Scarface

Rating:
Summary: Classic mobster flic with 80's music
Review: A great job of direction, and great acting all around. New and old actors in this one. One of the only movies that Pacino doen't over-act. His best aside from the Godfather films. Scarface has some classic scenes; the chainsaw, helicopter death, night club shootout, and don't forget the finale! Also one of the first times cocaine was refered to as yayo. Plus great music that fits the movie, and the suits are awesome. Great film overall; anyone interested in mob movies, or if you just like lots of action that goes with a good story will like this movie. And you don't have to know a word of Spanish, though you may want to turn the closed caption on for the long diolague scenes from pacino. If you don't want to pitch in the 20 odd bucks for the DVD, the VHS is just as good; besides the DVD only has a few extra features that really don't say much more about the movie. Buy or rent and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Scarface
Review: The rise and fall of Cuban gangster Tony Montanana.The DVD is exelent especially the sound and picture.While it is not better than The Godfather,this movie will be on the list of the best gangster movies of all time.The only flaw of the DVD is it does not have commentary but besides that the DVD is a good buy.

Rating:
Summary: "SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND"
Review: This movie is off the hook, Tony Montna is a drug lord in miami, but he has to work his way to the top. The end of this movie is the best movie scence ever

BUY THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Greed is not good
Review: I purchased Scarface and it was great.It's a movie about excess and what excess is and what excess can do an individual who had nothing.It's a movie about luck and how unlucky the character was in death.It's about self-esteem because he had none.

Rating:
Summary: ALEXS CAPSULE MOVIE REVIEWS
Review: HIGHLIGHTS: Al Pacino's exaggerated full-throttle no-holding-back performance; Steven Bauer as his friend sizzles on the screen; cinematography; Oliver Stone's ever-quotable script; certain scenes startle with their intensity.

LOWPOINTS: Giorgio Moroder's score; overdramatized at times; lacks consistent structure; gratuitously violent; Michelle Pfeiffer's acting; overlong.

CONCLUSION: One of the most influential films ever made, 'Scarface' failed both critically and at the box-office when it came out due to its three-hour length, Giorgio Moroder's straightforward synthesizer score and the ambiguous protagonist, Tony Montana. Not sure whether to root for him or loathe him, audiences failed to recognize a hero in the scarred face of Al Pacino, whose overall flaming performance was deemed offensive - Montana only wanter the cream of the crop, and nothing would stop him . Similar to 'Blade Runner', which also failed at its premiere and only now is considered classic due to its influences, 'Scarface' was later established as one of the most powerful gangster epics.
Brian DePalma ALWAYS exaggerates - it is the director's auterish touch that he inserts into his films to emphasize the action. While the film IS slightly off-putting in its structure (it lingers too long on unnecessary periods of Tony's life and skips significant ones, like his rise to success), and the Moroder score, along with Pfeiffer's uncertain amateurish performance, plainly suck, it is the palpable invigoration of the director at his peak in each scene that makes 'Scarface' a true classic. The violence IS excessive, but all is forgiven, because Pacino's forceful acting accomodates DePalma's style smoothly. Montana is all raw nerve. It is scarier to watch him snap at his friend, played impeccably by Steven Bauer, when Montana's sexually-charged obsession with his sister is challenged.
Uncompromising, elusive, offensive, 'Scarface' has become the landmark for the majority of rappers, including the likes of Method Man, Guru and,um, Scarface. Pacino's character is now a cult figure, cherished amongst the hip-hop community. The reason is clear: Montana's brutality, ambition and arrogance allowed him, a Cuban immigrant, rise to apocalyptic success. Rap artists mostly come from ghettos and projects, so they can sympathize with that strive, they know how it is. For an average viewer the film's brutality (amazingly stretched out in the controversial chainsaw scene) might be too much. Otherwise, 'Scarface' is a masterpiece of bad movies that re-triggered Oliver Stone's career, showcased De Palma's stylistic trends, shocked and provoked with its acting and amounts of gore, and inspired a generation of music and film.

SEE THIS IF YOU LIKED: Gangsta No1; Carrie; Donnie Brasco; Bugsy; Bad Lieutenant; Carlito's Way; Dead Presidents.


DON'T SEE THIS IF YOU LIKED: A Walk to Remember; Bugsy Malone; Hudson Hawk; Empire

Rating:
Summary: so VERY bad IT ALMOST TRIPS ITSELF into AWFULL
Review: almost AS OBNOXIOUS AN actor,as there EVER WAS, little in stature reminds me of hoffman BAD, OVERSTEPPIN THE BOUNDARIES INTO ALL POINTS WEST OF reasen,OLE SCAR FACE,painted up,sometimes the makeup seems to melt before the eyes, when he pacino is QUIRKY JERKY,acting,never ever remotely reasonable, nor believable, quite FRANKLY, he reminds me AND THIS sordid travesty of a PARODY, OF POPEYE. cocaine delerious and seedy this is a feast for the eyes, ALL IT LACKS IS AN APPLAUSE TRACK,to keep track,while being tortured by the SPECTACLE OF IT ALL,its almost cross gendered awfulness, IS IT A HORROR film with INSANE ASSPIRATIONS OF WINNING AN ACADEMY award,OR IS IT a bad WESTERN on the frontier of NUMB fantasia COCAINE poisioning, wretch be HEADED, hallmark EMPTY, SENTIMENTAL,sediment.

Rating:
Summary: Great moments in cinema
Review: The critics mainly got it wrong. This reissue puts it right. Take one great moment in cinema - the setting is Frank's mansion, the time two minutes after 3am about 30 minutes after Frank had had two workers put about five hundred rounds into a nightclub in an attempt to rid the world of Tony Montano (Tony the Mountain aka Mr Pacino)but missed. Tony has just given sidekick Manny (Mr Bauer) the order to give drug "lord" Frank (brilliant Mr Loggia) the what for after Frank sank to his knees and kissed the shoes of Tony pleading for his life, begging for a second chance, crying to be saved, and Manny dutifully puts one into Frank. Tony then turns his attention to bad guy and Chief of Detectives of Narcotics. Tony gives him one in the guts and then lets him have one in the chest. Tony and Manny turn to leave but Manny says "What about Ernie?" Frank's loyal and ucommunicative sidekick who has been watching the evening's events unfold before his eyes, and, let's say, is now facing an uncertain future. A little overweight, in a suit just a little too small, a worker, loyal, Cuban exile, with beads of sweat on his face, which the camera ponders for about five seconds. Then we see Tony's face for a few moments - "Want a job?" he says, knowing that either way, he's got this guy's life. A great moment in cinema. Many good extras too - especially interviews with Mr Stone and Mr Pacino. Very good value.

Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: great dvd. definitely a classic. Pacino is really talented and the story is good. Though i like The Godfather better.

Rating:
Summary: I forgot how bad this was
Review: Cheesy, too long and not as bloody as everyone remembers, Scarface is way overrated. Some parts are laugh out loud dated, like the Frank Stallone musical montage and the rear projection car scenes. The first half of the movie as Tony comes to power works better then the latter drug soaked parts.
The DVD is of high quality and still worth a watch.

Rating:
Summary: This is the film that iconicized Al Pacino, mang!
Review: Al Pacino was without a doubt a well-respected actor who had "made his bones" with any number of defining roles prior to his portrayal of Tony Montana in this Brian DePalma remake of the 1932 Howard Hawks "Scarface" based loosely on the life of Al Capone. And in truth he's done some terrific work since, as well ("Scent of a Woman", "Heat", "The Devil's Advocate", "Any Given Sunday", to name a few).

But this movie, thanks mainly to Pacino's merciless performance, has done more for pop culture than anything else he's ever been associated with. That crazy over-the-top Marielito accent has been (badly) imitated more often among a generation of movie fans who weren't even out of diapers when "Scarface" was released back in 1983 than Marlon Brando's cotton-cheeked Don Corleone was mimicked since he came onto the scene in 1972; "SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND" has become the "YOU TALKIN' TO ME?" of the closing stages of the 20th Century.

"Scarface" practically invented the culture behind the hip-hop lifestyle, and this is brilliantly conveyed in the Def Jam featurette "Origin of a Gangsta" included on the second disc of this two-disc set, one of the most unique (and well-placed) special features ever to be included with a feature presentation; a director's commentary audio track would probably have been better appreciated, but the documentary footage included on the second disc mostly makes up for it.

The movie itself never looked better. I never saw the previous DVD format, so I can't make a comparison, but it absolutely blows my old VHS tapes out of the water. The 2.35:1 widescreen ratio is fantastic and all of Miami in its cocaine-addled '80's glory shines off the TV screen like a great big p****, just waitin' to get f*****...but I digress. The sound is fantastic, and just when you think the movie has been dragging for too long, the last fifteen minutes exhilerates you to the point where you're ready to watch the whole thing all over again.

If this gangster movie isn't in a class by itself, it won't take long to call the roll. If you EVER suspected that you might like gangster movies but want a different take on the genre than the NYC goombah angle, this is the flick for you. And if you're a fan of Al Pacino...well, chances are you've already seen it at least five times...so what are you waiting for? Buy it at once!