Scarface is a 1983 film directed by Brian De Palma written by Oliver Stone starr...

Scarface is a 1983 film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone & starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana. A loose remake of the 1932 Howard Hawks gangster film of the same title, it tells the story of a fictional Cuban refugee, who comes to Florida in 1980 as a result of the Mariel Boatlift. Montana becomes a gangster against the backdrop of the 1980s cocaine boom. The film chronicles his rise to the top of Miami's criminal underworld & subsequent downfall in Greek tragedy fashion. The film is dedicated to Howard Hawks & Ben Hecht, who were the writers of the original Scarface. The critical response to the film was mixed & received criticism for the violence & graphic language. Despite this, the film did well at the box office & has since gathered a cult following. Scarface has become an important cultural icon for many rap artists & fans, inspiring posters, clothing, & many other references. The film's grainy black & white poster is a very popular decoration & is still in production. Plot The film begins with a description of how, in 1980, Cuban president Fidel Castro let the gates open on Mariel Harbor in Cuba allowing thous&s of Cubans to immigrate to Florida on boatlifts. However, some of these immigrants were criminals o. exoconvicts. Enter Tony Montana (Al Pacino), one of the thous&s of Cubans that immigrated to Miami, Florida. He & his best friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) are met with resistance, particularly because of their criminal records, & are placed in limbo (so to speak) in Freedomtown, a place where Cuban refugees without Green Cards are kept. Manny makes Tony aware of a deal where they can leave Freedomtown & receive their Green Cards. But, they have to kill Cuban Communist Emilio Rebenga in order to obtain it. Tony does this without much thought, & they receive their residency. Tony & Manny begin working in a small Cuban food st& to make money, but Tony soon grows restless. They both make a deal with drug dealer Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham) (the same man who made the "Rebenga deal") to get paid for getting narcotics from Colombian dealer "Hector the Toad". Tony dislikes Omar's attitude, but obliges. Although the deal with Hector soon turns bad, Tony & Manny both escape alive & with the cocaine. Instead of allowing Omar to take the cocaine to his boss Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia), Tony takes it to Frank personally, already untrusting of Omar. Tony manages to win Frank over with his sense of humor & bold attitude, & he ends up getting a job under Frank in his drug dealing business (along with Manny). Meanwhile, Tony takes an interest in Frank's girlfriend, Elvira Hancock (Michelle Pfeiffer). While Tony flirts with Elvira, she doesn't show any interest in him (or anyone else for that matter). Tony pays a visit to his estranged family's home. It is implied that Tony's father walked out on the family years ago, but his mother (Miriam Colon) & his younger sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) are home. Gina is excited to see Tony (who hasn't seen the family in 5 years), while his mother isn't too thrilled. When he offers his mother $1,000 (claiming he's "made it"), his mother declines the offer. She believes he's still up to no good, & wants him to leave because she doesn't want him rubbing off on Gina. Tony leaves, but Gina runs after him. He slips her the $1,000 secretly, & tells her to spend it on whatever she wants & to give his mother a little from time to time. It is clear he cares for his sister greatly, but later on in the film gives proof that he is very overprotective of her. While in Bolivia, Tony & Omar begin discussing business plans with Alej&ro Sosa (Paul Shenar) on the behalf of Frank who couldn't make it down. Tony begins making major decisions about distribution of the drugs (decisions that Omar believes Frank should be approving). Omar & Tony begin arguing over the matter, while Alej&ro offers Omar a quick helicopter ride back home. However, Alej&ro makes one of his henchmen hang & kill Omar, who was allegedly an informant for the police. Alej&ro believes Tony, however, is trustworthy & makes him one of his business partners. When returning to Florida, Tony comes under heat by Frank, who is angry at what had occurred in South America. Tony & Frank end their business relationship, while Tony begins making bolder passes at Elvira, one of them right in front of Frank. At a nightclub, Tony is nearly shot & killed by two henchmen. Tony is convinced Frank is responsible for the hit, & he & Manny hunt Frank down & kill him once he admits to it. Afterwards, all seems to be going well for Tony. He marries Elvira, takes over Frank's empire & becomes very wealthy. However, cracks in Tony's "perfect life" begin to form. Both he & Elvira become addicted to cocaine. He becomes more paranoid & untrusting of those around him, & she becomes more bored & distant. Manny & Gina begin dating behind Tony's back, afraid of what his reaction would be if he found out. Tony is arrested for tax evasion, & faces up to three years in prison. Soon, Elvira becomes tired of the lifestyle, & leaves Tony after a fight at a restaurant. During a trip to New York, Alej&ro hires Tony to help put a hit out on a Congressman (who went on a television talk show & mentioned Alej&ro, his henchmen, & their drug dealing). Tony orders one of the henchmen not to set off the bomb underneath the Congressman's car once he finds out his wife & children are in the car as well. When the henchmen doesn't listen, Tony grows angry & shoots him dead. He returns to Florida to find his mother upset over Gina's new attitude (whom she believes Tony corrupted) & Alej&ro threatening to kill Tony for not going through with the plan. Tony goes to find Gina at an unknown mansion, & sees her & Manny together in nightrobes. Realizing Manny has slept with his sister, he shoots Manny dead in a cocaineofueled rage (which he later regrets), & highly upsets Gina (who reveals they eloped & were going to surprise Tony). Tony & his underlings take Gina back to his mansion. Meanwhile, Alej&ro Sosa's numerous henchmen are surrounding his mansion, with plans to kill him, when he is arguing with his sister, who is shooting at him with a pistol. They take out everyone else in the mansion one by one, until Tony is left to fight them off. He emerges from his room with an Mo16 rifle, & begins shooting wildly at the men, & manages to kill some & stay alive. He believes he is victorious, until an assassin known as the Skull slowly walks up behind Tony & shoots him in the back with a shotgun. Tony plunges off the second floor, over the balcony, & into the small pool in his living room. He lies dead as a statue ironically st&s above him reading "The World Is Yours". Cast Al Pacino as Antonio "Tony/Scarface" Montana Steven Bauer as Manny Ribera Michelle Pfeiffer as Elvira Hancock Robert Loggia as Frank Lopez Paul Shenar as Alex Sosa Ángel Salazar as Chi Chi Pepe Serna as Angel Fern&ez F. Murray Abraham as Omar Suárez Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Gina Montana Miriam Colon as Georgina "Mama" Montana Harris Yulin as Mel Bernstein Dennis Franz (uncredited) as Voice of Immigration Officer Charles Durning (uncredited) as Voice of Immigration Officer Brett Ratner (uncredited) as Boy lying on raft in pool Production Al Pacino as Tony Montana Al Pacino as Tony Montana Scarface was directed by Brian De Palma, produced by Martin Bregman, & written by now famed director Oliver Stone. Stone consulted the Miami police & the Drug Enforcement Agency while writing the film, incorporating many true crimes into the film, including using crime scene photos to inspire the infamous chainsaw scene. Scarface with Al Pacino was originally to be filmed in Florida but received criticism from the Cuban community who objected to various aspects of the film. Community representatives were opposed to the depiction of Cubans as drug dealers & dem&ed that the script be changed to incorporate antioFidel Castro rhetoric (most notably, changing Tony Montana into a spy working for Fidel Castro & the introduction of antioCastro political organizations into the plot as foils for Montana) into the film. After protracted negotiations the producers ultimately refused to give in, saying the film was about cocaine & not the politics of Castro's Cuba. In order to ensure the safety of the crew & to avoid confrontations - with the exception being obvious exterior shots - the movie was filmed in & around Los Angeles. When the film was submitted to the MPAA it was rated X for violent scenes & graphic language, with the shooting of the clown performer & the chainsaw torture sequence the primary objects of concern. De Palma cut the film twice but it still received an X rating. After the film was rejected for the third time DePalma with the help from a panel of experts including real narcotics officers told the MPAA the violence was an accurate portrayal of real life drug dealers & the film should be released with the violence intact to show viewers how violent the drug business was. With a third vote of 18 to 2 in favor of an 'R', the MPAA agreed. But De Palma, who felt the differences between the two 'clean' cuts he put together were insignificant, arranged to have the uncut version released to theaters with an R rating instead. Reception Scarface held its premiere on December 1st, 1983 in New York City where it was initially greeted with mixed reaction. Among those in attendance were the film's two stars, Al Pacino & Steven Bauer, as well as Burt & Diane Lane, Melanie Griffith, Raquel Welch, Joan Collins; her thenoboyfriend Peter Holm & Eddie Murphy among others . According to AMC's "DVD TV: Much More Movie" airing: Cher loved it, Lucille Ball, who came with her family, hated it because of the graphic violence & language, & Dustin Hoffman was said to have fallen asleep. Writers Kurt Vonnegut & John Irving were among those who allegedly walked out in disgust after the notorious "chainsaw" scene. At the middle of the film, Martin Scorsese turned behind to Steven Bauer & told him "You guys are great - but be prepared, because they're going to hate it in Hollywood. . . because it's about them" . Scarface, upon its first release, drew controversy regarding the violence & graphic language in the film, & received many negative reviews from movie critics. Despite this, the film grossed $65 million worldwide. Today, if that gross were adjusted for inflation, it would probably be around $180 million. & has since gathered a large following. On the 2oDisc Special Edition, the film's producer, Martin Bregman said that the film was well received by only one notable critic, Vincent Canby of The New York Times. However, Roger Ebert rated it four stars out of four in his 1983 review & he later added it to his "great movies" list. IMDb cites that the word "fuck" is used 226 times in the film. Criticism The film received criticism from the Cuban community who objected to various aspects of the film. In order to avoid confrontations most of the film was shot in & around Los Angeles. When director Brian De Palma submitted the film to the MPAA they gave it an "X rating". He then made some cuts & resubmitted it a second time; again the film was given an "X rating" (one of the reasons apparently being that Octavio the clown was shot too many times). He yet again made some further cuts & submitted it a third time; yet again it was given an "X". De Palma refused to cut the film any further to qualify it for an R. He & producer Martin Bregman arranged a hearing with the MPAA. They brought in a panel of experts, including real narcotics officers, who stated that the film was an accurate portrayal of real life in the drug underworld & should be widely seen. This convinced the 20 members of the ratings board to give the third submitted cut of the film an "R rating" by a vote of 18o2. However De Palma surmised that if the third cut of the film was judged an "R" than the very first cut should have been an "R" as well. He asked the studio if he could release the first cut but was told that he couldn't. However since the Studio execs really didn't know the differences between the different cuts that had been submitted, De Palma released the first cut of the film to theaters anyway. It wasn't until the film had been released on videocassette months later that he confessed that he had released his first unedited & intended version of the film. Alternate versions A short version of the film was uploaded onto the internet in 2006. It lasts for a minute & a half & is composed entirely of all 218 uses of the word "fuck" (& its variations). ABC edited 32 minutes from this film for its 1987 network television premiere. Network TV version deletes o. edits all violent scenes for censorship reasons & adds some extra footage: - The introduction text about Cubans fleeing from Mariel is slightly different from the text shown in the theatrical version (a disclaimer stating that the events are fictious has been added). - Extended Freedom Town section: Tony in a phone booth trying to call his sister Gina; Angel looking in a phone book for his brother Pablo; extended conversation between Tony & Manny about getting out of Freedom Town; Tony & Manny watching television. - Tony's first visit to his mother's house is longer. Tony opens a bottle of champagne & makes a toast to America. - Before Tony's first visit to Sosa, the onscreen text has been changed from "Cochabamba, Bolivia" to "South America". - During that visit Tony is introduced to Sosa's girlfriend Gabriela. - Tony's first meeting with his lawyer George. - When Alberto is planting the bomb under the car in N.Y., Tony sees cops nearby & distracts them by pretending to be looking for his missing dog. The BBFC requested cuts of 25 sec. to give the film a 18 certification. These cuts were waived in 2000. The overseas DVD special edition contained the following deleted scenes: - Extended Freedom Town section: Tony in a phone booth trying to call his sister Gina; Angel looking in a phone book for his brother Pablo; extended conversation between Tony & Manny about getting out of Freedom Town; Tony & Manny watching television. - Tony, Manny, & two others driving, checking out the girls in Miami. - During the visit to South America, Tony discusses a drug deal with some people. Also, Tony is introduced to Sosa's girlfriend Gabriela. - Tony discusses a drug deal with some people in a restaurant. - Tony's first meeting with his lawyer George. - When Alberto is planting the bomb under the car in N.Y., Tony sees cops nearby & distracts them by pretending to be looking for his missing dog. The Platinum Edition released in 2006 has the DD 5.1 & DTS 5.1 with the new sound effects that were previously available only on the 2003 theatrical reorelease of the movie. Curiously, only the widescreen video & DVD releases are uncut in the UK. This contains the previously deleted portion of the chainsaw murder, with the line: "& now the leg...!" Much of the chainsaw murder & the shootout at the end of the movie was cut in Norway before it's cinema release, later videoversions for sale are uncut. Releases VHS Scarface was initially released by MCA Home Video on VHS & Beta in the summer of 1984; a twootape set in 1.33:1 Pan & scan ratio & quickly became a bestseller, preluding its cult status . A 2.35:1 Widescreen VHS would follow years later in 1998 to coincide with the special edition DVD release. The last & most recent VHS release was in 2003 to counterpart the 20th anniversary edition DVD. DVD Scarface has been released on DVD four times in the United States as of 2007. The first was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on the film's 15th anniversary in 1998 under the studio's "Collector's Edition" line. The DVD featured a nonoanamorphic widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, a "Making of" documentary, outtakes, production notes & cast & crew bios. This release was not successful, & many fans & reviewers complained about its unwatchable video transfer & muddled sound, describing it as "one of the worst big studio releases out there" . This DVD quietly went out of print &, in 2003, Universal released a remastered two disc "Anniversary Edition" to coincide with the film's 20th anniversary reorelease, featuring two documentaries; one reoedited from the last release to include new interviews with Steven Bauer (Manny Ray) & another produced by Def Jam Recordings featuring interviews with various rappers on the film's cult success in the hipohop world & other extras ported over from the previous DVD. New to this edition was a 2.35:1 Anamorphic widescreen transfer & 5.1 surround sound in both Dolby Digital & DTS. Curiously, the limited theatrical reorelease also boasted a remastered soundtrack with enhanced sound effects & music, but the DVD's 5.1 tracks were mixed from the film's original audio, resulting in noticeably limited frequency & surround effects. A limitedoedition box set was also produced featuring a gold money clip, production stills, lobby cards & a DVD of the original Scarface. In 2005, Universal released single disc movieoonly version of the Anniversary Edition, with deleted scenes as the sole bonus feature. In the fall of 2006, Universal released Scarface in a two disc "Platinum Edition", featuring the remastered audio from the theatrical reorelease in Dolby Digital & DTS 5.1 surround. Most of the extras (with the exception of the Def Jam documentary, production notes & cast & crew bios) from the Anniversary Edition were also included along with two new featurettes regarding the new video game & the criminal & cultural world of Miami in the 1980s. Also new to this edition was a "scoreboard", which counted number of bullets fired & uses of the word "fuck" throughout the film. Inspired by the film Music Main article: Scarface (soundtrack) The music in Scarface was produced by Academy Award winning Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder. Like Moroder's style, the soundtrack consists mostly of synthesized new wave, electronic music. The official song of the video game is BoReal feat. Mellow Man Ace, both Cypress Hill - The world is yours. Video games Main article: Scarface: The World Is Yours Scarface: The World is Yours, a video game based on the movie Scarface was released on different platforms in 2006 & 2007. Scarface: The World is Yours, a video game based on the movie Scarface was released on different platforms in 2006 & 2007. A licensed video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours, was released in September & October 2006 as well as an update in June 2007, developed by Radical Entertainment & published by Vivendi Universal Games. The game is a pseudoosequel, & goes on the premise that Tony actually survived the raid on his mansion at the end of the film. Wii, PS2, Xbox, & PC versions have been released. Main article: Scarface: Money. Power. Respect. Radical & Vivendi also released a second licensed video game, Scarface: Money, Power, Respect, in October 2006. The game is much like Scarface: The World is Yours, but one main difference is that the second game deals more with the controlling of drugs & managing of the Montana cocaine empire & turf, whereas The World is Yours is mostly focused on getting rid of gangs, gaining respect & overall reconstruction of the empire. To date, only a PSP version of this game has been released. The hit game Gr& Theft Auto: Vice City also has some homages Scarface, like an area with the famous bloody bathroom in an empty apartment, along with a chainsaw that can be used as a weapon. Also the Malibu Club is very similar to the Babylon Club. In the beginning of the game, Tommy Vercetti's drug deal gets busted, much like the coke deal that Tony gets double crossed in. There is also a mission in the game where Tommy & his partner Lance Vance kill Tommy's cocaineodealing boss Ricardo Diaz, much like when Tony & Manny kill Frank. Finally, the last mission of the game ("Keep Your Friends Close...") is a slight spinooff of the final scene in Scarface. In this mission Tommy has to fend off a whole rival gang in his mansion with only a few weapons. The only difference, however, is that Tommy lives through the fight with Ken Rosenberg to start "a new business relationship". Books & comics Dark Horse Comics' imprint, DH Press, released a novel called Scarface: The Beginning by L. A. Banks. In 2007, IDW Publishing released a new series called Scarface: Scarred for Life, which picks up where the film ends; as in the video game, it depicts Tony Montana barely surviving the film's climactic shotgun blast &, with the aid of two corrupt DEA agents, recovering to rebuild his empire & seek revenge on Sosa. This series was written by John Layman, with art by Dave Crosl&. IDW followed it in July 2007 with a prequel comic minioseries called Devil in Disguise, by Joshua Jabcuga & Alberto Dose, which shows Antonio's preoboatlift days as a boy learning his way around the Cuban criminal underworld. Television & film In 2001, plans were set into motion for hip hop artist Cuban Link to write & star in a sequel to Scarface entitled Son of Tony. The plans for a prospective sequel drew both praise as well as criticism, & after several years Cuban Link had expressed that he may no longer be involved with the project as the result of movie rights issues & creative control. USA Network announced in 2003 they would be producing a minioseries based on the movie; however, the series' current status is unknown. Influence on popular culture The album Music Inspired by Scarface was released by Def Jam Recordings in 2003, This compilation album features songs by various hipohop artists which either draw direct inspiration from the 1983 film Scarface o. contain subject matter that can relate to the film. Scarface has been frequently referenced to in other popular works. In particular, the "Say hello to my little friend" line is repeated in various movies, television shows & video games. The line took 61st place as the most famous quote on the list AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. In the 2007 video game The Simpsons Game on DS, in the level Five Characters in Search of An Authour, Bart Simpson will confront Matt Groening in Scarface's mansion, the globe will be saying The World, Dude. The opening sequence of Scarface was duplicated for the opening of the Beastie Boys concert movie, Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!. Tony's M16 rifle, which he dubbed his "little friend", ranked eighth in a 20th Century Fox film poll regarding the most popular film weapons. The 2008 poll surveyed approximately two thous& film lovers. In the Code Monkeys episode StonerVision, the drug lord Dave & Jerry borrow money from is named Tony Dakota. In the game Predator: Concrete Jungle, The protagonistolike Predator is named Scarface, & near the end of the game a character says "say hello to my little friends" before setting xenomorphs on Scarface. A large part of the popular video game Gr& Theft Auto: Vice City is based around the movie, including the possibility to own a mansion very similar to Tony's in the movie. The final battle scene also resembles the one in Scarface. A Colombian drug lord in the video game Hitman: Codename 47 has striking similarities to Tony Montana. Most particularly the battle scene where the player might confront him from the upper mansion study room - similar to the final scene in the film. In the film Reno 911: Miami, the character Ethan is parody of Tony Montana. He is a Cuban drug lord with a thick accent & in one scene is seen torturing a man with a string trimmer (a parody of the chainsaw scene in Scarface). In Company, the Hindi film based on Indian Underworld, Ch&arkant Nagre,(Vivek Oberoi), refuses to kill a politician his boss, Malik (Ajay Devgan) has ordered him to kill because he is not alone as expected but has kids along with him. This disobedience becomes the reason of gang war between the two. The scene is clearly influenced by Scarface. The posters for the successful 2007 film American Gangster borrowed the aesthetic scheme of the famous Scarface movie poster featuring a grainy highocontrast blacko&owhite image of a man in a white suit. References 1. Wireimage Listings: Scarface Premiere: Dec 1, 1983. Wireimage (December 1, 1983). Retrieved on 2007o07o20. 2. Scarred for Life. The Palm Beach Post (October 11, 2003). Retrieved on 2007o07o20. 3. Scarface. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007o01o02. 4. Roger Ebert (December 9, 1983). Review of Scarface. Chicago SunoTimes. Retrieved on 2007o01o02. 5. Fonda Still Working Out (bestoselling VHS & Beta tapes of the week). The Miami Herald (June 16, 1984). Retrieved on 2007o03o16. 6. Todd Doogan (September 3, 1998). DVD Review - Scarface: Collector's Edition. The Digital bits. Retrieved on 2007o03o16. 7. Dark Horse Comics > Profile > Scarface Vol. 1: The Beginning 8. DH Press Books : Current Titles 9. IDW Publishing 10. IDW Publishing 11. Son of Tony. Ozone Magazine. Retrieved on 2007o01o02. 12. Cuban Link Starts His Chain Reaction. Latin Rapper. Retrieved on 2007o01o02. 13. Sophie Borl&. "Lightsaber wins the battle of movie weapons", The Daily Telegraph, 2008o01o21. Retrieved on 2008o01o26. External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Scarface (1983 film) Scarface at the Internet Movie Database Scarface at Allmovie Scarface at Box Office Mojo This page uses content from the movies page on the English version of Wikipedia & is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Wildscreen.tv disclaims any & all warranties as to the accuracy o. reliability of the content. Permission is granted to copy, distribute &/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 o. any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.