The Untouchables (1 Viewer)

Rob

Rob

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Just got the first series of this on dvd.I absolutely love it!.Its escapism into the black and white world of Elliot Ness and Capone.Plenty of poses some wooden acting but its great stuff.There is a scene from an ep called 'Ma Barker and her boys' where a guy is meant to be dead in the living room.Everytime a bullet comes through the window it makes him jump and he blinks!!.Wonderful stuff.

Rob
 
That series is one of my favorites. Of course most of it is complete fiction. If you like this type of thing - read "Public Enemies" about the bank robbers of the early 1930's - Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde etc. A great book - soon to be a movie with Johnny Depp.
 
Thanks Doug i will look out for that,the movie sounds good too.As you say complete fiction in the Untouchables,i understand Elliot Ness was not involved in the killing of Ma Barker.But its still a really enjoyable series.What did you think of the film remake with Kevin costner?.

Rob
 
Rob said:
Thanks Doug i will look out for that,the movie sounds good too.As you say complete fiction in the Untouchables,i understand Elliot Ness was not involved in the killing of Ma Barker.But its still a really enjoyable series.What did you think of the film remake with Kevin costner?.

Rob
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I recall seeing the film a long time ago and not really caring much for it. Interesting story about Ma Barker is that she had little or nothing to do with the gang's crimes. Certainly not the mastermind as portrayed in some movies. That myth developed when Hoover began vilifying her after she was killed by the FBI. He didn't want the FBI to look as though they had killed an innocent old women - which of course they had. Public Enemies has a lot of great stories like Dillinger escaping from prison with his "wooden" gun. The FBI shootout fiasco at Little Bohemia - a book unto itself.

Unrelated, but I saw "The Assassination of Jesse James" with Brad Pitt and thought that was a very good movie. Not a fan of BP, but have to say he was great. Probably not for everyone since it is a non-traditional western (somewhat artsy) but I enjoyed it much more than I would have expected.
 
I have to admit to liking gangster style movies for their action value. However I'm not in favor of movies that make gangsters or outlaws in general (including Jesse James and Australia's Ned Kelly) to be some sort of heroes. They were all just ruthless scum that murdered people for money.
 
About a month ago I watched the origional Robert Stack Untouchables.
All I can say is Elliott Ness would have been indicted for numerous civil rights violations.
Gary
 
Combat said:
I recall seeing the film a long time ago and not really caring much for it. Interesting story about Ma Barker is that she had little or nothing to do with the gang's crimes. Certainly not the mastermind as portrayed in some movies. That myth developed when Hoover began vilifying her after she was killed by the FBI. He didn't want the FBI to look as though they had killed an innocent old women - which of course they had. Public Enemies has a lot of great stories like Dillinger escaping from prison with his "wooden" gun. The FBI shootout fiasco at Little Bohemia - a book unto itself.

Unrelated, but I saw "The Assassination of Jesse James" with Brad Pitt and thought that was a very good movie. Not a fan of BP, but have to say he was great. Probably not for everyone since it is a non-traditional western (somewhat artsy) but I enjoyed it much more than I would have expected.
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Very interesting Doug.I can imagine Hoover doing that!.I thought i read somewhere that she may possibly have aided her boys after the crimes but wasn't the machine gun waving killer as shown in the movies.

I agree about the Brad Pitt film too.When it first started it looked a little dark and ponderous to me but i ended up really enjoying it,despite knowing the ending!.I maybe entirely wrong here but don't the descendents of Ford and James still hate each other?.

And i also agree with Oz about gloryfying murderers,we have a similar thing over here with the infamous Kray Twins.

Rob
 
Like most movies involving Kevin Costner, his version of the Untouchables stunk. The only redeeming factors were Sean Connory (although he got an oscar for playing an Irish Cop with a Scottish brougue) and Bobby DiNero as Capone. The last scene, where at the end of Capone's trial, the "bought off" jury is replaced en mass by a jury which heard no evidence in the case and just rendered a guilty verdict for the heck of it is possibly the stupidest ending in the history of court-related movies, and that is saying something.
 
One aside, I read recently that with the upcoming transition to all digital TV in the U.S. that many of these old TV shows have become hot properties. That's because digital technology permits your local broadcaster to multicast more than one TV program at a time. So cheap, but popular programming like these old shows fit the bill.
 
Re: The Untouchables-gangsterland

I had the honor at age ten or so of being tossed out of the biograph theater in chicago-the old neighborhood, after hitting the manager walking up the isle, directly in the face from five feet away w a flatttened popcorn box. directly into John Dillengers last and fatal alleyway,thought I heard a face say "nice going kid",, St valentines day garage was about a half mile from my house.
 
Louis Badolato said:
Like most movies involving Kevin Costner, his version of the Untouchables stunk. The only redeeming factors were Sean Connory (although he got an oscar for playing an Irish Cop with a Scottish brougue) and Bobby DiNero as Capone. The last scene, where at the end of Capone's trial, the "bought off" jury is replaced en mass by a jury which heard no evidence in the case and just rendered a guilty verdict for the heck of it is possibly the stupidest ending in the history of court-related movies, and that is saying something.
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I agree about Costner Louis,i never knew Robin Hood had an American accent ;):D
 
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While waiting for a case to begin I was scanning "Things To Do" in Chicago and noticed that someone has an "Untouchables Tour" available. One problem - I think a lot of the original buildings have been torn down.

Gary
 
Hey Gary,i just looked the tour up online.As you say it sounds like most of the buildings have been demolished now,also it got pretty mixed reviews.Bet its still fun though.

Rob
 
Louis Badolato said:
Yikes!!:eek::eek: Its among the worst movies ever made . . . think showgirls without nudity as a redeeming factor!!:D:eek::p
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Comparable??to another of Mr Kostners epics playing Marshall Earp as opposed to "Tombstone", ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Nonsense,,by all means move."
 
Interesting posts about Costner and how bad his movies are. I agree, generally, but it occurs to me that there are some pretty good performances from the other actors in these movies. Like Connery and DeNiro in "The Untouchables", as Louis pointed out, and Charles Martin Smith was pretty good, too, in that movie; Robert Wuhl in "Bull Durham"; Gene Hackman and George Dzundza in "No Way Out"; and Graham Green and Mary McDonnell in "Dances With Wolves" (though that movie was a little too much "white man bad-Indians-are-all-Rousseauean-noble-savages" for my taste); and James Earl Jones in "Field of Dreams". Of course, I think those folks are all fine actors in their own right, and turn in a good performance, no matter what the quality of the property.

Wasn't Costner the body in "The Big Chill", too?
 
Baron Brad,

Finally, somebody who will admit that Dances With Wolves wasn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. I agree that this movie was overly simplistic in its protrayal of the Indians, and frankly, I thought, particularly in Costner's case, poorly acted. Gene Hackman and George Dzunda gave good performances in No Way Out, and, seeing Sean Young naked was also quite nice, but otherwise that movie made me want to pull my hair out. I will admit that I thought Field of Dreams was a very good movie, but it is the only Costner performance I can stomach.
 
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