Scarface (1983)

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Scarface (1983)

7/10

Starring

Al Pacino

Steven Bauer

Michelle Pfeiffer

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Directed by Brian De Palma

Here is a movie that sets the mood for other gangster films to follow. It is based on a 1932 version of the same name which was then based on a 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail.

The director Brian De Palma (The Untouchables (1987) and Mission: Impossible (1996)) took a screenplay by Oliver Stone (Platoon(1986)), and created a masterpiece, which displayed for show characters that will be glued in your mind for years to come.

The director and writer gave us a movie which set the trend for others to follow. Running for close to three hours long they didn't even try to fill up the spaces with clichés, instead they placed short monologues by the loveable bad guy Tony Montana (Al Pacino) to further depict his mental state – and I can bet you, you will love his lines.

On initial release the movie was received with mixed feelings. Most of it was because of the excessive violence and frequent cursing (the word "FUCK" was used 226 times in this movie). Scarface is about criminals at work, every lead in the movie was on drugs and used them on screen, some even more than others.

The plot is about a Cuban refugee Tony Montana who arrives in Miami, and is sent to a refugee camp with his best friend Manny. From there Tony did a job that got him and Manny out of the camp and in the streets working for a small time drug lord named Frank.

Tony wanting to be in control of what happens and have the big life he always wanted, broke away from Frank and started his own thing.

That didn't go well with Frank and he tried to take Tony out, a mistake that led to Tony taking full control of the drug business Frank once ran and taking it to heights that Frank never imagined.

All this and taking Franks girl to be his wife, didn't make Tony's rise to the top smooth. His need to always be in control and his over possessive love for his sister ended up being the end of him.

Scarface is now a classic, the American Film Institute rates it as the tenth best in the gangster film genre. The line "Say hello to my little friend!" by Montana placed 61st place on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list, and Tony Montana was nominated as a villain on AFI's list of 100 Heroes & Villains.

Here is a classic movie you should have in your archive.