Scarface (1983)

There is not a single bad performance in the film. Everyone is perfect. Michelle Pfeiffer was the most wooden, but it fits her character because she was so high on drugs and alcohol.

Paul Shenar played Alejandro Sosa, the sexy, suave and sophisticated drug lord. He was also brutal and ruthless.

Shenar was a great stage actor who sadly died of AIDS in 1989. RIP.

I saw it when it was released and do not remember it fondly.

It is Scarface!

R3 Really? Why?!

All I remember is the violence which was horrifying (the chainsaw) or ridiculous (the ending).

Both Al Pacino and Eric Porter played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

R6 I would suggest watching it today. I always felt the ending was excessive, but watching last night made me think otherwise.

"Say hello to my little friend."

It was human cartoon. Pacino was ridiculous, he should have been drummed out of Hollywood. It's his "Mommie Dearest".

F. Murray Abraham realized he beat out Ian McKellen for the role of Salieri right before he filmed his notorious death scene.

[quote] "Say hello to my little friend."

Fren!

It was an AR with a grenade launcher. lol

[quote] lol

LoL! :)

Push it to the limit.

LIMIIIIITTTT!

Love this phone call scene between Tony and Alejandro before it all hits the fan.

So much self destruction

I’m not a fan and I like gangster movies. Michelle Pfeiffer is the only thing I like about it.

R18 Really? Why?

R19 Just find the whole thing cheesy and bloated.

Every douchebro I've ever met was obsessed with this film.

Pfeiffer really looked fantastic, except in her wedding gown... maybe that was deliberate.

I thought the different ways that Scarface and Mommie Dearest were received to be telling.

Dunaway and Pacino both gave such over the top performances that they seemed like opera divas who mistakenly landed in some community theater production.

But Pacino was embraced and lionized; Dunaway was dismissed as camp.

R23 Mommie Dearest is also better than Scarface

Thanks, OP, for capitalizing ROBERT LOGGIA. He was great in Scarface. I watched Sopranos repeatedly and never realized that LOGGIA played Feech LaManna.

I saw it when it came out and I was underwhelmed as well.

I thought the first half hour or so was excellent, but it wasn't until the last maybe 45 minutes or so when it became really good again, although Pacino was profoundly over-the top.

I think there may have been an action scene somewhere in the film's midpoint that wasn't bad, but most of the middle was dull.

I haven't seen the movie in decades, so maybe I should give it another look to see if my opinion has changed.

One thing I do vividly remember was Steven Bauer being very sexy.

Arnaldo Santana, who played Ernie, the bodyguard, was a '70s porn star, apparently. He died in 1987 at age 37 (or 36). Of AIDS, I think.

He was in the movie "Cruising," as well.

I liked it when I first saw it. In subsequent viewings I think it’s over the top and Pacino is the poster actor for chewing up the scenery and everything else.

My favorite gangster pic other than Godfather 1 and 2 is Goodfellas. (Goodfellows?)

S E X

But Tony Montana is supposed to be over the top!

Rocky Echevarría!

I hate this damn movie, first because incels love it and second because Tony is such an unlikeable character, and not in a cool or interesting way either. The writing has zero depth, the characters one dimensional, and even though its SUPPOSED to be over the top, that doesn't make it authentic. There is no one likeable in that damn movie except Mani, sometimes, and Ernie the bodyguard, played by sexy Arnaldo Santana (who's cause of death has never been confirmed). The chainsaw scene is pretty sick tho, I'll give them that. All in all, a much very much of it's decade. Coke fueled, shallow, and almost proudly over the top.

Michelle Pfeiffer's wedding dress looks like Princess Diana's.

I loved the movie. Just watched it about a week ago. One of my favorite scenes was when he killed Frank after Frank put the hit on him at the nightclub. "You want a job, Ernie?" LOL!

Gee how short is Mary Elizabeth since we know both Al and Michelle are shorties.

I see some steps in the background. I think Al & Michelle are standing on a higher step. Al does look happy in that photo. He and Michelle had real chemistry, apparently. That's why she was cast.

I'm still traumatized by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (and her hair).

Prejudiced against Colombians.

F Murray looked like a shark.

I loved the movie. It is supposed to be over the top. I’ve rewatched it many times. Always find a new gem.

The scene referenced above when Pacino asks Ernie: you want a job? He nods yes. When Pacino is leaving , Ernie says softly , “Tony…. Thanks.” Then takes a large swig from a whiskey bottle . His body language reflects his fear and relief in a compelling way

R37 I'm still traumatized by her godawful accent

Al Pacino is over the top on this, as he is in most of his roles. The difference here is that the movie itself is completely over the top, operatic, if you wish, so it does not feel like he is in a different movie like Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest.

Another vote for how Michelle Pfeiffer is great on this. Her descending the transparent elevator is an iconic scene. And there are few better names than Elvira Hancock.

The one shitty thing about Scarface was the music. She’s on Fire? You know damn well there was better music than that playing at a Miami disco in the late 70s or whenever that was.

LOL! I love that whole bathtub scene! "Why don't you get a job!" And the restaurant scene! My gawd what a great scene: "Say hello to the bad guy!" Or "I always tell the truth...even when I lie."

IMO this version of Scarface, is a masterpiece. I think it really captures that particular time and place. The drugs, the money, the violence. And, in the beginning, tying it to the Mariel Boatlift was genius. Because that's what Castro did! In the Mid-late 70's, He opened his prisons and threw the criminals out. Put them on those boats. Not all the Cuban refugees who came here were good guys.

Pauline Kael didn’t like it despite being quite fond of DePalma (she was his loudest champion). Her biggest issue was with Oliver Stone’s script.

SCARFACE & MOMMIE DEAREST. Two camp performances for the ages.

I've never been a Pauline Kael fan. I love Tony Montana's swagger. He was a great character.

Kael seemed contrarian a lot of the time.

Kael had no reason to be a contrarian towards one of her favorite filmmakers. It wasn't like Scarface was getting praised by her peers, and she went against the grain by opposing it. She found the film enjoyable until it got boggled down by Oliver Stone's script.

Her review raised a lot of great points on why the film was ultimately a failure in her eyes.

“You son of a bitch! You [italic]fuck[italic]! How dare you speak to me like that!”

That’s one of my favorite scenes with Michelle.

The chainsaw scene when I first saw it was so upsetting. Always makes me reluctant to see it again.

Fucked up the italics *sigh*

R50 I always appreciated that Elvira not only told Tony off but unwittingly saved her own life by leaving him that night. She was otherwise an incredibly one note and dull character but that scene made me root for her. Let's just hope she dropped the coke habit.

Best line: Steven Bauer, after being rejected by two bikini babes walking down the street:

"BEETCH! LAYSBIAN!!