This week at 100 Things Towers, we’re diving headfirst into Brian De Palma’s operatic gangster classic The Untouchables: a film where history takes a back seat and pure cinema grabs the wheel.

We break down:

1. The myth vs reality of Eliot Ness and Al Capone
2. Behind-the-scenes production stories and casting choices
3. Sean Connery’s career-reviving, Oscar-winning performance
4. Why De Palma treated crime like opera, not reportage
5. Iconic moments like the Union Station steps, baseball bats, and moral absolutes

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Rob also wants us to highlight the Stop Portland Incinerator Campaign (SPIC), a grassroots project currently fundraising via Chuffed.org to support independent air-quality monitoring equipment.

SPIC’s aim is to begin their own air-quality monitoring from January 2026, rather than relying solely on self-monitoring by incinerator operators. By gathering baseline data now, the group hopes to make meaningful comparisons in the future and potentially launch a citizen science project, helping local residents better understand the real environmental impact should the incinerator go ahead.

You can find and support the campaign here:

👉 https://chuffed.org/project/spic

We wrap up the original Death Wish series with Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) the final theatrical film of action legend Charles Bronson.

Joined once again by Paul Payne of Evil Genius Artworks, we dig into the troubled production, shrinking budgets, Canadian tax breaks, and why this low-key sequel feels more like a farewell than a franchise entry.

From exploding soccer balls to weary vigilantes, we explore how Death Wish V became the quiet end of one of cinema’s most controversial action series.

Like, subscribe, and let us know which vigilante film we should tackle next.

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Death Wish V: The Face of Death is a 1994 American vigilante action-thriller film a sequel to the 1987 film Death Wish 4: The Crackdown and the fifth and final installment in the Death Wish film series, written and directed by Allan A. Goldstein. Charles Bronson reprises his role in both his final theatrical starring role and his final appearance as the character Paul Kersey. In the film, Kersey tries to protect his girlfriend, Olivia Regent (Lesley-Anne Down) from brutal mobsters that are threatening her fashion business.

Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey (1999) isn’t just a revenge film it’s a study of grief, memory, and barely contained rage. Starring Terrence Stamp in one of his most powerful performances, the film follows a father tearing through Los Angeles after the death of his daughter, driven by anger, regret, and unresolved history.

In this episode of 100 Things We Learned From Film, we are joined by friend and regular guest Paul Payne to break down The Limey through behind-the-scenes facts, casting choices, editing decisions, and production stories pulled from respected interviews, commentaries, and film criticism. From Soderbergh’s radical use of non-linear storytelling to the repurposing of Stamp’s 1960s film Poor Cow, this is a deep dive into one of the most emotionally precise crime films of the 1990s.

We explore why The Limey feels so different from traditional revenge movies, how memory is used as a narrative weapon, and why Terrence Stamp’s Wilson might just be the angriest dad in cinema history.

Whether you’re revisiting the film or discovering it for the first time, this video looks at why The Limey remains one of Steven Soderbergh’s most daring and underrated works.

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The Limey is a 1999 American crime film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Lem Dobbs. The film features Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, Barry Newman, Nicky Katt, Joe Dallesandro, and Peter Fonda.[2] The plot concerns an English career criminal (Stamp) who travels to the United States to investigate the recent suspicious death of his daughter. It was filmed on location in Los Angeles and Big Sur.

Critical reception was positive, but the film was not a financial success upon release. The film was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Stamp and Guzmán were nominated for Best Male Lead and Best Supporting Male Lead respectively.