The Untouchables (1987)

NEUTRAL

In-Theaters

87%

1987, Crime/Drama, 1h 59m

RT Critics’ Score: 83% (UNBIASED)
RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
11 wins & 16 nominations total

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Critics Consensus

Slick on the surface but loaded with artful touches, Brian DePalma’s classical gangster thriller is a sharp look at period Chicago crime, featuring excellent performances from a top-notch cast

Audience Consensus

If you’re looking for a movie that’s heavy on the fiction but still feels real, then The Untouchables is the perfect pick. Sure, it takes some liberties with history, but who cares when you’ve got those great Chicago locales and a cast of all-time greats? Plus, it’s got enough action and drama to keep you on the edge of your seat. Just don’t go in expecting a deep exploration of moral quandaries or complex characters. This is a classic cop vs. mob story, and it’s fabulously entertaining for what it is. So grab some popcorn and get ready for some rat-tat-tat action!

Storyline

After building an empire with bootleg alcohol, legendary crime boss Al Capone rules Chicago with an iron fist. Though Prohibition Agent Eliot Ness attempts to take Capone down, even his best efforts fail due to widespread corruption within the Windy City’s police force. Recruiting an elite group of lawmen who won’t be swayed by bribes or fear, including Irish-American cop Jimmy Malone, Ness renews his determination to bring Capone to justice.

Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures,

Distributor
Paramount Pictures

Release Type
Theatrical

Filming Location(s)
Blackstone Hotel – 636 S. Michigan Avenue, Downtown, Chicago, Illinois, USA

MPAA / Certificate
R

Year of Release
1987

Technical Specs

Color:

Color
Sound mix:

Dolby
Aspect ratio:

2.35 : 1
Runtime:

1h 59m
Language(s):

English
Country of origin:

United States
Release date:

Release Date (Theaters): Jun 3, 1987 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 16, 2001

Genre(s)
Crime/Drama

Keyword(s)
starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Billy Drago, directed by Brian De Palma, written by David Mamet, crime, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Richard Roeper, George Morris, Bob Thomas, Duane Byrge, Derek Malcolm, Carrie Rickey, Stephen Silver, Ed Travis, MPAA rating R, Art Linson produced, prohibition, gangsters, Eliot Ness, Al Capone, Chicago, period crime, lawmen, corruption, Irish-American cop, bootleg alcohol, Frank Nitti, tax evasion, minor players, period Chicago crime, top-notch cast, sharp look, slick, artful touches, classical gangster thriller, excellent performances, heavy on fiction, Chicago locales, palpable, real, loaded with ironies, personal, social, entertaining, uplifting, right beating might, style-over-substance, silly gangster film, serious drama, historical quirk, smallest error, indiscretion, downfall, watchable, ultimately empty experience, unintentionally silly performances, problematic script, provides just enough drama, not getting to grips with subject matter, sufficient depth, Oscar-winning films, far worse, truly untouchable

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $76,270,454
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $203,583,755
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 686
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 22,201,064

US/Canada gross: $76,270,454
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $203,583,755
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 340
US/Canada opening weekend: $10,023,094
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $26,753,992
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 513

Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $25,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $66,730,872
Production budget ranking: 628
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $35,934,574
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $100,918,309
ROI to date (est.): 98%
ROI ranking: 943

Cast & Crew

Kevin Costner

Sean Connery

Robert De Niro

Andy Garcia

Charles Martin Smith

Eliot Ness

Jim Malone

Al Capone

Agent George Stone

Giuseppe Petri

Kevin Costner – Eliot Ness
Sean Connery – Jim Malone
Robert De Niro – Al Capone
Andy Garcia – Agent George Stone, Giuseppe Petri
Charles Martin Smith – Agent Oscar Wallace
Billy Drago – Frank Nitti

Brian De Palma

David Mamet

Art Linson

Director

Writer

Producer

Director(s)
Brian De Palma

Writer(s)
David Mamet

Producer(s)
Art Linson

Film Festivals

Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
11 wins & 16 nominations total

Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners

Top Reviews

Richard Roeper

George Morris

Bob Thomas

Duane Byrge

Derek Malcolm

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Reader

Associated Press

Hollywood Reporter

Guardian

THE UNTOUCHABLES
All Critics (71) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (13)
“The Untouchables” is heavy on the fiction, but thanks in large part to those great Chicago locales, it feels palpable and real.

June 1, 2022

Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
To paraphrase William Butler Yeats, the moral, psychological, and emotional center of The Untouchables, like that of all of De Palma’s movies and like that of Reagan’s administration, simply cannot hold.

May 9, 2022 | Rating: 1/4

George Morris
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The Untouchables is a terrific movie, full of the same brand of fierce vitality that made the 1930s gangster films so compelling.

July 17, 2019

Bob Thomas
Associated Press
TOP CRITIC
While overtly melodramatic, The Untouchables is a perceptive and hard-driven actioner. It’s an intriguing character confrontation, loaded with ironies, both personal and social.

June 5, 2018

Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
The Untouchables is two hours of fairly solid entertainment, an eventually uplifting parable about right beating might, cast in the form of a Warner Brothers social realist picture of the thirties.

March 20, 2018

Derek Malcolm
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
A deeply satisfying and entertaining Prohibition gang-buster directed with a Tommy gun’s rat-tat-tat.

June 25, 2013 | Rating: 3/4

Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
A gorgeously-mounted, well-acted, and all-around fantastic motion picture, featuring all-time greats of the form on both sides of the camera- it’s just a shame that almost nothing in it is true (35th anniversary)

June 16, 2022 | Rating: 4.5/5

Stephen Silver
Tilt Magazine
I’d argue that De Palma’s Untouchables more than cements its status as a crime/action classic based almost solely on its iconic style alone.

June 5, 2022

Ed Travis
Cinapse
Even though David Mamet’s script takes a few too many historical liberties for my tastes, The Untouchables reinvents the genre.

May 31, 2022 | Rating: 4/5

Danielle Solzman
Solzy at the Movies
Though the film doesn’t explore this as much as might satisfy those interested in the moral quandary at the heart of the film, there’s no denying its place in cinema history.

May 31, 2022

Douglas Davidson
Elements of Madness
The characters become moral forces rather than human beings, and the story has the tinny resonance of a cheap western. It’s fabulously entertaining for what it is, but its lack of ambition leaves you a little depressed.

April 21, 2022

Stephen Hunter
Baltimore Sun
The Untouchables is an entertaining cop vs. mob, action drama, that includes good performances, but it’s too melodramatic. Full review in Spanish

March 29, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5

Fico Cangiano
CineXpress Podcast…

Plot
After building an empire with bootleg alcohol, legendary crime boss Al Capone rules Chicago with an iron fist. Though Prohibition Agent Eliot Ness attempts to take Capone down, even his best efforts fail due to widespread corruption within the Windy City’s police force. Recruiting an elite group of lawmen who won’t be swayed by bribes or fear, including Irish-American cop Jimmy Malone, Ness renews his determination to bring Capone to justice.

Trivia