Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
On Quartile, The Untouchables scores 8/10 across five categories — strongest on Acting (Well Above Average), weakest on Plot (Above Average).
Ranked among Quartile’s Top Acting.
Elliot Ness, an ambitious prohibition agent, is determined to take down Al Capone. In order to achieve this goal, he forms a group given the nickname “The Untouchables”.
De Palma's The Untouchables is elevated primarily by its bravura direction and a cast firing on all cylinders — Connery's Oscar-winning turn and De Niro's menacing Capone are standouts. De Palma's cinematography is operatic and stylish, with set pieces like the Odessa Steps-homage train station sequence being genuinely iconic. The plot, however, is a fairly conventional rise-and-fall crime saga that takes some historical liberties without adding much depth. The ending, while satisfying in a crowd-pleasing sense, wraps things up a bit too neatly given the moral complexities suggested earlier in the film. Novelty sits at average — it's a polished, confident Hollywood crime film but not a reinvention of the genre.