Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1368 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-06
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 163 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Brian De Palma's update of the classic 1932 crime drama by Howard Hawks, Scarface is a sprawling epic of bloodshed and excess that sparked controversy over its outrageous violence when released in 1983. It's a wretched, fascinating car wreck of a movie, starring Al Pacino as a Cuban refugee who rises to the top of Miami's cocaine-driven underworld, only to fall hard into his own deadly trap of addiction and inevitable assassination. Scripted by Oliver Stone and running nearly three hours, it's the kind of film that can simultaneously disgust and amaze you (critic Pauline Kael wrote "this may be the only action picture that turns into an allegory of impotence"), with vivid supporting roles for Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Robert Loggia. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Brian De Palma's blood-and-sun-drenched saga of a Cuban deportee's rise to the top of Miami's cocaine business has become something of a popular classic since its release; it's been referenced in rap songs and subsequent gangster movies and quoted the world over. Despite this lovefest with the dialogue, the film's brutal violence and lack of positive characters still make it controversial and disliked by certain critics. Al Pacino stars as Tony Montana, whose intelligence, guts, and ambition help him skyrocket from dishwasher to the top of a criminal empire but whose eventual paranoia and incestuous desire for his kid sister (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) prove his undoing. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Tony's neglected coke-addicted trophy wife, and Steven Bauer is his concerned friend. F. Murray Abraham, Robert Loggia, and Paul Shenar are some of Tony's sleazy business partners and potential killers. Oliver Stone wrote the expletive-packed screenplay, based on Howard Hawks's 1932 version--which was ostensibly about Al Capone and starred Paul Muni and George Raft. The synth-heavy Giorgio Moroder score expertly evokes the drug-fueled decadence of 1980s Miami, and De Palma provides several of his elaborate set pieces, including a horrific showstopper in a motel room with a chain saw.

Customer Reviews

Riveting
Who can resist Pacino's cocky charm? One of the most exciting movies ever made. The most (unintentionally) hilarious part of the movie was the scene where Michelle Pfeiffer's Elvira character is dancing at the nightclub. She REALLY can't dance.

sheer brilliance
i remember watching this when i was 17 and i was blown away. al pacino's portrayal of a small time hood made big is a lesson to all wannabe smack dealers. it's only gonna' end one way.
review wise there is not a lot i can say apart from, best film ever, PERIOD

Masterpiece
What can i say.... what a fantastic film... i love it to pieces and would recommend it if you love gangsta films :)