Pacino plays a ruthless Cuban gangster involved in a cocaine empire, in this violent crime epic inspired by the 1932 classic of the same title.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 24-JUL-2007
Media Type: DVD

Average Customer Review: ( 828 customer reviews )
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With every viewing, I come to appreciate Brian DePalma's Scarface more and more. Although not perfect, there is much more right with this film than wrong. It helps to compare it with its countless imitations: where most subsequent crime films rush headlong from one bloody gunfight to the next, Scarface takes its time. Its languid, gliding camera has a certain elegance in the way it reveals story points without relying on clunky Dick-and-Jane dialog or overwrought MTV pyrotechnics. A prime example is the infamous scene where Tony Montana (Al Pacino) attemps to buy two kilos of cocaine from some Coloumbians for his boss, Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia). Watch the way the camera drifts from the Miami Beach hotel room, across a peaceful sun-drenched street, over to the car where Tony's associates are waiting for him, then slowly back up to the bathroom window, where the sound of the idling chainsaw grows louder. Creepy. Insinuating. It's comparable to the best work of Hitchcock - a day-lit nightmare where the ordinary becomes sinister. Watch closely as the Columbian dismembers Tony's friend limb by limb. In spite of the scene's reputation, we never actually see what's happening. Like the shower murder in Psycho, all the violence is implied - so strongly, in fact, that DePalma had to fight the MPAA in a well-publicized battle to keep Scarface from receiving an X rating.

It's interesting the way that the improved picture and sound seem to contribute to every aspect of the film. Subtleties in Pacino's largely unsubtle performance become clear. We can better see what he does with his face in those famously shadowy close-ups; the way he registers what he's thinking privately, even as he swaggers with exaggerated bravado. Where once it seemed he was over-acting at times, it is now apparent that he was carefully playing his character's machismo against a darker undercurrent of great hunger - so intense that it defies articulation. Tony Montana's great tragedy is his utter lack of self-knowlege. Beneath the clouds of cordite and testosterone, he is so painfully needy that he will draw everyone around him into a decaying orbit of destruction. He is a criminal, but he is not immoral. He is a black hole of a man, a vacuous human being whose desires eclipse whatever soul that a life of deprivation and decay may have left him. He acts without apology, or even much thought. He's an animal in both the best and worst senses of the word. The tragedy is not so much that he is killed at the end - he brings that on himself - it is that so many others, not least the addicts that buy his product, must suffer and die as well. It's downright Shakespearean, but with (lots of) f-words in place of gilded Elizabethan speech.

Once you get past those 160-odd f-variants, Oliver Stone's screenplay begins to seem as thoughtful as it is blunt. The language is harsh, but also truthful, with plenty of quotable lines (though you would not want to quote them in polite company).

The improved sound mix also brings into relief something that I had always looked upon as a liability of Scarface - the very "80's" music score, which had always seemed to me the newer equivalent of those ham-handed "jazz" scores from certain 50's melodramas like Man With the Golden Arm. But now the music seems "dated" more in the way of an early James Bond score; it is appropriate to the era. Were Scarface made now, it would still be a legitimate choice of styles.

The extras are thorough, though the "making of" documentary seems to be a longer version of the one from the original DVD release. There is also a documentary on Scarface's considerable influence on hip-hop music, but I smell an Obvious Plug for a CD of music "inspired" by the film. (The package insert proclaims that it's In Stores Now! from DefJam records.)

In any case, Scarface has finally received its due respect in a form that showcases the late John Alonso's brightly-hued, yet somehow gritty cinematography. Alonso also photographed the sumptuous Chinatown. This DVD is also a tribute to him - a master of light and shadow, whose old-fashioned, hard-lit chiaroscuro images contributed in no small way to Scarface's status as a modern classic.

38 of 47 found the following review helpful:

On DVD, yet again...Oct 08, 2006
By N. Durham "Big Evil"
Brian De Palma's blood soaked gangster epic is on DVD, once again. I'll say this right off the bat, if you own the previously released Special Edition of Scarface, there's no reason to run out and buy this Platinum Edition, which has an assortment of previously released extras to go along with a counter for how many times the "F" word is used and how many bullets are fired. Besides that, there's nothing here that hasn't been seen before, but if you don't already own Scarface on DVD, well then, this is worth picking up. As for the film itself, it's a bloody crime epic featuring one of Al Pacino's best, and most infamous, performances as Cuban hood turned drug kingpin Tony Montana; but chances are, you already know all that. The DVD's picture quality looks cleaner, and the "remastered and remixed" sound is crisper as well, but whether or not you want to lay down the cash for this depends on how many times you've been suckered into buying the movie.

11 of 12 found the following review helpful:

So, this and my other DVDs, I can guarantee production...Feb 24, 2000
By Marc Szeftel
As a huge fan of this film (I saw it twice in the theater, and innumerable times since then on tape, CED videodisc, laserdisc, and DVD), I'm disappointed that the DVD is not enhanced for widescreen TVs, and that the soundtrack is Dolby 2.0.

The supplemental material, including an hour-long "making of" and several outtakes, is well worth the purchase price for fans of this film.

I can't add much to the numerous rave reviews here, except that as much as I enjoy this movie, the ending seems absurd, to put it mildly. This is definitely not a film for all viewers; the intense violence, combined with the extremely frequent use of the "F" word, is realistic, but not entertaining for everyone. Still, for those who enjoy gangster films, this is mostly first-rate, featuring a host of scintillating supporting performances to complement the star turns by Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Steven Bauer. Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack is one of the most memorable original scores of the last 20 years.

17 of 20 found the following review helpful:

One Of The Great Cult ClassicsJun 01, 2003
By Michael Kropotkin "Kropotkin"
Since it's release in 1983, Brian De Palma's "Scarface" has become of the definitive cult classics of American movies, it's excesses have so imprinted themselves into popular culture that it's influence can be found in everything from clothing to popular lingo ("say hello to my little friend!") to rap music and rap videos. And yet, this is not a poorly executed movie, this is a brilliantly excessive crime drama filled with the kind of stylish, gritty quality that made films like "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas" equally effective (eventhough "Scarface" probably still stands as the bloodiest, edgiest film of it's kind). The screenplay was written by Oliver Stone before he became a visceral, provocative director and during the period when he was letting go of that notorious vice known as cocaine, he hung around with real Colombian gangsters and there is a unique authenticity to the film in it's violence and scenarios that helps it paint a portrait of the darker side of the American dream. Al Pacino is merciless and unforgettable as Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant arriving on Miami's shores and ready to make big bucks and finds his answer with the world of drug trafficking. Watching the film, it is no wonder why Tony Montana has become such a potent figure in popular movie culture, he is a great character, so alluring in his perversity that the word "villain" seems too cartoonish for him. His accent is catchy and his clothes cool and colorful (Stone recently commented on how Montana's style in dress and jewelry can be seen reflected in African-American culture). The film is famous for it's scenes of violence, including a victim chained to a shower and killed with a chainsaw. Director Brian DePalma, not really known for excess gloriously lavishes in it here and films his movie with style and gusto, "Scarface" is unique because it feels like it was made with real respect for the material. Consider that you have one of Hollywood's future greatest directors writing the script and one of American film's most stylish talents directing and on top of that, an iconic actor in the lead role. Even the moody main theme is composed by none other than Giorgio Moroder. The ending is especially deliciously bloody, as if a normal shoot-out is for sissies. "Scarface" remains a potent movie because it has themes we can all relate to, we all want wealth, power and at least one beautiful woman, "Scarface" asks the question of what extremes would one go to to achieve wealth, and is it worth anything when it is dirty money?

20 of 24 found the following review helpful:

"Say hello to my little friend"Feb 17, 2003
By N. Durham "Big Evil"
Brian De Palma's epic blood soaked remake of the 1932 Paul Muni gangster classic may not have gotten all the critical acclaim in the world, but it stands as a landmark performance of the great Al Pacino. Pacino brings to the screen one of his most well known characters in his career as Tony Montana; a cuban refugee who rises to power in Miami's cocaine underworld. Along with him is his best friend Manny (Steve Bauer) and the two begin working for Frank (Robert Loggia), a slimy, manipulative excess driven drug kingpin whose wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) Tony soon develops an obsession for. Oliver Stone wrote the script and helped make Tony one of the most unforgettable characters in all of American cinema. Scarface has since become a cult classic and contains some of the most memorable lines of dialogue in film, not to mention the most rampant use of profanity that would not be topped for years to come. The only problem I ever had with Scarface was it's length; clocking in at nearly 3 hours, there are times when the film drags, but that is only a minor complaint. All in all, if you want to see one of Al Pacino's finest performances (aside from Devil's Advocate, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, or anything beginning with the title The Godfather), then consider Scarface essential viewing, but be warned, this is not a film for all tastes.

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