Movie #144: Scarface

Movie #: 144
Movie Title: Scarface
Year Released: 1983

Director: Brian De Palma
Notable Cast: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Shenar, Robert Loggia, Míriam Colón, F. Murray Abraham, Harris Yulin

Short Description: In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel while succumbing to greed. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #54
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #94
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 4/7/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: The basic theme of a man craving and acquiring power to the point where he thinks he’s unstoppable, only to lose that power, is not new. Scarface didn’t reinvent anything in that regard. What Scarface did, though, was create one of the most interesting characters I’ve seen in a movie in Tony Montana. Any movie buff can tell a mile away how certain plot points are going to happen. Tony Montana being a loose cannon and not just a normal man seeking power makes the how, when, where, and why exciting to see and where Scarface excels. Obviously Tony’s a bad person and ultimately gets what’s coming to him, but I found myself rooting for Tony from the beginning just to see what lengths he’d go to.