MovieChat Forums > The Untouchables (1959) Discussion > Is this as good as the movie?

Is this as good as the movie?

posted 15 years ago by Garbage-Day
6 replies | jump to latest

I loved the DePalma movie. I wanted to hear some opinions about the TV show.

Also, I thought that the movie should have been filmed in B&W and I see that this show is in B&W.

Garbage Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[–] LouisRenault 15 years ago

Much, much better I think, but it really isn't comparing like with like.

B & W might have made the movie grittier but it still wouldn't be the same. For one thing, in California you see lots of 30 year old cars driving around - the cars in the TV series were working vehicles and looked it, but in the movie they were beautiful museum pieces.

[–] joehrobertsjr 15 years ago

The movie sucked. Buy the series on DVD. It's the real Untouchables not some pale imitation.

[–] manage-932-700755 12 years ago

I didn't think the movie sucked. In fact, I thought it was pretty good, largely due to Sean Connery. But the TV show or shows was/were better. Stack was better than Costner, and collectively Stack's support cast was better than Costner's, although Connery and Garcia were good. But I especially liked Paul Picerni from the TV show.

The TV show had great guest stars each week, which the movie could not duplicate.

In the movie, DeNiro was over the top as Capone. In the TV show, in the original 2-part episode, Nevile Brand was better than DeNiro as Capone. And Bruce Gordon as Frank Nitti in the TV show was better and more credible than the skinny snotnose who played him in the movie. Although the scene in the movie where Costner pushed him off the roof was a good one.

[–] manage-932-700755 12 years ago

I watched the TV series when it first aired, and I saw the movie with Costner when it first came out also. I recently watched some of the episodes of the TV series again. Although I said in an earlier piost that the movie was fiarly good, I must now say that the TV series was a lot better. Robert Stack was much better than Kevin Costner, and the guest stars each week added a lot to the show.

In real life, Ness was only 26 when he took over the untouchables. Maybe that was the thinking behind casting Kevin Costner in the movie, as Costner was younger than Robert Stack and even seemed a little juvenile.

[–] pc-privconfounder 12 years ago

Brian De Palma will be remembered by film historians as a man who loved to turn out indifferent remakes of classic crime dramas. De Palma's SCARFACE is no match for the Howard Hawks masterpiece, and the best episodes of THE UNTOUCHABLES are much better than De Palma's film.

[–] ynot-16 14 years ago

Almost every episode of The Untouchables on TV was far better than the movie, though like any other series, The Untouchables had a few clunkers. You cannot go wrong by just getting season 1, part 1, and watching it all.

By the way, the pilot for The Untouchables is on the DVD, and it is quite a bit different from the series. Some actors play criminals in one, agents in the other, while actor Bruce Gordon as Frank Nitti sports an Italian accent absent in the series itself.

If you are just getting to know the series, skip the pilot and start with Episode 1, The Empty Chair. You will not be disappointed.