1987 saw the release of yet another classic gangster flick, The Untouchables. Directed by “Scarface” and “Carrie” director, Brian De Palma, the film is set amidst prohibition-era Chicago, and tells the tale of federal [Treasury] agent Elliot Ness, the man who swore himself to bringing down legendary gangster Al Capone. Ness is played by a then relatively unknown Kevin Costner; Capone is portrayed by Robert DeNiro. Costner’s band of ‘merry men’ includes then-unknown actors Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith, as well already established legend Sean Connery. The film was previously available on DVD as a standard issue with NO bonus material; this is the Collector’s Edition, complete with new 5.1 EX sound and about an hour of bonus features.

The basic plot is this: federal agent Elliot Ness rides into the windy city during the prohibition era of the 30’s. At this time, bootleggers and ganglords, most notably Al Capone, control Chicago. After a huge embarrassment with the Chicago police force, Elliot realizes what he really needs a small crack team that can do this themselves. He recruits a beat-cop, Jimmy Malone (Connery), a fresh sharp-shooting recruit, George Stone (Garcia) and his accountant, Treasury agent Oscar Wallace (Smith). What ensues is a fictionalized account of the hunt, arrest and trial of Capone.

I gotta say upfront – I love this movie. It’s up there on the list of my favorites for sure. However, I do concur with many fans/critics in that there are a couple faults within it. The setting is perfect; the story is great; the costumes and music are wonderful… But the characters are oh so weak, seriously underdeveloped. I am not saying the actors are bad; I’m saying there is a reason Goodfellas and Scarface and The Godfather are all 3 hours – it’s called character development. Also, the action scenes are great, but since this was fictionalized, they could have definitely tossed in one or two more hunt-shoot-and-bust sequences. Add a few of those to some straight-up character-development scenes, and this movie could have breached the 2½-hour mark, while still keeping audiences attentions, and been a bit more substantial. Oh well, it’s still a fun movie to watch, and remains one of my favorites.

Don’t ask me why, but I never bought the VHS for this – I just always caught it here and there on TV. When this “Special Collector’s Edition” version DVD came out, I finally had to own a copy (to me, DVDs aren’t worth owning if there are no extras, as was the case with the initial DVD release of this movie). The film is presented in the original widescreen format, enhanced for 16:9 TVs, and remastered in supreme Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. The film looks great and it sounds good, not ‘great,’ because my only reservation happens to be with the sound. As is with most movies pre-Jurassic Park, The Untouchables was not made to be split into a 5.1+ soundtrack. So what happens as a result of the multi-channel remastering is the voice remains mostly in the center channel, at a lower decibel, and then the music comes in and blows away the surrounds. Such a petty complaint, I know, but I have OCD and to people like me it can be a bit annoying. But as I said, I love this movie and I could watch it forever – it certainly is a classic! I give the movie itself and the overall presentation on this DVD a solid B+.

The special features on The Untouchables Special Collector’s Edition are pretty decent. They didn’t blow me away, but it was a good extra hour of viewing. There are 4 new featurettes, an original featurette from ’87 and the original trailer. Unfortunately, there’s no audio commentary and nothing really original or out of the ordinary, not even a case insert. However, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, in defense of older movies coming to DVD: prior to 2000, movies weren’t made with the term “Loaded with extras” in mind; so to have anything, really, is a treat. These first 4 featurettes are a blend of newly shot interviews with Brian De Palma (director), Charles Martin Smith (actor), Art Linson (producer), and few other crewmembers and old vintage footage and interviews. What is surprising, and more so disappointing, is that Costner, Connery, DeNiro and Garcia didn’t participate in any new interviews – surprising because this film made Costner and Garcia. Still, all the material presented is pretty good and worth the one-time watch. Really, if the four new features were combined into one, rather than split up, I guess it would be your normal 1-hour documentary on a classic film. I give the extras a B. Here is a description:

• “The Script, The Cast” – Exactly as title says, this 18½-minute featurette takes a look at the conception of the story and script. It also takes a look at the 4 principle characters and the villain of the story, and the actors that portrayed them.
• “Productions Stories” – Again, like it says, this 17-minute featurette is an interesting look back at some of the moments, scenes and shots during filming. It is full of facts and tidbits of trivia and focuses on location choices, fitting the time/era and some of the props (most notably the cars!)
• “Reinventing the Genre” – This featurette takes a look at the filmmakers’ challenge in making a period style piece, between the style, props, story telling, sets and shots. It runs 14 minutes, and one of the more interesting parts is the description of the original ending that was never shot.
• “The Classic” – This little extra is only 5 minutes. It’s your typical ‘when-it-opened-it-was-bigger-than-we-thought-it-would-be--it-was-a-hit!’ type of featurette. Still, it’s cool to watch – makes you remember the times back when box office “hits” used to sell out for weeks and months, rather than a few nights and then go straight to DVD.
• “Original Featurette: The Men” – This is the original featurette/promotional reel for the film from 1987. Good to have, cool enough to watch.
• “Theatrical Trailer” – the original 2½–minute trailer show in theaters.

The Untouchables is Brian De Palmer classic gangster-style tale of good and evil. This is the movie that shot Costner into stardom, and has been hailed as a classic of the gangster genre. Though previously released on DVD, this “Special Collectors Edition” offers about an hour of additional extras, including newly compiled featurettes, and is complete with sound remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. If you are a fan of the movie, and don’t own it yet, this version is worth the buy. (On the net, you can find it for less than $20)

DVD Film Collection Score: B+
DVD Collection Special Features Score: B
DVD Collection Overall Score: B+