DVD

  Anime 
  DVD's
  Soundtracks
  Graphic Novels
  System Video
  Interviews
  All Features

Areas

  3DS
  Android
  iPad
  iPhone
  Mac
  PC
  PlayStation 3
  PlayStation 4
  Switch
  Vita
  Wii U
  Xbox 360
  Xbox One
  Media
  Archives
  Search
  Contests

 

The Untouchables: Season 1, Volume 2

Score: 88%
Rating: Not Rated
Publisher: Paramount
Region: 1
Media: DVD/4
Running Time: 11 Hrs. 47 Mins.
Genre: Crime/TV Series
Audio: English Mono, Spanish Mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Brazilian,
           Portuguese


Features:

  • I Love Lucy Show: "Lucy the Gun Moll"

The Untouchables: Season 1, Volume 2 has an interesting feel to it - at least when compared to today's crime dramas. For one, the pacing is a little slower at times, though this ends up giving the show a more "historic" feel. One of the main contributors is that episodes are narrated by a news reporter, lending some authority to the plot. You don't feel like this is a show about Elliot Ness and the Untouchables, but rather some sort of documentary about the group's adventures. The show is also pretty violent, which was rare for shows at the time. Although the show is pretty violent, it is more of a "PG"-style violence rather than something you would see on The Sopranos.

Unless you've watched the first volume, The Untouchables is a little slow to start. It doesn't take long to figure out that Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) and his agents are the good guys, though some of the plots seem very experimental. In other words, some episodes work out really well and really suck you into what's going on, yet others feel "off." They are never so bad that you'll want to stop watching, but there is a noticeable difference.

The main reason for this is that Al Capone has already been put in jail. For those not up on their gangland trivia, that would be the equivalent of having a Batman show where Joker is locked up (and I mean, really locked up) in jail. To remedy this, Ness goes after a number of small-time mobsters in each episode. It almost feels like American Idol auditions for the next Al Capone; you get a few good ones, but you still know you're far away from finding just the right one.

The chronology of each of the episodes doesn't work all that well either. Some episodes take the Untouchables to other cities, while prohibition is on in some episodes, while it is over in others. However, this flaw is more than forgivable since the show doesn't really follow much of an overlying continuity. Each episode is light and meant to be viewed by itself rather than as one part of a bigger story.

The only bonus is an I Love Lucy episode. While this might seem completely random (it did to me anyway), it makes sense once you realize that The Untouchables is Desilu production - the same company that produced I Love Lucy. The episode is a spoof of The Untouchables, and sees Ness going after Lucy after he mistakes her for a mobster's girlfriend. The episode is okay, but honestly I've never been much of a Lucy fan to begin with.

Although The Untouchables is, for the most part, enjoyable, the feel does limit some of the show's appeal - mostly to people who grew up loving the show or anyone with a deep interest in 1930's Chicago.



-Starscream, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ricky Tucker

DVD Movies Numb3rs: The Third Season DVD Movies The Sarah Silverman Program: Season One

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated