Scarface: 20th Anniversary Edition

What’s the Story?

The powerful triumvirate of director Brian DePalma, screenwriter Oliver Stone, and actor Al Pacino came together to create this 1980s soaked reworking of the classic Howard Hawks gangster film, SCARFACE. It's the story of Cuban refugee, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) who climbs to the top of Miami's cocaine scene, eventually falling prey to both addiction and his own assassination. As Tony's wife Elvira, Michelle Pfeiffer plays the role drugged out and disinterested, convincingly enough to make her appeal to Tony almost unfathomable. In a holdover from the 1932 version, Tony's overbearing relationship with his sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) has tones of incestuous desire; only in this version, Gina actually confronts him about this in a shockingly violent manner.

Is It Any Good?

This film's reputation stands up there with Pulp Fiction (1994) as a "must see" for hip teens (especially males) who love their violence spiked with copious amounts of darkly humorous dialogue ("Say hello to my little friend."). Al Pacino gives his first of many truly over-the-top performances with gusto.

Every bit of the film, from the camera moves to the set design is excessively done, like Tony's life, and in that sense, the film is imbued with a feeling of 1980s self-indulgent immorality. This film is extremely violent and is not recommended to anyone under the age of seventeen.