Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't Believe the Hype

An absolute waste of money

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

This revived version of The Untouchables drew from both the original Robert Stack television series and the Brian DePalma film that won for Sean Connery that Best Supporting Actor Award. As such it had the strengths and weaknesses of both.The Untouchables themselves under Eliot Ness were as described a group of incorruptible federal prohibition agents at a time when that group generally could be bought and sold. They were the group who hurt Al Capone and Bugs Moran the rival gang heads in Chicago in the pocketbook with their raids on their illegal distilleries. They did not however bring Capone down, that was the job of some hard working accountants in the US Attorney's office in Chicago who got him for income tax evasion.This series did not take its characters from the original Robert Stack series that was based on Ness's memoirs ghosted by Oscar Fraley. The characters are from the film that starred Kevin Costner with Tom Amandes as Ness, John Rhys-Davies in Sean Connery's role as Malone and William Forsythe as one mean and nasty Al Capone.Amandes captured a lot of the self righteousness of Eliot Ness who back in the day fancied himself as some kind of Eagle Scout. In work I've seen him in subsequently, Amandes has been more villainous which may have been his true niche as an actor. Forsythe was the best thing that series. In his career he's played a succession of great villains, his style of psychotic villain is similar to Lyle Bettger's. Capone by all accounts was a generally easy going man, but had a hair trigger temper which was demonstrated on more than one occasion here.The Untouchables just like the previous series ran out of real plots and then had the guys going all over the country taking care of all the known criminals of the time. The silliest episode I recall had Amandes and his crew going to New York and tangling not only with Lucky Luciano but with Thomas E. Dewey. Charles Martin Smith played Dewey and on those grounds alone, Tom Dewey's heirs should sue. In fact Dewey had a lot more to do with bringing down New York's criminals than Ness did in Chicago. In fact both men aspired to a political career, but Dewey certainly got a lot farther than Ness who ran for Mayor of Cleveland and lost in a landslide. Still Eliot Ness and his crew will probably get another look in the next generation, they do fascinate us so.

"The Untouchables" had many great elements: 1. An excellent cast, including several familiar faces from TV and films: Tom Amandes ("Everwood"), William Forsythe ("John Doe," "UC: Undercover," "Out for Justice"), John Rhys-Davies ("The Lord of the Rings," "Raiders of the Lost Ark"), and David James Elliott ("JAG").2. Some entertaining -- if historically unrealistic -- stories, combining gangster action stories with looks into the personal lives of the characters, especially the relationships with Al Capone (Forsythe) and Eliot Ness (Amandes) and their respective wives and children.3. Fantastic theme music by Joel Goldsmith (I'm still humming it, and I haven't seen the show in 10 years). I wish they had released a soundtrack album for the series.Though the show was on for only a year and a half, "The Untouchables" was able to tell a complete story, fleshing out both the heroes and the villains into complex characters, and it wrapped up most of the plot lines by the final episode.This series would make an ideal DVD box set. Are you paying attention, Paramount?

I liked the series very much. the acting was top notch, particularly by William Forsythe. the series format definitely allowed the principle characters to be much more elaborately portrayed than the limited two hours available in a movie. I have been hoping that this series would become available in DVD format. I think it would be a must buy item for any serious videophile.

This 1990s version of "The Untouchables" was actually pretty good, and was one of the better programs on FOX when it aired. The stories were engaging although, as in previous versions of "The Untouchables", they perhaps took their creative license at bit too far at times(Al Capone and Elliot Ness in a boxing match?!!). However, the real strength of the show was the performances. Tom Amandes and Paul Regina work well as Elliot Ness and Frank Nitty, and John Rhys-Davies does an even better job as Malone. But the greatest performance is without doubt that of William Forsythe as Al Capone, who really steals the show, and makes it quite worth watching. I think he did a better job in the role than Robert De Niro did in the 1987 movie. Indeed most of performances were better than those in the movie, which was itself not a bad piece of work.