to watch despite some of it’s historical flaws.

[@swst]

Quietly Charles Martin Smith was my favorite character as Wallace! Short, smart but can be deadly with a shotgun!

[@liamcroft2453]

Great movie cast and a grate performance,one of my favorite movies ever.

[@ChubbyChecker182]

I vividly remember first seeing andnhearijg that opening credits sequence in the cinema fir the first time... I have been a huge Morricone fan ever since

[@Omar-wq9dz]

Bob Hoskins loved telling the story of how he was offered Al Capone but didn’t get it, and received $200k for not getting the role

[@BlueShadow777]

I didn't know that. Hoskins would have been a MUCH BETTER Al Capone than De Niro. In fact, Hoskins looked more like the real Capone too.

[@OG_Luciano]

That was such a cool factoid about Bob Hoskins!

[@karlkarlos3545]

It was De Niro's fourth collaboration with De Palma. You let out The Wedding Party. What an expert!

[@Tecnicos-qj8pb]

Love this film,great video!!!!!

[@filmbuff2777]

The intense train station sequence was also a homage to Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin.

[@LukeLovesRose]

Unfortunately this great gangster movie has taken a lot of criticism lately... for some reason. But I still consider The Untouchables to be one of the greatest movies ever made. Its smartly written and beautifully directed. The acting from everyone involved is top-notch. Yes, that includes Kevin Costner as the young and naive Elliot Ness

[@StephenLeGresley]

Great retrospective, you should do a video on the TV show versions from 1959 and 1993.

[@heatherdale5571]

This is a BRILLIANT film. I watched it a ton of times growing up. It was a revelation of almost Godfather proportions, at the time. For me anyway.

[@ravishankersunderam1241]

You're my brother!!!!

[@shaggycan]

Love this one. Especially the score. And Connery of course.

[@markprior2278]

People have a go at Connerys Scottish sounding Irishman, but lets not forget Kevin Costner's American sounding Englishman in Robin Hood.

[@tomhahnl1927]

Great Movie, one of De Palma's best!

[@Omar-wq9dz]

This movie rocks

[@ukmediawarrior]

I love this movie, but I agree, the scenes with Ness's family slow it down terribly. If I watch it on streaming I usually fast forward past them. One interesting historical detail they got wrong, among others, lol, is that Capone never put a hit on a Federal Agent. The killing of such a person would have brought down to much heat on him.

[@davefrancis4529]

No mention of the score being used as the theme for the Oscar ceremony ever since….

[@kevingiven3463]

Awesome movie, on par with anything Martin Scorsese has done in the genre,

[@_scabs6669]

Scarface was the film that introduced me to De Palma really. Now that I've seen more of his films I think it's the least De Palma film he ever made. Everything else is candy is comparison.

[@tylerwagner1978]

Unfortunately that movie is what most people think of when De Palma is brought up. But he's done better films.

[@_scabs6669]

@@tylerwagner1978 👎

[@jyesucevitz]

you forgot Connery's accent in Highlander as "the spaniard."

[@alisterfolson]

Glad they didn't have spoilers then...the killings of the good guys came out of left field for me.

[@tyrgoossens]

I don't know how you can mention the famous pram-scene without saying that it was an hommage to the soviet film Battleship Potemkin.

[@ameliapond1916]

Unpopular opinion: the pram-on-the-stairs scene is my least favorite in the film. My personal favorites are the Canadian bridge scene (that score!) and the courthouse chase sequence just before Ness tosses Nitti off the roof ("he's in the car.")

[@CornishCreamtea07]

You neglected to mention that the pram scene was inspired by Battleship Potemkin.

[@StephenOBG]

Confused me a little at the time being young. The game by Ocean software came out in 1989, yet I never saw any trailers or ads for the film. This film a true 1987 classic though.

[@vanmetschke]

LOVE this movie....

[@CornishCreamtea07]

Kevin Costner does a great job as Eliot Ness, but I would have loved to have seen Jeff Bridges in the role.

[@theredlens]

A modern classic

[@simonwoodthrillerwriter]

I really loved the film when it came out. It's aged a little but it's still a cracker. The only thing I've noticed on a recent rewatch is that Ness is pretty much responsible for getting his people killed. His moral crusade keeps puts others in danger while he seems safe from harm.

[@russellb5573]

Good retrospective but I've never heard of David Mamet (the 'et' pronounced as in metropolis) being called Mamay before! Not BDP's best movie but I enjoyed it

[@melvert33]

Yeah he did a guest voice on the Simpsons years ago and he pronounced it himself as Mamet (Mam -et)

[@russellb5573]

@@melvert33 I mamay take your word for that 😉👍

[@trinaq]

According to "Trainspotting", Sean Connery SHOULD have won his Oscar for "The Name of the Rose." However, he was decent in both movies.

[@8584zender]

The Name of the Rose is merely a blip in an uninterrupted downward trajectory.

[@mychunkyjordi7585]

Sean Connery was born in Scotland probably why his Irish accent wasn't the best. He's great though and was in every film. So missed 😊🐾 💞 👍 💜

[@8584zender]

Ya think? Then there is thing called 'acting' wherein you play a Soviet submarine captain or an ancient Egyptian/renaissance Spaniard or an English king and modify your accent to suit the role.

[@marcprimo1471]

David Tennant is Scottish but he can do an English accent.

[@marshac1479]

Loved it.

[@jolfer1334]

It came out the year i was born so i gotta like it

[@PhantomFilmAustralia]

Sean Connery being Sean Connery in the era he would have loved. *_"Every wonsh in a while, you give 'em a little shlap!"_*

[@dondevice8182]

As a fellow Scotsman, I give you a break for our accent, but it i David Mamet “ma-meT”, with a short ‘a’ a,d ‘e’ , and a good, hard ‘t’ at the end, not “ma-may”! It’s not Al Ca-pon-ay’ either! ;-) )

[@cjplay2]

JoBlo - Where is Dead Poet's Society? You've mentioned it in 2 videos, but not one on its own. Please PLEASE do a video on Peter Weir's second-best film (truman show) that has inspired teachers for 3 decades.

[@tylerwagner1978]

Witness is up there too.

[@matthewching277]

Classic

[@gx12]

Always room for more Brian DePalma. Frankly, I think you guys are sleeping on BDP coverage. Dressed To Kill Blow Out Body Double The list goes on.

[@djmexicanodetx2195]

I love the baseball bat scene.

[@gypsydildopunks7083]

Kevin Costner is always Kevin Costner in every movie. Like Will Smith and a lot of other boring people in movies. They were good in some roles, but they are no Gary Oldman. Gary should own every Oscar

[@tylerwagner1978]

Some actors are great when used in the right way. Like Keano Reeves or Arnold.

[@caniz80]

he bought a decent microphone!!!!!!!!!!

[@TheRush1966]

great film :)

[@csj5105]

Wow the fake accent is genius! Thanks

[@mitrooper]

Deniro was great, but Hoskins would have been the better Capone.

[@leespiderpod]

I watched this at the cinema as a 16 year old and loved it.. as an adult I can’t stand it. Essentially It’s a kids film

[@mikemoore5263]

It's good but I have always preferred Carlitos Way

[@BaronVonHaggis]

_I'd climb a mountain for a bag of Tudor_

[@sergeipohkerova7211]

I think it's a really good movie but it does have a 1980s feel to it, just like films from the 70s feel like that decade even if they're portraying much earlier times. Sort of like Star Wars has 1970s haircuts, The Untouchables with it's occasional synth music and camera style gives it away as mid 80s. My favorite part was when Costner threw that dude off the roof lmao

[@brendanward2991]

It's a fun flick, but hard to take seriously.

[@stevemcnary7963]

Connery never uses another accent regardless of character. He's a movie star not an actor. Orson Welles Irish accent in Lady From Shanghai was worse than Connerys

[@BlueShadow777]

Agreed... although neither was as bad as what must go down as the all-time worst; that is, Dick Van Dyke's attempted cockney accent in Mary Poppins (1964).

[@8584zender]

@@BlueShadow777 "Hold my beer" - Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

[@travissmalley4349]

America! You can kill, you can bootleg, you can gamble but you better pay your taxes

[@hendo337]

That was a sympathy vote...

[@blackamerican40]

Wow! Dressed To Kill couldn't get a mention or clip? Wow! I'm so disappointed, it makes me want to put on Bruce Springsteen's video Dancing In The Dark and just dance away my being bummed out. 😅😅😂

[@adampatterson5475]

I loved Dean in that episode of supernatural, when he goes back to this time lol

[@michaelstaunton1632]

👍👍👍🎥

[@ianashby3626]

They send one of yours to the hospital you send one of theirs to the morgue that's the Chicago way