Scarface (1983) review

(10/10)

This is the tale of how fame, drugs, and violence drove one of the richest drug dealers into the ground.

PLOT:After being shipped as a prisoner with some Cuban refugees to Florida, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) has to make a life and a name for himself in America. He gets asked to do a high-paying drug retrieval (which he nearly dies in), and that spins him off into his million-dollar career of drug-trafficking for a Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) and his wife, Elvira (Michelle Pfieffer), who he has interest in. He also reconnects with his family, including his now-adult sister, Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), whom he has over-protective fears for. However, his career starts to fade after he starts to get a big head and "gets high on his own supply." It's a good plot executed brilliantly.



ACTING:The acting in here was pretty great. No performance was a bad one. Al Pacino took over the screen as Scarface, being both the tough-as-nails gangster and humorous comic relief. Any other actor wouldn't have done the character as much justice. The other shiners were Robert Loggia as Frank Lopez, Michelle Pfieffer as Elvira, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Gina, Miriam Colon as Mama Montana, and Steven Bauer as Manny Ray.

SCORE:The score didn't fit the film as well as it should have, but it was still pretty great. It was basically cheesy '80s score, but it was still pretty good considering it was done by the great Giorgio Mororder. I think it would have worked better with some more suspenseful stuff, but this was still pretty great.



OTHER CONTENT:This film is one of the greats; it's iconic, meaningly violent, and serves as an example for younger people to stay away from drugs and to not get too cocky, or have a "big head". This film was also under the direction of the great Brian DePalma; his direction remained solid throughout. This is another one of those films that has one scene that everyone knows because it's become such an icon nowadays. Everybody can quote this film and the iconic scene: "Say hello to my little friend!" DePalma has truly created a brilliant film here.

OVERALL,an epic film with a brilliantly-executed plot, great acting, great-yet-unfitting Mororder score, iconic scenes, violence with meaning, example-setting ideas, and solid direction by the great DePalma.