Scarface (1983 film)

Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written byOliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana. Based onHoward Hawks' original 1932 film of the same name, the film tells the story of a fictional Cubanrefugee who comes to Miami in 1980 as a result of the Mariel Boatlift. Montana becomes a drug cartel member during the cocaine boom of the 1980s. The movie chronicles his rise to the top ofMiami's cocaine empire.

The film is dedicated to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, the director and screenwriter of the original 1932 film, respectively.

The initial critical response to Scarface was mixed, with the film receiving criticism for its violence and graphic language. The film has since gathered a cult following and has become an important cultural icon (particularly in the hip-hop community^[3]), inspiring posters, clothing, and many other references. The film's grainy black and white poster is a popular decoration and is still in production; as a result of its popularity it has been parodied many times.

Plot

Tony Montana (Al Pacino), a violent and ambitious Cuban refugee, arrives in Miami, Floridaduring the 1980 Mariel boatlift. He and his best friend, Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer), are sent to a refugee camp, but wealthy drug dealer Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) arranges for them to obtain green cards in return for the assassination of a former Cuban government official. After the assassination is completed, they agree to carry out a job for Frank's henchman Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham), to buy cocaine from Colombian dealers. Tony, Manny, and associates Angel (Pepe Serna) and Chi Chi (Ángel Salazar) drive to the deal, but the deal goes bad. The Colombians dismember Angel with a chainsaw and are about to do the same to Tony when Manny and Chi Chi storm the apartment and kill the Colombians. Suspecting a set-up and distrusting Omar, Tony takes the money and cocaine to Frank personally. Frank likes Tony's style and hires Tony and Manny to work for him. This is when Tony first meets and develops a romantic interest in Frank's girlfriend,Elvira Hancock (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Months later, Tony visits his mother, Georgina (Míriam Colón), and younger sister, Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), of whom Tony is overly protective. Gina is excited to see him again, but his criminal life disgusts his mother who throws him out after refusing a gift of money. When Tony rejoins Manny, who is waiting in the car, Manny favorably comments on Gina's looks, but Tony tells him to steer clear.

Tony and Omar go to Bolivia to talk with cocaine kingpin Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar). The tension between Tony and Omar peaks when Tony tries to negotiate unauthorized terms with Sosa. Omar leaves, but Sosa asks Tony to stay. As Tony and Sosa further discuss business, Sosa discloses to Tony that Omar was a police informant. Tony then witnesses Sosa's henchmen hang Omar from a helicopter. Tony goes on record stating he never liked or trusted Omar, but vouches for Frank. As Sosa and Tony part ways with a business understanding, Sosa warns Tony never to betray him. In Miami, Frank is infuriated over Omar's death and Tony's unauthorized deals, with the two ending their business relationship. Tony establishes his own operations and pursues Elvira more aggressively, eventually asking her to marry him.

At a nightclub, Tony is shaken down by a Miami detective, Mel Bernstein (Harris Yulin). He proposes to "tax" Tony on his transactions in return for police protection and information. That same night, Tony sees Gina dancing with a drug dealer. He follows the two to a restroom stall where he berates Gina for her promiscuous conduct. He asks Manny to take her home. On the way home Gina reveals her attraction to Manny, but he wards her off, mindful of Tony's extreme protectiveness.

Meanwhile, back at the club, Tony is attacked and wounded by two gunmen but manages to escape, killing both in the process. Suspecting Frank sent Bernstein and the hitmen, Tony decides to pay Frank a visit. He asks Nick The Pig to call Frank at exactly 3:00 am to inform him that the hit failed. Tony and Manny find Frank with Bernstein. The phone rings as planned, with Frank confirming his involvement by playing the call off as Elvira checking on when he'll be home. Frank begs for his life and Tony's forgiveness before Manny kills him. Tony then kills Bernstein. Tony then takes over Frank's empire, marries Elvira, and becomes increasingly wealthy, with Manny as his second-in-command. However, in time, cracks in Tony's operation begin to form as both he and Elvira become addicted to cocaine and drift apart, and Tony's increasing paranoia begins to take a toll on his friendship with Manny.

Police pose as money launderers to set up Tony and charge him with money laundering and tax evasion. Tony is arrested, but makes bail. Tony's lawyer lets him know there will be a huge fine and jail time. Learning of the sting, Sosa offers Tony a quid pro quo: Sosa will use his government connections to keep Tony out of jail, but Tony must fly to New York City with Sosa's man Alberto to help assassinate a Bolivian journalist intent on exposing Sosa during a speech to the United Nations.

Tony arrives in NYC with Angel, Ernie, and Alberto. They stake out the journalist's apartment and Alberto wires the journalists' car with a remote bomb. The next morning, upon seeing the journalist accompanied in the car by his wife and children, Tony tries to call off the operation because he doesn't want the kids to be killed. Alberto states that Sosa's explicit instructions are to tail the journalist and blow up his car in front of the United Nations building, and refuses to call off the hit. Before Alberto can detonate the bomb, Tony shoots him in the head. Furious, Sosa calls Tony later that evening, and after a heated exchange, Sosa reminds Tony of their first conversation.

When Tony goes back to Miami, he follows Gina, who has been missing since he left. When Tony sees Manny and Gina together, Tony kills Manny in a fit of anger. Gina reveals the two had just married and Tony and his men take a hysterical Gina back to Tony's mansion. As Tony sits in his office, snorting a huge pile of cocaine, distraught at killing his best friend, a large group of heavily armed men sent by Sosa surround the mansion. At this point, a heavily-drugged Gina enters Tony's office and accuses Tony of being possessive and jealous, before shooting him in the leg. At this point one of Sosa's gunmen enters the room and kills Gina. Tony kills the gunman and upon seeing Gina's corpse, loses control. In a cocaine-fueled rage, Tony makes his last stand with an automatic weapon fitted with a grenade launcher. He eventually loses his weapon, takes multiple bullet wounds, and is finally killed by a shotgun blast from "The Skull" (Geno Silva). His body falls off the staircase and into the fountain, floating by the statue bearing the slogan "The World is Yours", an ending similar to that of the original 1932 film.

[edit]Cast

• Al Pacino as Tony Montana
• Steven Bauer as Manny Ribera (Credits list as "Manny Ray")
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Elvira Hancock
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Gina Montana
• Robert Loggia as Frank Lopez
• F. Murray Abraham as Omar Suárez
• Harris Yulin as Mel Bernstein
• Paul Shenar as Alejandro Sosa
• Ángel Salazar as Chi Chi
• Pepe Serna as Angel Fernandez
• Míriam Colón as Georgina Montana
• Al Israel as Hector "The Toad"
• Michael Alldredge as George Sheffield

[edit]Reaction

Scarface received its premiere on December 1, 1983 in New York City where it was initially greeted with mixed reaction. The film's two stars, Al Pacino and Steven Bauer, were joined in attendance by Burt and Diane Lane, Melanie Griffith, Raquel Welch, Joan Collins; her then-boyfriend Peter Holm and Eddie Murphy amongst others.^[4] According to AMC's "DVD TV: Much More Movie" airing, Cher loved it, Lucille Ball, who came with her family, hated it because of the graphic violence and language, and Dustin Hoffman was said to have fallen asleep. Writers Kurt Vonnegut and John Irving were amongst those who allegedly walked out in disgust after the notorious "chainsaw" scene. At the middle of the film, Martin Scorsese turned to Steven Bauer and told him, "You guys are great – but be prepared, because they're going to hate it in Hollywood ... because it's about them".^[5] Scarface, upon its first release, drew controversy regarding the violence and graphic language in the film, and received many negative reviews from movie critics. Despite this, the film grossed $65 million worldwide, and has since gathered a large following. On the two-disc Special Edition, the film's producer, Martin Bregman, said that the film was well received by only one notable critic, Vincent Canby of The New York Times. However, Roger Ebert rated it four stars out of four in his 1983 review and he later added it to his "Great Movies" list.^[6]

[edit]Rating

Scarface was given an X rating three times (original, second, and third cuts) for extreme violence, frequent strong language and hard drug usage. Director Brian De Palma pulled in a panel of experts, including real narcotics officers, who stated that the film was an accurate portrayal of the real-life drug underworld and should be widely seen. This convinced the 20 members of the ratings board to give the third cut an "R" rating by a vote of 18 to 2. De Palma later asked the studio if he could release the original director's cut, but was told that he could not. However, since the studio executives did not know the differences between the three submitted cuts, De Palma released the director's cut to theaters anyway with an unapproved "R".^[7]

[edit]Box office

Scarface was released on December 9, 1983, in 997 theaters, grossing USD $4.6 million in its opening weekend. The film went on to make $45.4 million in North America and $20.5 million internationally for a worldwide total of $65.9 million (over $135 million, when adjusted for inflation, as of 2010).

[edit]Critical reception

Al Pacino's performance as the Cuban drug lord Tony Montana received a mixed reception.

Roger Ebert wrote "DePalma and his writer, Oliver Stone, have created a gallery of specific individuals, and one of the fascinations of the movie is that we aren't watching crime-movie clichés, we're watching people who are criminals".^[8] He later added it to his "Great Movies" list.^[9] Vincent Canby also praised the film in his review for the New York Times: "[T]he dominant mood of the film is...bleak and futile: What goes up must always come down. When it comes down in Scarface,the crash is as terrifying as it is vivid and arresting".^[10]

Leonard Maltin was among those critics who held a negative opinion towards Scarface. He gave the film *1/2 stars out of four, stating that "...[Scarface] wallows in excess and unpleasantness for nearly three hours, and offers no new insights except that crime doesn't pay. At least the 1932 movie moved". In later editions of his annual movie guide, Maltin included an addendum to his review stating his surprise with the film's newfound popularity as a cult-classic.^[11]

In his review for Newsweek, David Ansen wrote, "If Scarface makes you shudder, it's from what you think you see and from the accumulated tension of this feral landscape. It's a grand, shallow, decadent entertainment, which like all good Hollywood gangster movies delivers the punch and counterpunch of cocks and disgust".^[12] Jay Scott, in his review for the Globe and Mail, writes, "For a while, Al Pacino is hypnotic as Montana. But the effort expended on the flawless Cuban accent and the attempts to flesh out a character cut from inch-thick cardboard are hopeless".^[13] In his review for the Washington Post, Gary Arnold wrote, "A movie that appeared intent on revealing an alarmingly contemporary criminal subculture gradually reverts to underworld cliche, covering its derivative tracks with outrageous decor and an apocalyptic, production number finale, ingeniously choreographed to leave the antihero floating face down in a literal bloodbath".^[14]

It currently holds a "Fresh" rating of 88% from Rotten Tomatoes, and an average score of 65/100 from Metacritic.

Pacino earned nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and Steven Bauer was nominated for Best Supporting Actor as well. However, DePalma was nominated for, but did not win, a Razzie Award for Worst Director.

[edit]Legacy

In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Scarface was acknowledged as the tenth best in the gangster film genre.^[15] The line "Say hello to my little friend!" (said by Montana of his rifle-grenade-launcher) took 61st place on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list.Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #8 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films",^[16] and Empire Magazine placed it among the top 500 films of all time.

[edit]Releases

Steven Bauer played Tony Montana's friend Manny Ribera in Scarface.

[edit]VHS

Scarface was initially released by MCA Home Video on VHS and Beta in the summer of 1984 – a two-tape set in 1.33:1 pan and scan ratio – and quickly became a bestseller, preluding its cult status.^[17] A 2.35:1 Widescreen VHS would follow years later in 1998 to coincide with the special edition DVD release. The last VHS release was in 2003 to counterpart the 20th anniversary edition DVD.

[edit]TV version

The TV version of Scarface premiered on ABC on October 25, 1987. 32 minutes were edited out, and a lot of the dialog, including the constant use of the word "fuck" was changed. In addition, aside from being heavily cut for content and time, the following scenes were added in order to make up for anything that was cut:

• An extra Freedom Town scene, in which Tony is in a phone booth trying to call a young girl (presumably Gina), and then watches television with Manny and Chi Chi.
• At the Babylon Club, before Frank points to Tony El Gordo, he points to him Louis and Miguel Echevierra.
• While visiting his mother's house, Tony presents to her a gift. He then says "So here we are, the Three Musketeers" as he opens the champagne bottle, and makes a toast to America.
• A scene that shows Sosa talking to his fiancee, Gabriella Martini, on a white horse.
• A scene where Tony meets his lawyer for the first time.
• A scene in New York City where Tony pretends to be looking for his lost dog.

Some of these scenes appear as extras on DVD, but in a rough-cut fashion, as opposed to the versions that were seen on television.

[edit]DVD

Scarface has been released on DVD several times in the United States.

The first release was by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on the film's 15th anniversary in 1998 under the studio's "Collector's Edition" line. The DVD featured a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, a "Making of" documentary, outtakes, production notes and cast and crew biographies. This release was not successful, and many fans and reviewers complained about its unwatchable video transfer and muddled sound, describing it as "one of the worst big studio releases out there".^[18]

This DVD quietly went out of print, subsequently fetching outrageous prices on secondhand sites such as eBay. In 2003, Universal released a remastered two disc "Anniversary Edition" to coincide with the film's 20th anniversary re-release, featuring two documentaries — one re-edited from the last release to include new interviews with Steven Bauer (Manny Ray) and another produced by Def Jam Recordings featuring interviews with various rappers on the film's cult success in the hip-hop world and other extras ported over from the previous DVD. New to this edition was a 2.35:1 Anamorphic widescreen transfer and 5.1 surround sound in both Dolby Digital and DTS. An alternate, 1.33:1 pan and scan version of the DVD was also made available.

The limited, 20th anniversary theatrical re-release in 2003 also boasted a remastered soundtrack with enhanced sound effects and music but the DVD's 5.1 tracks were mixed from the film's original four-track stereo audio, resulting in noticeably limited frequency and surround effects. A limited edition box set was also released featuring a gold money clip embossed with the "Tony Montana" monogram, production stills, lobby cards, and a DVD of the original Scarface. In 2005, Universal released a single disc 'movie only' version of the Anniversary Edition with the deleted scenes as the sole bonus feature.

In the fall of 2006, Universal released the movie in a two-disc "Platinum Edition" featuring the remastered audio from the theatrical re-release in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround. Most of the extras (with the exception of the Def Jam documentary, production notes, and cast and crew biographies) from the Anniversary Edition were also included. New features to this edition were two featurettes relating to the new video game and the criminal and cultural world of Miami in the 1980s, and a "Scarface Scorecard", which kept track of the number of bullets fired and "F-bombs" throughout the film.

[edit]Blu-ray

As of late 2010, Universal has not publicly disclosed any plans to release Scarface on Blu-ray.

[edit]Spanish-language version

When released in Spain, the film was titled El Precio del Poder (The Price of Power).^[19][20] The US and Latin American editions of the DVD feature a Spanish language track, but give the title as Caracortada (Spanish for "Cutface"; a literal translation of "Scarface" into Spanish is "Cara de cicatriz"). Hector `The Toad` calls Tony Montana `Cara de cicatriz` whilst he is being chained in the shower after Angel has been killed.

[edit]Pop culture

[edit]Music

Main article: Scarface (soundtrack)

The music in Scarface was produced by Academy Award-winning Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder. Reflecting Moroder's style, the soundtrack consists mostly of synthesized new wave, electronic music.

[edit]Video games

Main articles: Scarface: The World Is Yours and Scarface: Money. Power. Respect.

A licensed video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours, was released in September and October 2006, followed by an update in June 2007. It was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games. The game is a quasi-sequel based on the premise that Tony survived the raid on his mansion at the end of the film - however, he lost his criminal empire, and the player's goal is to rebuild it. Wii,PS2, Xbox, and PC versions have been released.

Radical and Vivendi also released a second licensed video game, Scarface: Money, Power, Respect, in October 2006. The game is much likeScarface: The World is Yours, but deals more with the controlling of drugs and managing of the Montana cocaine empire and turf, whereasMoney, Power, Respect is mostly focused on getting rid of gangs, gaining respect and overall reconstruction of the empire. To date, only aPSP version of this game has been released.

The hit game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City also has some homages to Scarface, such as an area with the famous bloody bathroom in an empty apartment, along with a chainsaw that can be used as a weapon. The Malibu Club is also very similar to the Babylon Club. Other similarities include a drugs deal that goes wrong, a mission to kill a cocaine-dealing boss similar to Tony and Manny's killing of Frank, and a mansion featuring an office and hall very similar to those of Tony's mansion in the movie. Furthermore, the protagonist Tommy Vercetti is heavily based upon Tony Montana. The final mission in which Tommy must fend off dozens of armed men as they storm the mansion parallels the bloodbath ending in the film.

The soundtrack to Scarface can also be heard in Grand Theft Auto III, as the songs are featured on the car radio.

[edit]Books and comics

Dark Horse Comics' imprint DH Press released a novel called Scarface: The Beginning by L. A. Banks.^[21][22]

IDW publishing released a limited series called Scarface: Scarred For Life. It starts with corrupt police officers finding Tony has survived the final mansion showdown.^[23]

[edit]Television and film

In 2001, plans were set into motion for hip hop artist Cuban Link to write and star in a sequel to Scarface entitled Son of Tony.^[24] The plans for a prospective sequel drew both praise as well as criticism, and after several years Cuban Link indicated that he may no longer be involved with the project as the result of movie rights issues and creative control.^[25]

USA Network announced in 2003 they would be producing a mini-series based on the movie; however, the series' current status is unknown.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]South Park parody

The South Park episode Medicinal Fried Chicken is a parody of events that take place in the movie, where Eric Cartman suffers from KFCwithdrawal syndrome after the fast food products have been effectively outlawed in the town of South Park so he and his friend work out a deal with Colonel Sanders. Eric's excessive consumption of the product is an impediment to Colonel's plans and his inability to carry out a murder of Jamie Oliver as the Colonel's upmost critic finds Sanders outraged, seeking for vengeance, emulating the Sosa-Tony situation. Sanders is quoted as saying "Don't ever try to fuck me, Eric", directly paraphrasing Sosa's minatory remarks to Tony not long after they've met for the first time.

Posted in: Top Movies Wiki