Scarface (1983 film)

"Scarface (film)" redirects here. For the 1932 film, see Scarface (1932 film).

"Say hello to my little friend" redirects here. For the Awake episode, see Say Hello to My Little Friend.

Scarface
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Brian De Palma
Written by	Oliver Stone
Produced by	Martin Bregman
Starring	Al Pacino
Cinematography	John A. Alonzo
Edited by	Gerald B. Greenberg David Ray
Music by	Giorgio Moroder
Production company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	December 9, 1983 (1983-12-09)
Running time	170 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000
Box office	$65,884,703

Scarface is a 1983 American crime film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana. A contemporary remake of the 1932 film of the same name, the film tells the story of a Cuban refugee who comes to Miami in 1980 with the Mariel Boatlift, and becomes a drug cartel kingpin during the cocaine boom of the 1980s. The film is dedicated to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, the director and principal screenwriter, respectively, of the original film.

The initial critical response to Scarface was mixed, garnering criticism for excessive violence and graphic language. The Cuban community in Miami objected to the film's portrayal of Cubans as criminals and drug traffickers, but has since gone on to become a cult classic.

Plot

In 1980, Tony Montana (Al Pacino), a Cuban refugee, arrives in Miami, Florida during the Mariel boatlift. He and his best friend, Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer), along with friends/associates Angel (Pepe Serna) and Chi-Chi (Ángel Salazar), are sent to a refugee camp named Freedomtown. They are promised release and green cards when Manny makes a deal with wealthy Jewish Cuban drug dealer Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) for killing a former Cuban government official named Emilio Rebenga. Following the assassination and their release, they are offered a deal by Frank's henchman Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham) to buy cocaine from Colombian dealers. The deal quickly goes bad, with Angel being dismembering by a chainsaw. Before they can do the same to Tony, Manny and Chi-Chi storm the apartment and kill the Colombians. Suspecting a set-up by Omar, Tony and Manny insist on taking the buy money and cocaine retrieved in the chaos to Frank personally. Frank likes their 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 he is fiercely protective. Gina is excited to see him again, but his mother is disgusted by his life of crime and throws him out. Manny, who is waiting in the car, comments about Gina's beauty, but Tony angrily warns Manny to stay away from her.

Frank sends Tony and Omar to Bolivia to make a transaction with cocaine kingpin Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar). The tension between Tony and Omar peaks when Tony negotiates an unauthorized deal. Omar agrees to head back home to talk with Frank personally, with Tony being asked by Sosa to stay behind. After Omar's departure, Sosa discloses that Omar was recognized as a police informant, and has Tony witness Omar being pushed and hanged from a helicopter. When Sosa questions the rest of Frank's outfit, a disgusted Tony states that he never liked or trusted Omar, but vouches for Frank. Sosa and Tony part ways with a business understanding, but not before Sosa warns Tony never to betray him. Upon returning to Miami, Frank is infuriated not only with Omar's demise, but the much larger deal Tony struck with Sosa. The business relationship with Frank dissolves, with Tony establishing his own operations, and informs Elvira of his intentions to marry and have children with her.

At his favorite nightclub, Tony is shaken down by corrupt Miami detective Mel Bernstein (Harris Yulin), who proposes to "tax" him on his transactions in return for police protection and information. Tony spots Elvira and sits down with her, and goes on to insult Frank directly. After Frank and Elvira leave, Tony sees Gina and a low-level drug dealer she was dancing with head towards the mens restroom. Tony throws out the drug dealer, and argues with Gina, resulting in him striking her. Manny, sympathizing with Gina, takes her home. Gina reveals her attraction to Manny, but he wards her off, fearful of Tony's wrath should he catch them together. Back at the club, Tony is nearly killed by two gunmen but manages to escape, killing both of them in the process. Suspecting Frank sent Bernstein and the hitmen, Tony instructs his associate Nick "The Pig" to call Frank at a specific time to advise that the hit failed. Tony, Manny and Chi-Chi go to Frank's office and find him with Bernstein, and the phone call goes as planned. Frank confesses to sending the hitmen, and begs for his life. Manny shoots him dead on Tony's order before Tony kills Bernstein. With nobody left to stand in his way, Tony retrieves Elvira, and takes over Franks' operations.

Tony builds a multi-million dollar empire, with Sosa as his supplier. He marries Elvira in a lavish ceremony, and all his dreams since coming to America seemingly coming true. However, cracks begin to form in his operation. Elvira's already strong cocaine use intensifies, the banker who launders his money is demanding more to do so, and Tony takes credit for all of his and Manny's success, leaving their once strong brotherly relationship broken. Tony is eventually charged with money laundering and tax evasion after police stage a sting operation. His corrupt lawyer explains there will be a huge fine and up to three years in jail.

Sosa flies Tony to Colombia, and offers him quid pro quo. In exchange for the use of Sosa's government connections to keep him out of jail, Tony must fly to New York City with Sosa's henchman Alberto (Mark Margolis) to help assassinate a Bolivian journalist intent on exposing Sosa during a speech to the United Nations. Tony's world begins to crumble further during dinner with Manny and Elvira at a fancy restaurant. He blames an already unhappy Manny for his legal issues, and goes one step further by accusing Elvira of being infertile due to her drug use. Elvira and Tony get into a violent struggle which ends with Elvira leaving Tony for good.

Tony arrives in New York with Chi Chi, Ernie, and Alberto. They stake out the journalist's apartment and Alberto wires the man's car with a remote bomb. The next morning, Tony tries to call off the operation after seeing the journalist get into the car with his wife and small children. Alberto refuses to call off the hit, stating that Sosa's explicit instructions are to tail the journalist and blow up his car in front of the United Nations building. But before Alberto can detonate the bomb, Tony shoots him in the head. When he calls home to check in with Manny, Tony is told that both Manny and Gina are missing. Tony returns home and takes a call from a furious Sosa, who reminds Tony of their first conversation when he warned Tony never to betray him. Tony then leaves to his mother's house, where she sends him off with an address she had followed Gina to in Coconut Grove.

Tony arrives to the address, which turns out to be a beautiful mansion. Manny answers the door in a robe, and Tony sees Gina appear from upstairs, also clad in only a robe. Tony kills Manny in a fit of rage. Gina tearfully states they had just gotten married the previous day and had planned to surprise him. Tony and his men bring an extremely distraught Gina back to Tony's mansion, where Tony declares war on Sosa before slamming his face in a large pile of cocaine. He is too late, as Sosa's heavily-armed men had already begun infiltrating his property, and begin killing Tony's guards along the way. At this point, a heavily-drugged Gina enters Tony's office with a gun, accusing Tony of wanting her for himself, before shooting him in the leg. Gina is killed when one of Sosa's gunmen bursts into the room and opens fire. Tony kills the gunman and upon seeing Gina's corpse, falls into heavy rumination. Chi Chi is then killed when Tony fails to open the door despite his frantic pleas. Finally, in a cocaine-fueled fury, Tony makes his last stand, using an M16 equipped with an under-barrel M203 grenade launcher and extended magazines, opening fire and killing many of Sosa's men while issuing the famous line: "Say hello to my little friend!" Tony takes many hits but manages to survive until he is fatally shot in the back by Sosa's henchman "The Skull". Tony's corpse falls from the staircase into the fountain at the bottom, in front of a statue reading "The World is Yours".

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
• Michael P. Moran as Nick "The Pig"
• Pepe Serna as Angel Fernandez
• Míriam Colón as Georgina Montana
• Al Israel as Hector "The Toad"
• Michael Alldredge as George Sheffield
• Mark Margolis as Alberto "The Shadow"
• Geno Silva as "The Skull"
• Richard Belzer in a bit part as the comic at the Babylon Club

Reaction

Scarface premiered 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 among others. 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 among 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".

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. Over the years, reviews for the film have changed from negative to favorably positive. Some stated that editing was a problem in the movie. In one case, where Omar Suarez is hanging from the helicopter, his shoe falls off randomly and it seems as if he is dancing while hanging from the helicopter. Rotten Tomatoes holds an average of 89% with a consensus of "Director Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino take it to the limit in this stylized, ultra-violent and eminently quotable gangster epic that walks a thin white line between moral drama and celebratory excess". Despite the film getting mixed to negative reviews upon its release, Scarface managed to gain more favorable positive reviews after its release in 1983.

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 among the three submitted cuts, De Palma released the director's cut to theaters anyway with an unapproved "R".

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).

Critical reception

File:ScarfacePacino.jpg

Al Pacino's performance as the Cuban drug lord Tony Montana received a Golden Globe nomination.

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". He later added it to his "Great Movies" list. 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".

Leonard Maltin was among those critics who held a negative opinion towards Scarface. He gave the film 1½ 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.

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 glamour and disgust". 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". 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".

It currently holds a "Fresh" rating of 89% from Rotten Tomatoes, and an average score of 65/100 from Metacritic.

Pacino earned a 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.

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. The line "Say hello to my little friend!" (spoken by Montana of his M16A2's M203-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", and Empire Magazine placed it among the top 500 films of all time, at #284. In 2010, VH1 rated the movie at number 5 in its list of 100 greatest movies of all time. Scarface was one of the first films to make frequent use of the word "fuck", and the first one in which the expletive is used over 200 times.

Releases

VHS

Scarface was initially released by MCA Home Video on VHS, CED Videodisc, 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. 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.

TV version

The TV version of Scarface premiered on ABC on January 7, 1989. 32 minutes were edited out, and much of the dialog, including the constant use of the word "fuck", which was muted after the beginning of "f-" or replaced with less offensive alternatives. 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 her with 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 is approached by police while planting a car bomb, and 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.

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".

This DVD quickly 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.

Blu-ray

Universal Studios released Scarface on Blu-ray on September 6, 2011 in a two-disc, limited edition, steelbox package. The set contains a remastered, 1080p widescreen transfer of the film in 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound, as well as a digital copy. Disc two is a DVD of the 1932 Scarface, featuring a TMC-produced introduction by Robert Osborne and an alternate ending. Bonus features for the 1983 Scarface are ported over from prior editions, including the deleted scenes, The Making of Scarface documentary, the Scarface: The Video Game featurette, and a new retrospective documentary: The Scarface Phenomenon. The Blu-ray also features BD-Live, Pocket-Blu app access, and "U-control"; featuring the "Scarface Scoreboard" from the 2006 Platinum Edition DVD, and picture-in-picture cast and crew interviews along with celebrity fan retrospectives, outtakes, and scene comparisons between the 1932 and 1983 versions, and the 1987 television edit.

A special gift set, limited to 1,000 copies, features the Blu-ray set housed in a cigar humidor, designed by world-renowned humidor craftsman Daniel Marshall. The humidor box set retails for an MSRP of $999.99.

Universal also launched a "National Fan Art Contest" via Facebook. The top 25 submissions selected by Universal were entered in a poll where fans voted on their 10 favorite works to be featured as art cards in the Blu-ray set. The Grand-Prize winner had their artwork featured on a billboard in a major US city in order to promote the release. To celebrate the release of Scarface on Blu-ray, Universal Studios and Fathom Events teamed up to make a Scarface Special Event. The event included Scarface coming back to selected theatres nationwide for one night only on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. A twenty minute documentary on how the film impacted the world today also featured.

A single-disc version, featuring only the first disc of the film and special features in standard Blu-ray packaging was released on October 11 of the same year.

Spanish-language version

When released in Spain, the film was titled El Precio del Poder (The Price of Power). 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 cicatrizada"). Hector `The Toad` calls Tony Montana 'Cara de cicatriz' whilst he is being chained in the shower after Angel has been killed.

Pop culture

Soundtrack

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.

Books and comics

• Dark Horse Comics' imprint DH Press released a novel called Scarface: The Beginning by L. A. Banks.

• 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. Similar to the game The World Is Yours, Tony works at rebuilding his criminal empire.

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 like Scarface: The World is Yours, but deals more with the controlling of drugs and managing of the Montana cocaine empire and turf, whereas Money, Power, Respect is mostly focused on getting rid of gangs, gaining respect and overall reconstruction of the empire. To date, only a PSP version of this game has been released.

Television and film

• In 2001, plans were made for hip hop artist Cuban Link to write and star in a sequel to Scarface entitled Son of Tony. The plans drew both praise and 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.

• Universal announced in 2011 that the studio is developing a new version of Scarface. The studio claims that the new film is neither a sequel nor a remake, but will take elements from both this version and its 1932 predecessor, including the basic premise: a man who becomes a kingpin in his quest for the American Dream. Martin Bregman, who produced the 1983 remake, will produce this version, with a screenplay by David Ayer.

External links

• Template:Allmovie title
• Scarface at Box Office Mojo
• Scarface at IMDb
• Scarface at Rotten Tomatoes