79
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay not have much thematic depth, but it represents two hours of pure, exuberant entertainment – an epic gangster tale rendered on a grand scale.
- 100The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyHollywood's latest big-budget, high-concept, mass-market reworking of material not entirely fresh, has more endings than Beethoven's Fifth, but it's also packed with surprises, not the least being that it's a smashing work. It's vulgar, violent, funny and sometimes breathtakingly beautiful.
- 100TimeRichard SchickelTimeRichard SchickelMamet's elegantly efficient script does not waste a word, and De Palma does not waste a shot. The result is a densely layered work moving with confident, compulsive energy.
- 80EmpireIan NathanEmpireIan NathanSuperb performances, exquisite direction and that Ennio Morricone score create an authentic 1920s Chicago feel and a hugely entertaining crime drama.
- 75Orlando SentinelJay BoyarOrlando SentinelJay BoyarOne triumph of The Untouchables is the way its operatic style accommodates larger-than-life performances.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyPhiladelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyApart from Connery, the star of the film is Mamet's deadpan script, which obviously inspired one of the movie's baldest old-movie tributes.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertDe Palma's Untouchables, like the TV series that inspired it, depends more on cliches than on artistic invention.
- 50Los Angeles TimesSheila BensonLos Angeles TimesSheila BensonIt's strange that in this somber inspection of moral fiber and what causes it to fray, De Palma couldn't have made his hero at least as interesting as his villain, and both of them at least as complicated as they were in life.
- 50Slant MagazineEric HendersonSlant MagazineEric HendersonSteeped in De Palma's glorious violence and sinuous cinematography, but stripped of his tricky sensuality and his anarchic self-reflective wit, The Untouchables boils down to a lot of talk.