THE UNTOUCHABLES: 4K Blu-ray Steelbook (Paramount, 1987) Paramount Home Video

When director, Brian De Palma undertook to ‘remake’ The Untouchables (1987) he assumed a two-fold responsibility - first, to remain faithful to the legendary television series, starring Robert Stack, to have endeared itself to American audiences between 1959 and 1963, and also, to tell a pseudo-truthful account of how Chicago mob boss, Al Capone was brought down in the prime of his crime career. The results here are mostly successful if highly fictionalized, chiefly because De Palma has managed to capture the period without remaining slavishly chained to it. In this, he is ably abetted by David Mamet’s brilliant screenplay, based on the 1957 novel, and a quartet of memorable performances: Kevin Costner as congenial Eliot Ness (in a role originally intended – first, for Don Johnson, then Mickey Rourke), Sean Connery – positively brilliant in his Oscar-winning role as honest cop, Jimmy Malone, Charles Martin Smith - nebbish tax man come defender of the law, Oscar Wallace (a role based on IRS criminal investigator, Frank J. Wilson, who, unlike his fictional counterpart, did not die for his efforts and went on to partake of the Lindbergh kidnapping investigation), and, Andy García, in his debut as George Stone. The other phenomenal turn here comes from Robert De Niro as their arch nemesis, the aforementioned Capone who, in one of the movie’s most sinisterly iconic moments, bludgeons to death with a baseball bat an unsuspecting criminal colleague at a public gathering of the criminal clan. The Untouchables is a movie that, even despite De Palma’s own ‘De Palma-esque moment of staging a baby carriage careening in slo-mo down a flight of stairs (an obvious homage to the Odessa Steps sequence from Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent classic, Battleship Potemkin), still manages to enthrall and engage some 35 years later.  Ennio Morricone creates palpably visceral music cues to advance and punctuate the action, not to mention the taut main titles, and ground-swelling end credits. It all works now as it pretty much worked back in 1987 – spectacularly well.

In what is perhaps the most potent scene in the picture, Jimmy challenges Ness to step up to his sworn duty as an avenging angel of the law, instructing him, “You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife. You pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way!” Crystalizing the purity in their pursuit, Jimmy will pay the ultimate price for his undying integrity in a world, and a city, whose moral compass has been irreversibly eroded by Capone’s white-knuckled dominance.  Viewed today, The Untouchables plays like a cause célèbre for ‘re-funding’ the police. And, in an age where law enforcement has been repeatedly trounced upon by deviant organizations, inciting insurrections under the guise of ‘public protests’, all the while lobbying against truth, justice and the American way, incorrectly labeling its’ defenders as the aggressor, The Untouchables reminds us of another time, perhaps with as darkly conspiratorial intent, but liberated by men whose faith was firmly affixed to the law. Costner’s hero begins this tale as a rather ineffectual man of integrity, unknowing and incapable of lowering his standards to play by the scheming set of rules already established within Capone’s slickly-operated crime syndicate. His Ness eventually emerges, through fault, deed and Jimmy’s expert tutelage – arguably – the sadder, but infinitely wiser crime fighter. This memorable maturity and conversion of Ness’ mindset, though never his character, is what sells Costner’s Eliot Ness as a forthright fixture, destined for the screen annals as a man of action. And, like the film, despite changing times and tastes, Costner’s performance reveals an even more immediate and grave conviction, resisting today’s bizarre moral turpitude.

Set in Chicago during Prohibition, we are introduced to the infamous Al Capone – De Niro playing the crime boss as a bloated creature of formidable slither and stealth. Capone’s distribution of alcohol dominates the landscape. He rules by an authority under penalty of death. In the other corner is Bureau of Prohibition agent, Eliot Ness, whose first, failed attempt at a liquor raid, thanks to tipoffs from corrupt cops, gets him branded an utter laughing stock - a fop in cop’s clothing.  Despondent, and questioning his purpose in life, Ness suffers a chance meeting with Irish-American officer on the beat, Jimmy Malone. The two begin antagonistically, but later, Jimmy sense Ness needs his help.  Jimmy sets Ness to meet new recruit, Italian-American trainee, George Stone (birth name, Giuseppe Petri) who shows considerable promise in his marksmanship. Moreover, he has not been corrupted by Capone. The trio is joined by tax accountant, Oscar Wallace, assigned to Ness from Washington, D.C. After considerable planning, and more than a congress of trepidation, as there is no turning back once the screws have been put to Capone – the boys break into his liquor cache at the post office. Their bust is headline news. It also incites Capone’s blood-lusting fury, illustrated by murdering the gangster in charge of that cache with a baseball bat while his terrorized subordinates look on.

Wallace unearths Capone has not paid any personal income tax in four years and suggests Ness’ case now focus on building a charge of tax evasion, as Capone’s other criminal activities are too ironclad to expose. An alderman (Del Close) offers Ness a bribe to drop his investigation and is driven out of the office by Ness. After Capone's enforcer, Frank Nitti (Billy Drago) threatens Ness' wife (Patricia Clarkson) and young daughter (Kaitlin Montgomery), Ness moves his family to a safe house before redoubling his efforts. Ness and his team intercepts another of Capone’s liquor shipments, this time at the Canadian border, killing several of Capone’s key players in the process as well as capturing Capone’s personal bookkeeper, George (Brad Sullivan), whom they eventually persuade to testify at trial. Alas, Capone is determined to destroy Ness as well as his case. As Wallace escorts George to a safe house, Nitti, masquerading as a police officer, assassinates the pair in an elevator. A distraught Ness confronts Capone at the Lexington Hotel. Mercifully, Jimmy interrupts what would surely have otherwise become a blood bath, telling Ness his focus now should be on convincing the D.A. not to dismiss the charges against Capone. Realizing the Chief of Police, Mike Dorsett (Richard Bradford) sold out Wallace and George, Jimmy pummels Dorsett until he reveals the location of Capone's head bookkeeper, Walter Payne (Jack Kehoe). Alas, just as things are beginning to look up for Ness, Capone sends a pair of assassins and Nitti to Jimmy’s apartment.

While Jimmy has been preparing for just such an ambush, he underestimates Nitti, who mows him down with a Tommy Gun.  A short while later, Ness and Stone discover the fatally wounded Jimmy lying in a pool of blood on the floor in his apartment. Before he dies, Jimmy reveals which train Payne will be taking out of town. Intercepting Payne at Union Station, Ness and Stone overpower Capone’s goon squad and take Payne into custody. During Payne’s testimony at trial, Ness observes Capone is unshaken by the damning evidence against him. He also finds Nitti carrying a concealed weapon, with a note of authorization from Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson. Discovering a matchbook with Jimmy’s address written on the inside flap, Ness realizes Nitti murdered his friend. Panicked, Nitti shoots the bailiff (Pat Billingsley) and flees to the courthouse roof where Ness captures him. Nitti proudly crows the system will never incarcerate him for Jimmy’s murder. Concurring with this assessment, Ness uncharacteristically tosses Nitti off the roof, thereby avenging Jimmy’s murder. Stone provides Ness with a list of tainted jurors taken from Nitti’s coat pocket, allowing Ness the opportunity to persuade the judge (Tony Mockus Jr.) to switch out the entire jury. Realizing the repercussions of such a decision, Capone's lawyer (Will Zahrn) enters a guilty plea to which the mob boss aggressively objects. Capone is convicted on tax evasion and sentenced to serve eleven years in prison. His case at an end, Ness closes up his office, bestowing Jimmy’s St. Jude medallion and callbox key to Stone as a sentimental parting gift. As Ness departs, a cocky reporter (Chelcie Ross) infers Prohibition will be repealed, asking Ness what he will do then. Ness brashly replies, “I think I'll have a drink.”

The Untouchables is a brilliantly executed, if highly fictionalized crime/drama, De Palma pulling out all the stops to achieve a sustainable passion for its period milieu – until this movie, left unexplored by the director. For the record, the real Eliot Ness did not kill Nitti, who died 12-years later by suicide, nor was there ever any high-octane shootout at the Canadian border. In reality, Ness’ involvement with Capone’s tax evasion case was minimal. So, what is in this movie is pure pulp – breezily reconstituted from reality. Grossing $106.2 million worldwide and nominated for 4 Oscars, of which Connery’s aforementioned statuette proved the only winner, The Untouchables remains muchly celebrated and justly so. William A. Elliott’s art direction, Hal Gausman’s set design, and Marilyn Vance’s costuming could scarcely be better, anchoring the picture in archetypal trappings that never, not even for a moment, seem staged for the cameras. Stephen H. Burum’s cinematography achieves vintage verisimilitude. Of the stars, De Niro went through the most rigorous transformation to play Capone, gaining 30 lbs. while religiously studying newsreel footage of the actual gangster. His metamorphosis is staggering. As a backup, De Palma had first approached character actor, Bob Hoskins…just in case De Niro proved unavailable or unwilling to play the part. When De Niro accepted, De Palma mailed Hoskins a $200,000 check and ‘thank you’ note, prompting Hoskins to inquire whether there were any other movies De Palma didn’t want him to be in.

There’s good news as The Untouchables arrives on 4K from Paramount Home Video. The results of the scan are very fine indeed. The Blu-ray from Paramount was no slouch. But the 4K rendering advances considerably and in all the anticipated areas, improving upon overall clarity and sharpness, with better resolved grain and exquisite color reproduction. Grain levels advance, but appear indigenous to their source. The image is crisp and refined with eye-popping fine detail. It looks marvelous. The 5.1 DTS surround is identical to the previous rendering on standard Blu-ray, given a smidgen more room to breathe on 4K’s expanded bit rate.  Paramount has ported over  the extras that once accompanied the Blu-ray, albeit in their underwhelming 720i quality. But for sheer perfection in a video master, this 4K offering comes very highly recommended. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

5

VIDEO/AUDIO

5+

EXTRAS

2