It’s the 35th anniversary of Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, and Paramount continues with its recent tradition of celebrating such milestones with a Steelbook 4K release where applicable. Fans of the film and Steelbook aficionados in general will be thrilled with the look of this one, as it’s an absolutely beautiful collector’s piece that will be a welcome addition to many collections.
The front is where the case is at its best, and that’s where you want it to shine the most if the choice was given. It’s an absolutely packed cover, with graphics and titles found from corner to corner; however, it doesn’t look messy or unappealing at all. For as busy as the cover is, it’s also wonderfully balanced, with designs, the film’s title, the cast and director’s names all working harmoniously to really just allow it all to pop at once. There are also a few bullet holes placed in the perfect spots so as to not throw off the symmetrical designs, but they also give off a nice bonus visual that speaks to the film’s violent nature.
The back of the case is much more simple, with Robert De Niro as Al Capone right in the center, with a nicely designed circular framing around him. Unlike the actors on the front, De Niro isn’t shown in colour, which actually suits the way the back comes together. Again, we’ve got a simpler border on the back, which makes sense, as if they’d added patterns to fill in all the black then it would’ve looked messy and too busy, as there’s nothing else to counter it like there is on the front. We’ve also got another four bullet holes placed in random spots, so there’s no sort of through and through angle being taken here. They’re for design purposes only, and they work nicely on both sides.
On the inside we’ve got a great shot of the film’s protagonists on horseback that’s not an official shot from the film, but a promotional image taken from one of the more memorable action sequences in the movie. There’s a very earthy, brown palette happening here, and each character stands out nicely, with two actors found on each side of the case. I did find it somewhat surprising that they didn’t use the image taken within the movie of Ness and his team, as I believe that would’ve fit just as well; however, it’s possible that in order to break them up equally without a character being placed in the center that the image would’ve had to have been blown up a bit too much and possibly didn’t do it justice. That said, this is an unexpected yet beautiful choice of images that does speak to an important moment in the movie.
If you didn’t know the true story of Eliot Ness and Al Capone then The Untouchables can come off as though it’s the real story of how things went down between the foes during this volatile time during prohibition. That Ness (Kevin Costner) went toe to toe with Capone (Robert De Niro) inside a courtroom, making sure that Capone knew that he was the one who took him down, no matter how much Capone did to try and dissuade him. The reality is that it’s a mostly fictional film that’s focused more on delivering a stylized, tightly paced, fairly straightforward story about good versus evil, with plenty of Brian De Palma violence spattered throughout.
The story sees Ness put together a team of cops he can trust in a city that’s overrun with corruption. The members of his ragtag crew are Jim Malone (Sean Connery), a veteran officer who became content with just walking the beat and making it home at the end of every shift until he crossed paths with Ness. Malone is sick of the corruption that has taken over the job he loves and has a lot to offer the crew. He ends up taking them under his wing to teach them what they need to do in order to get things done in a city like Chicago.
Next up is George Stone (Andy Garcia), who is a recruit fresh out of the academy – the only place Malone believes they can find a trustworthy cop before they’re tainted by the city. Lastly there’s Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith,) who is an accountant sent from Washington, who points out almost comically fast how they should look to catch Capone through tax evasion. But that’s The Untouchables in a nutshell, as they weren’t looking for historical accuracy, they were just looking to make a two-hour movie that’d be entertaining from start to finish.
In fact, the picture on the inside of the Steelbook that sees the Untouchables at the Canadian border never even happened. The entire scene was created for the film, which also highlights just how many liberties they took with the story, as this scene is the one which causes the dominos to start to fall on both the team, and Capone himself. Another famous scene from the film that De Palma is known for is the staircase shootout at Union Station. It’s actually a frustrating scene to watch at times, as it’s such an important moment for Ness that even with him being someone who does good at every turn, I can’t believe he’d leave his post to help a woman get her baby carriage up the stairs. I mean, he could’ve done it earlier, but of course when he finally decides to help the bad guys show up.
What’s unintentionally hilarious is how the scene plays out. Ness is at the top of the stairs with one hand on the buggy that has yet to be pulled to the top when Capone’s men walk into the station and begin making their way down the stairs to catch a train. Ness knowns he’s been made, so he pulls out his shotgun and starts firing. The buggy begins bouncing down the stairs in slow motion, the mother is screaming “My baby!” and Ness continues trading bullets with the other members of Capone’s crew.
Now, the suspense here is supposed to come in the form of this baby carriage flying backwards down the stairs as bullets are flying, yet what’s so funny is that there are these naval officers who just start taking bullets that are bound to hit this carriage. They sort of show that there’s at least one navy guy waiting for a train, but in the midst of all the chaos to just randomly see these people seemingly appear out of the blue just so they could be struck by bullets is comical at a time when it’s not meant to be.
That was a lot of talking about that scene, but it just really stood out during this viewing of the film and I had to mention it. As silly as I found this one scene, De Palma’s stylized filming techniques really do help make this a fun movie to watch. I wouldn’t quite call it a popcorn gangster flick, but it’s close to it, as it’s definitely style over substance. There’s not a lot of digging or character depth, as it truly is a story of good and evil and the lengths that one must go to in order to bring an end to an evil that does seem untouchable. There are some wonderful scenes in the film, and even though we’re at the 35-year mark, I don’t want to talk about one of them, as it’s a spoiler for an emotionally high point in the flick; however, the way it’s handled from a visual standpoint, and with the writing literally on the wall is beautifully done.
The way De Palma handles the story and brings it to life through his unique lens is what helps make this movie as good as it is. Elevating it even higher is Ennio Morricone’s score, which truly transcends the film to another level. Add on a fantastic cast with a then relatively unknown Costner, the always great Connery and one Robert De Niro as Capone himself and you really have to work hard to mess things up. All these reasons are what make The Untouchables as entertaining today as it was 35 years ago, and while the team themselves may be untouchable the anniversary 4K Steelbook is anything but, so be sure to get your hands on a copy before they disappear like a tavern’s alcohol stock the day after prohibition ended.
4K Blu-ray Video and Audio Review
The Steelbook isn’t the only thing on display here, as the film also received a 4K upgrade that allows the film to shine in all its gritty, unforgivingly violent glory. The 2160p Dolby Vision gives this film a needed visual kick from its previous release. We’ve still got some film grain found in various scenes, but it’s not the type that distracts or takes away from the movie, instead persevering the filmic look of the time while the details and colours are taken up quite a few notches. There are some wonderfully dynamic shots that benefit greatly from the boost, allowing the viewer to be fully immersed the way De Palma intended, instead of being taken out of the moment due to muddy blacks or dirty imaging.
The audio side of things is also spectacular, with Ennio Morricone’s score being put front and center and getting the most out of this Dolby Atmos surround sound. It’s one of the best aspects of The Untouchables in general, and truly elevates every scene to new levels. Simple moments become that much more intense, and a simple raid on a post office turns into one of the more monumental scenes in the entire film. The sound effects and dialogue are also clean and sharp, though it’s really hard to compete with what the score does for the film, so knowing that is given the love it deserves should be more than enough to warrant a purchase.
Special Features:
The Script, The Cast – This feature is 18-and-a-half minutes long and sees De Palma and producer Art Linson talking about the concept of the movie, why De Palma decided to do it, how the story came to be, and how much the TV show seemed to be hated by those who created this movie! This is more the creative side of the filmmaking process, with more focus on the film coming to be and how they decided who to cast in each part over actors themselves giving much insight.
Production Stories – This feature is 17-minutes in length and has some older and “newer” (I say newer, but they’re still decades after the original release, as these special features are all carried over from the original release a ways back.) We do get some fun insight from Martin Smith, who talks about De Palma’s openness as a director to hearing out the actors and trying different things. Definitely a fun piece for fans.
Reinventing the Genre – This is a 14-minute feature that sees the usual suspects from the previous features return to talk about how The Untouchables is something different in a genre that was quite bloated at the time.
The Classic – This is a featurette that lands at just under 6-minutes in length and sees the team talk about how the film has impacted their careers. It’s short, but a fun watch.
Original Featurette: The Men – This one comes in at just over five minutes and is a promotional piece from 1987 filled with interviews from the cast talking about the film.
Paramount Pictures Presents The Untouchables Limited Edition Steelbook. Directed by: Brian De Palma. Written by: David Mamet. Starring: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith. Running time: 119 minutes. Rating: 14A. Limited-Edition Steelbook Blu-ray Released: May 31, 2022.
