The Untouchables (1988)

Film of 2012 #73


From Brian De Palma this film takes a look at Eliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner who is a federal agent charged with going after Al Capone and the gangsters that broke the laws on Prohibition and brought drink into America. Starring Sean Connery as Jim Malone, Andy Garcia as Giuseppe Petri and Charles Martin Smith as Oscar Wallace identifies how to get Capone who is played by Robert De Niro. You have an excellent cast and with De Palma at the helm you have a competently directed film that has an excellent strong story with many quotable lines.

You follow Ness as he tries to work with the police and tries to catch Capone the normal way and then he realises that he needs to work a different way to get the results he needs. You have him battling with the want to do his job properly and protect his family but knowing that while he is honest many of the people around him are not as honest as he is. It is an interesting look at a time when it was probably very hard to live, times will have been hard for people and corruption was rife as many people could barely survive. Yet Ness takes a high ground that is hard to imagine and yet he also manages to find people to work with that agree and follow his lead.

This film is a classic and well worth a watch, I cannot believe that I waited so long before getting around to watching this film and know that I will happily sit down and watch it again possibly in the not to distant future. This is a strong 4 star recommend and if you have any love for film and have not seen this then it is well worth a watch.

Highlander (1986)

Film of 2012 #16
Some Spoilers

The classic 80's film where a Scotsman plays an Egyptian, a Frenchman plays a Scotsman and Clancy Brown steals every scene that he is in. I have seen this film so many times and back in my early teens me and several of my friends tried to re-write and film a new version if this film. We were not very organised and I think it lasted 2 days across a Summer holiday, but this film holds a special place in my nostalgic heart. Christopher Lambert plays the title character who cannot die and you see his story across the years until present day New York and the gathering. You have Sean Connery as his mentor and an Egyptian who worked for a Spanish King. The final main character is Clancy Brown as the main bad guy and another Immortal playing the Kurgan an evil and vindictive man. 

Now this film's basic concept is that throughout time individuals are born who cannot die unless their head is removed, and over time they will get whittled down to one who will win the great prize of power and knowledge. The major problem comes when you try to look at this film and analyse the ideas behind it and what it tries to do and then you end up with so many questions and plot holes it is ridiculous. But I think that if you just watch it as a film about sword fights and fights across time it is a fun romp which poses some interesting questions on what would you do if you were immortal. 

Finally the sound track for this film is almost more iconic than the film with most of the songs written and performed by Queen and it is tremendous and I could actually listen to the sound track all of the time. Now if you need coherent film making with no dodgy effects this film is not for you, if you just want the fun of sword play and great tunes then give this film a go, by the way I like the sequels as well even though they introduce a new idea that ruins the original idea but anyway give it a watch. This is a 4 star film for me, the soundtrack alone and some of the witty comments are brilliant but overall I think it is the deep sense of nostalgia I get whenever I watch this film. 

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (2003)

This is a guilty pleasure of mine, I understand why people don't like it as the realism and strangeness can totally jar with what some people like. I enjoy it as it is a bit of silly escapism, the steam punk nature of the world that they work in is fun and interesting. You follow so many famous characters from different stories and this is possibly another thing people dislike as the author of the original story took existing characters and did what he wanted with them.

I think it works quite well as a bit of fun with some good explosions and scenes, i do think that it get's caught up in it's own importance trying to put meaning and develop character that is not really needed. The actors they got to play the characters were good and as developed as they need to be but like I said there are some story threads that are just not needed and bog the overall fun romp the story is.

I will say this is 4 guilty stars for me, I can watch it fairly regularly and still enjoy it and actually watched it last when it was on the TV.