Brian De Palma’s classic gangster film, The Untouchables, has finally made its way to 4K UHD Blu-ray, courtesy to Paramount. After thirty five years, the movie has been upgraded and restored to the best resolution on the market. However, is it worth picking up?
The film follows young treasury agent Eliot Ness (played by Kevin Costner) who arrives in Chicago and is determined to take down notorious mobster Al Capone (Robert De Niro), but it’s not going to be easy as Capone has the police in his pocket. Ness meets Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery), a veteran patrolman and probably the most honourable one on the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone, but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war.
Let’s start with the tech specs. This 4K restoration of The Untouchables is fantastic! The film contains a stunning Dolby Vision HDR that dazzles and brings Stephen H. Burum’s cinematography to a new level of beautifulness, in comparison to the standard Blu-ray. The final shootout, in particular, is a sequence that looks stunning and truly shows the griminess. From the blood to the clothing of each character, everything oozes with colour and the sharpness on the HDR pops right off the screen.
The audio track on the 4K disc is also fabulous. The film backs a Dolby Atmos track that is a significant improvement over what was on the Blu-ray. The dialogue is more refined and the shootouts & action sequences have a lot more impact. The quality in the shootout on the bridge, the sound of the SMG being fired and the warehouse raid at the beginning of the film all sound brilliant!
Now, while the restoration may be fantastic, is the film any good? Absolutely! The Untouchables is my personal favourite film from Brian De Palma as it really does everything you want in a crime drama; there is action, drama, tension and fantastic performances all around.
Kevin Costner is brilliant as Elliot Ness. This is such a nuanced performance as the audience is rooting for him as the story is told through his eyes and we can see how driven he is. The story clearly lays out its story very early on and we see how committed Ness and Connery’s Malone are to getting Al Capone behind bars.
Robert De Niro’s Al Capone is also frightening in the best ways. He is very clearly a menacing person and every scene he is in shows why this man must be behind bars as soon as possible. While Capone may not be in the film all that much, his presence is always present and he is a man to be feared.
Overall, The Untouchables is not only a brilliant film but its 4K restoration is breathtaking to look at. The Dolby Vision image shines and the Dolby Atmos audio track sounds amazing. The special features in the set may be a tad lacklustre but when you’re paying for the fantastic 2160p upgrade, it delivers then goes above and beyond.
The Untouchables is now available on 4K Ultra HD.
