Scarface

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Scarface

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Scarface

Al Pacino, F Murray Abraham, Harris Yulin, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michelle Pfeiffer

After years of diplomatic silence between the United States and Cuba, Castro opens the port of Mariel Harbor, Cuba, to thousands emmigrating to the United States in search of the American dream. Shrew...( read more  read more... )dly, Castro also unlocks the overpacked prisons, allowing hordes of criminals to join the refugees. Tony Montana, a small time hood, is one of them. In Florida, Montana connects with gangster Frank Lopez, and guns his way through the sun washed streets of Miami where he finds power, wealth and passion. He kills Lopez and marries his mistress, Elvira. Montana, better known as "Scarface," soon becomes the leader of a bloody cocaine-smuggling empire but at a terrible cost to his sister, Gina and his loyal friend, Manny. However, like that of others before him, Montana's reign is brief and a violent end is guaranteed as rival gangster compete to become the next drug lord.

Id: 2613291

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Scarface Recent Reviews
  • lewiskendell
    November 20, 2009
    lewiskendell
    Iconic. One of the best films of the 80's. Scarface is uneven in parts, but the strong scenes more than make up for the middling ones. And that ending! It's one of my 10 favorites, easily.

    It's a common story, a small-time criminal rises to the top of a drug empire, and then is...( read more) destroyed by his own paranoia and excesses. Tony Montana's fall is violent and tragic, and is far more interesting than his rise.
  • AgentLexi2132
    October 15, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''I'm Tony Montana! You fuck with me, you fuckin' with the best!''

    In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug empire while succumbing to greed.

    Al Pacino: Tony Montana

    ''In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the...( read more) money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.''

    Brian De Palma did a very good job directing Scarface. Whenever an actor is able to become larger than life with his performance some credit should be given to the director and I will certainly give De Palma that. Brian De Palma, though not given the respect at times, is a very versatile director by my reckoning and assessing. He knows how to direct movies according to their genres, but that at times has let some of his works down. In Scarface, this is by all counts a gangster movie but few are much better than this one because of De Palma's skills and talents.

    The script was great, pure Oliver Stone. When I saw the credits at the end of this movie and realized Oliver Stone had written this I was pleasantly surprised. That is a testament to him though. I have always thought of him as a great writer and to me he proves this once again with Scarface. Nobody knows how to write a surreal reality for a movie better.
    The music was great. It is certainly a diverse score with feeling and emotion from Giorgio Moroder. Maybe very 80s-ish at times but stylish and fitting with the times. The cinematography was good, not perfect but who really who cares when you have an action packed storyline.

    ''Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie. So say good night to the bad guy!''

    Alot of people divudge in saying the acting was over-the-top, but who better to do an over-the-top character than legendary Al Pacino. To say that Pacino went overboard in here would be an understatement. Yet he does it so well, he just brings the inner devil out of the viewer too. His character Tony Montana was not such a great guy to begin with but his thirst for power just brings his lust and lust for greed to another level, an inhumane level. Sure at times Pacino seems to be a bit cartoonish and surreal but that does not at all to me seem to be a loss or liability. The supporting cast served its job very well supporting Pacino. Michelle Pfeiffer was not really at her best but she certainly fits the role she played. On the other hand Steven Bauer was at his best, still he is Steven Bauer. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was good and like Michelle Pfeiffer fits her respective role very well. Robert Loggia I have always enjoyed watching in 80s films. Other than Pacino they were not really any standout or memorable performances. Everybody just seemed to fit their roles by being there.

    ''You think you can take me? You need a fucking army if you gonna take me!''

    De Palma's Scarface has probably been one of the most influential movies in the past 25 years. People should realize that the character of Tony Montana is no hero, he is a monster. He is not inspiring in bringing out that evil obssession to excel even by wrong means. He is greedy, bloodthirsty, uneducated and self consumed. Yet he is a role model to many people because he is in some way or another a rebel but probably most of all because he is a deluded gangster. A vigilante would be like Mother Tereasa next to Montana.
    The good thing about Scarface though is that it shows that the Tony Montana is not the real problem. If we or the people of authority would want to stop people like him, we could do it but we don't. In a freaky twisted way he is a necessity of our society. He is somebody you could blame everything on and feel better about yourself for doing it. The Tony Montanas' of this world are the scapegoats of our society. This in no way excuses people like him, instead it is more of a reminder that we shouldn't excuse or allow ourselves to do bad things just because it will further our personal wealth unjustly. I love Scarface because it is more than merely a corruption story of an individual, it is a story that in a strange way makes you self reflect your own soul. At times you know Tony is doing bad things, but that doesn't stop you enjoying proceedings does it?

    ''You wanna fuck with me? Okay. You wanna play rough? Okay. Say hello to my little friend!''
  • SirPant
    September 4, 2009
    SirPant
    'Say hello to my little friend! '
    One of Pacino's finest performances, it's certainly more his film than DePalma's.
  • Passenger1986
    June 25, 2009
    Passenger1986
    In an earlier review I did on the film Insomnia, I mentioned that Pacino seems to fall under the typecasting trap of cops and gangsters, which I followed up by saying if he does it's because he does them so well.
    Well, I did a review in which he was a damn good cop, so let's see...( read more) what many consider his ultimate (if not THE ultimate) gangster role.

    Pacino is Tony Montana, a Cuban migrating to Florida, who has dreams of making it rich and powerful quickly. The film spends close to three hours detailing his ascension through the ranks. I could detail the film further but really, it's that well known, I imagine the plot can be figured out by now (though one of the biggest problems with Scarface comes not from the film itself but what the public took away from it. We'll get to the messages later, but I'm mostly referring to some of the most quoted lines such as "Say hello to my little friend!" I don't know about the rest of you but I'm sick of hearing it unless it's Pacino and I especially hate the questions on Flixster using that line.

    One thing that sets this film apart from other gangster films (and indeed, perhaps the antithesis of another Pacino role, of Michale Corleone from The Godfather trilogy) is that the leading character isn't a young punk doing small time crimes while keeping some level of morals, Tony Montana is purely in this business for himself. He has abandoned almost all concepts of morality and is interested in numero uno.
    Sure, he looks out for his sister as an older brother would and honours his mother, but in the case of his sister, it could just be for the reason that he views her as his. There are incestuous tones with Tony when concerned with his sister and any nobility on his part to protect her is called into question when he slaps her in the men's room at the Babylon nightclub.
    There is one thing, however, that does keep him from being the definition of a monster and that is his aversion to harming the innocent (children and women especially in that regard). The scene with the bombing of the activist is the best example of that.

    The biggest concern I have with the film though is what people have taken away from it. The message I get is "The pursuit of power to fulfill your needs and your needs alone will bring about your downfall". Sure, Tony makes a comfortable living, has a beautiful wife (Michelle Pfeiffer, in a surprising role but excellent nevertheless), has the power to have men killed, but it all catches up with him. He becomes paranoid, wreckless and arrogant (initially just being cocky). In a nutshell, he is one big walking berserk button.
    However, people seem to regard Tony as some kind of hero, perhaps because he made it on his own or because he rose above his humble origins, and seem to take home the idea that "Model yourself after Tony Montana, and you'll have the world eating out of the palm of your hand". Uh, guys, did you happen to see the end of the film? Or do you skip out around the time he's watching TV in his jacuzzi? If any of you started to find pelicans interesting after that, I suspect you did.
    Look, I know we all see things differently but seeing the last 30-45 minutes, that's kind of a hint at what's to come for anyone attempting to emulate his lifestyle (I will point out, however, this is kind of retconned in the video game "sequel" Scarface: The World Is Yours. I would also like to go on record by saying I own a copy of the game and I do enjoy it. Read into that what you will.)

    However, in spite of all that, Al Pacino does a damn good job in this role. His mania is filled with an energy you don't see a whole lot from today's actors. When it comes to playing characters you don't mess with, Pacino makes it known that you do not mess with him.

    I can't blame this film for what people see in it. People attempt to find political parallels in pictures like Star Wars- Episode Three: Revenge Of The Sith.
    The film is intense and not for the faint of heart (the chainsaw scene alone would be a deterrent.) It stands the test of time.
  • ohagankieran
    January 25, 2009
    ohagankieran
    Dragging away from the silent, intelligent underworld of The Godfather & Miller's Crossing, this is a movie where friendship is as real as the toothfairy and where you meet your end by chainsaw. This movie is not a thinking mans gangster movie, Tony Montana screwed up everything ...( read more)for everybody and in the end the only guy that came out of the whole thing smiling was the guy with the shotgun that killed Tony. The unpleasant part about this film is mainly the demise of Pfeiffer and Mastrantonio, the only two people he ever cared about, well at least for one of them he did. This film is a cult classic. It is reknowed as one of the best gangster filmsof all time. Its not wrong. The feel of the film is spectacular. Al pacinos performance of tomy montana allows you to really feel the emphaphie of the character which allows you to fall into the story. This creates the edge-of-your-seat violence and tension. The screenplay is spectacular but oscar-winning oliver stone cannot help himself. the film shows raw passion, power and respect corrupting a man until eventually he has to pay a price. This film would have done better but it was ahead of its time in terms of bloody effect and graphic reaalisism. It would have won oscars had it come out in this age. This film can be found in any film collection big or small and i promise you now its worth it. Just buy it and trust me, you will not regret it.
  • mfou88
    December 30, 2009
    mfou88
    Another masterpiece of AL Pacino, amazing performance from an amazing actor.
  • calster21
    December 27, 2009
    calster21
    "Say hello to my little friend"....need I say more?
  • BlackSouls666
    December 27, 2009
    BlackSouls666
    Brilliant mafia movie with Al Pacino at his best.
  • TomBowler
    December 26, 2009
    TomBowler
    Say hello to my little friend! Full review later
  • maxmax131
    December 26, 2009
    maxmax131
    I don't see what the big deal is.
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