The Untouchables DVD - CUT??? (1 Viewer)

[Ivan Berisic]

I bought the R2 version of The Untouchables about a week ago. Anyway, it seems like one scene is cut for profanity. The scene in question is the one where Connery and Costner recruit Andy Garcia (Chapter 9, I think). On the R2 DVD, Garcia calls Connery a "stinkin' Irish pig" however he clearly mouths the word "shitbag" instead of "pig". I didn't notice this until I checked the IMDb's quotes section and they have it listed as "stinkin' Irish shitbag". Can someone confirm that this line is uncut on the R1 version? The rest of the profanity is uncut, including the word 'fuck', so I really don't see the point of cutting the word 'shitbag'.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I've seen THE UNTOUCHABLES countless times, including the day it opened in theaters, and the line was always "pig". I'll have to see if the line looks dubbed, I've never noticed that before(but of course I wasn't looking for it either).

 

[David Lambert]

Here's my take on it:
He says "Pig". But you could hear "shitbag" if you are sorta looking for it.
I put in the DVD and played the scene several times. He says "You stinking Irish pig". The "sh" at the end of "Irish" is drawn out and slurred, and then he drops to a whisper, then almost mumbles the word "pig". I suppose, since he didn't quite enunciate and draws the two words together, it could sound enough like "shitbag" to have someone get the IMDB quote listed.
Probably someone who has it in for the Irish! (just kidding)
I called my wife into the room to give her 2¢ worth. I didn't fill her in; just asked what the guy was saying. She thought he said "prick". When I asked her to check a few more times, she stood by her thought. I then filled her in, and she went against me, saying it was "pig", not "shitbag" (I was leaning that way at the time).
Then she suggested we turn the subtitles on. It said "pig" in the subtitles.
Then we found my old VHS copy and played it. It was just as unclearly spoken on that copy.
Then we turned on the Close Captioning for the VHS. It said "pig" there, too.
I went back and replayed, closely looking at his mouth. I had to agree he said "pig", and never anything else...he just slurred the dialogue while saying "Irish" and "pig".
The IMDB is wrong, in my opinion.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

But, Dave, were you thorough?

 

[Ivan Berisic]

Dave, thank you for the "in-depth analysis".
Well, I guess that's settled.

 

[David Lambert]

I was hired at work for that inbred throroughness. I can't help it; it's habit!!!

 

[Mark Vadnais]

I also saw Untouchables in the theater, and just upgraded to the R1 DVD after owning both the VHS and the laserdisc.

I just finished watching the DVD and was bothered by what looks and sounds to me like the partial elimination of a line of dialogue.

Late in the film, Nitti is hanging by a rope off the roof of the courthouse. Ness pulls him back up and Nitti taunts Ness about how Malone behaved when he (Nitti) killed him.

In all previous versions I recall Nitti saying to Ness, "Now you think about that when I beat the rap." But on the DVD all we hear is, "Now you think about that." AND we can still see Billy Drago's lips moving for the rest of the line, but we don't hear it.

Has anyone else noticed this? It really stuck out to me.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I've never had any audio or video problems with The Untouchables on DVD. It replicates the 70mm six track I last saw in 2001, not to mention the several times in 1987.

It's always been "stinkin' Irish pig".

Neil

 

[David Lambert]

Now HERE is a thread I had utterly forgotten about for lo, these 2 years!
Methinks I'll let someone else investigate this time...

 

[oscar_merkx]

Looks like someone is having fun, great movie indeed

 

[ToddJ]

any idea if any special edition is in the works?

 

[WillG]

I think that things like this happen from time to time. Lines get changed well after shooting has commenced and instead of refilming they will just re-loop. I definately noticed this on the DVD of "European Vacation" It was when Clark Griswold was chasing down the kidnapper in the car. He comes across some obstacle and utters something clean like "Gosh Darn it" or something like that, but you can clearly see his mouth saying "Fucking!" I'm sure in that case what happened was that they submitted the film to the MPAA, they got slapped with an "R" so they removed the "Fucking!" and possibly other trims and got the "PG-13"

 

[David Lambert]

any idea if any special edition is in the works?

I think so, but I don't recollect the source of that info right now. Do an HTF search, it might turn up.

 

[Haden]

Someone reported awhile back that a special edition was in the works for 2004. It might have been mentioned in an HTF studio chat. I'm sure it was a legitimate source.

 

[Joe Schwartz]

In all previous versions I recall Nitti saying to Ness, "Now you think about that when I beat the rap." But on the DVD all we hear is, "Now you think about that." AND we can still see Billy Drago's lips moving for the rest of the line, but we don't hear it.

I hear the whole line very clearly on my DVD, in both of the English audio tracks. Maybe it's a glitch in your disc?

 

[Mark Vadnais]

Thanks, Joe. I think you're right.

I showed a friend the problem last night and, lo and behold, the line *was* there, but at a level much lower than the first half of the line.

I guess it's just a playback hiccup. I did go back and forth over that spot a half-dozen times before I posted, just to be sure, but now I'll have to be mindful of the player's behavior, too.

Thanks again.