THE UNTOUCHABLES vs. THE LAST CRUSADE re: Connery's A-list status

[huedell]

Sean Connery had a LOT of big movie roles directly following
1989's LAST CRUSADE... however... he had just won an OSCAR for
THE UNTOUCHABLES 2 years prior.

I just read that Connery was close to playing SYBOK,
a big role in STAR TREK 5, but IJ&TLC was filming at the same time
and he wanted in on that more.

I've seen TLC a billion times and it was a successful movie... TREK 5
was a movie that was deemed a failure.... I thought it was passable.

I never saw THE UNTOUCHABLES.

I wonder how powerful THE UNTOUCHABLES was in reviving Connery's
stalled career.... and even if it was to be looked at as highly helpful in that
regard, could Connery have done so well in the 90s, if he woulda took
ST5 over TLC?

Just wondering what you guys thought... especially those in the 45 yrs. old+ age bracket.

[Megospidey]

The Untouchables is one of my top 10 movies of all time. Outside of his James Bond persona, The Untouchables may be my favorite role for him.

DeNiro is PERFECT as Al Capone.

[huedell]

The Untouchables is one of my top 10 movies of all time. Outside of his James Bond persona, The Untouchables may be my favorite role for him.

DeNiro is PERFECT as Al Capone.

I've heard great things about the movie THE UNTOUCHABLES... that's for
sure... maybe mostly from you guys in previous favorite movie threads.

EDITED TO ADD: BTW---- Unfortunately for DeNiro... if any performance
of his is less than outstanding... he'll feel the heat for it.

He boxed himself into a corner with his talent.... like Streep

[toys2cool]

Untouchables was great

[Mikey]

I personally HATE Kevin Cosner with a passion so that brings Untouchables down a lot for me.

For 80's Connery movies i'd have to pick Red Oktober as my favorite

[megoapesnut]

For 80's Connery movies i'd have to pick Red Oktober as my favorite

Ditto! Although that actually came out in 1990

[megoapesnut]

Wow, looking him up on IMDB, I was very surprised to see that "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" was the last flick he did.

[sprytel]

I personally HATE Kevin Cosner with a passion so that brings Untouchables down a lot for me.

For 80's Connery movies i'd have to pick Red Oktober as my favorite

I love how Sam Neill and the rest of the crew is working so hard to maintain a proper Russian accent... while Connery basically says f- it and uses his full on Scottish brogue.

[Funkyterrance]

I personally HATE Kevin Cosner with a passion so that brings Untouchables down a lot for me.

For 80's Connery movies i'd have to pick Red Oktober as my favorite

Totally agree about Kevin Costner bringing down the caliber of the film as he is not one of my favorites either, although he seems to be getting a little better with age. Thing is, you've got Alec Baldwin in Red October so really only a lateral move at best. I love Sean Connery but I found THFRO a little cheezy(Baldwin had a lot to do with this).

[4NDR01D]

One of my favorite Sean Connery movies is The Presido, which he did in between Untouchables and IJ&TLC.

And Huedell, you really should see the Untouchables, it's pretty much a classic and essential veiwing. However, having said that, I've never watched Godfather 2 (even though I own the boxset). Between the two of us were probably missing 2 of Deniro's very best performances.

[Random Axe]

I'm such an immature movie fan. My favorite Connery role was The Rock. Yes, my taste in films is questionable.

[Brazoo]

Sean Connery had a LOT of big movie roles directly following
1989's LAST CRUSADE... however... he had just won an OSCAR for
THE UNTOUCHABLES 2 years prior.

I just read that Connery was close to playing SYBOK,
a big role in STAR TREK 5, but IJ&TLC was filming at the same time
and he wanted in on that more.

I've seen TLC a billion times and it was a successful movie... TREK 5
was a movie that was deemed a failure.... I thought it was passable.

I never saw THE UNTOUCHABLES.

I wonder how powerful THE UNTOUCHABLES was in reviving Connery's
stalled career.... and even if it was to be looked at as highly helpful in that
regard, could Connery have done so well in the 90s, if he woulda took
ST5 over TLC?

Just wondering what you guys thought... especially those in the 45 yrs. old+ age bracket.

I'm not crazy about The Untouchables, (I think the music is outstanding) but there's no question that Connery's status was elevated by that role and his best supporting Oscar win. I think it totally turned things around for him.

I'm not trying to insult Star Trek fans, but I don't think working on a Star Trek sequel can compare to working on an Indy sequel. For one thing on the Indy movie you have the biggest director, producer and actor at that time working together, and Star Trek at that time doesn't have any of that kind of clout.

[Brazoo]

It's weird, I really like Sean Connery - but I'm not crazy about most of his movies - OR - sometimes he's in good movies that I think he's miscast in it. Like, I thought "The Hunt for Red October" was great - but it's a little distracting that he's playing a Russian. He's not bad in it - but I can't get past his accent or (I guess) just knowing he's Sean Connery. He never disappears into his roles for me.

I think that's why The Rock worked really well - he's just straight-up playing his on screen persona. He's not trying to be someone he's not.

For me he's like John Wayne - a really talented performer, but anytime he's playing a dude who isn't HIM it doesn't work for me.

[Bruce Banner]

Always thought Connery was great in Time Bandits and Highlander.

Along with ...Last Crusade and The Untouchables, those were the highlights of 80s Connery for me.

I still think Last Crusade is the weakest of the Indy films, but it was still great to see him with Ford in an Indy movie.

[Funkyterrance]

Another vote for Highlander .
I also really enjoyed Medicine Man and Outlander, Connery is very much "himself" in those ones too I feel.
As far as the Godfather Part II, I love this movie probably as much as the original but always thought it would have been better if the movie remained more in one period and didn't switch back and forth so much. I would have enjoyed it more if they had just made another movie out of the flashback portions. As far as Deniro's performance, it was good but nothing out of this world.