Scarface 4k Blu Ray Review
Rosalee Cobham
From its first moments, 'Scarface' is Al Pacino's movie. The opening shots of Tony Montana reveal that were in the presence of a truly Mephistophelean character, and one of modern cinema's great performances. The gimlet eyes flash with demonic intensity. There's the ingratiating grin, the much-imitated accent ('I am a Yankee - like choo!') and the nervy, jerky movement that suggest a man liable to erupt into violence at any moment.
It's a delicious performance from an actor who knows he's on top form, and Pacino's swaggering arrogance bleeds into the character, juicing it up even further. Pacino would play Satan much later in The Devil's Advocate, but would never come as near to instantiating pure, snickering evil on screen again.
'Scarface' was received with almost universal disdain, as critics dismissed it as heartless satire, over-the-top Grand Guignol or just plain obscene. Needless to say, with De Palma's name on it and reviews like that it soon gained cult credibility, but the depressing adoption of the film as a ghetto classic by hip-hop stars and gangsta rappers shows how badly a film can be misunderstood.
Among the other things that 'Scarface' undoubtedly is - contemporary epic, incest drama, cautionary tale of interior design run amok - it's a black-hearted satire on exactly the kind of garish, acquisitive, bling culture they personify.
From his vile shirt to the zebra-skin Cadillac, to the shots of him face down scarfing a mountain of cocaine like a truffle-hog, Montana, like many of the gold-drenched rappers who have eulogised him, is revealed as a tasteless idiot. If he has any insight at all, it's the creeping one that this endless consumption is unlikely to finally satisfy, rendering happiness an impossibility.
However, to have one's film dismissed by the critics as, among other things, inept satire and then to see it adopted as iconic by the kind of people it condemns is surely some kind of perverse validation. That sound you can hear on the breeze might well be an uncharacteristically cheerful De Palma, cackling.
I find it interesting that the main focus here is on the female protagonists. While I cannot relate to everything said in the review or the comments, I do appreciate the diverse viewpoints. I suppose women and men must see a films such as Scarface quite differently.
Imagine my disappointment. Here I was, all excited because I thought I was going to review Scarf Ace, the cult Japanese knitting game that uses the Wii's motion sensing to realistically simulate the joys of furiously click-clacking giant needles like a mad old biddy. Instead, it's shouty swearbox Al Pacino and yet another attempt to recreate joypad-centred gameplay through the medium of motion-sensing. Hmm.
Luckily, Scarface was one of the better efforts to emerge from 2006's brief flurry of unlikely licensed free-roaming crime games, earning a reasonable 7/10 from Kristan back in October of 2006. Taking the bold approach of following on from the movie, and suggesting that Al Pacino's cocky Cuban crimelord survived the apocalyptic raid on his Miami mansion, the stage is set for a devious journey into larger-than-life violent excess and enough potty mouth to make Gordon Ramsay wince.
The basic set-up is, of course, familiar from the GTA series. Walk around, get in cars, shoot people, drive to hot spots to start missions which either propel the story forwards or provide the cash needed to amass a killer arsenal. Where Scarface excels is in giving you several compelling reasons to jump through the hoops one more time - not least of which is Tony Montana himself. By casting you as such a legendary persona, and then taking everything away from you, there's added impetus to rebuilding your empire. Perfectly animated and voiced with just the right mixture of Pacino accuracy and cartoony pastiche, this is a character you'll believe deserves to rule the world. So seeing Montana getting dissed by cheesy nightclub patrons just ain't right - and your quest to reclaim your reputation as well as your worldly possessions is nicely judged. The better you do, the more the citizens of Miami quake at your approach. And it feels good.
Another solid improvement to the GTA formula (which by San Andreas had become so diffuse and open-ended that many never bothered to see the main story through) was the tight focus on Tony's business. You're a drug dealer, plain and simple. You may be tasked with buying up local businesses through side missions, but only so you can use them as fronts for your coke-peddling antics. Meeting suppliers, delivering kilos and negotiating prices (even if it is by a slightly imprecise press-the-button-at-the-right-time mechanic) all work together to give the game a clear throughline. You are, at all times, following Tony's mantra - first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women. Well, mainly the first two. At least in this game.
The final area where Scarface improved on other walk-and-drive crime spree sims was in fixing many of the longstanding flaws in GTA's combat with a more precise aiming system, and offering a driving experience that crashed through the sweet spot between realism and over-the-top mayhem. It was a game where you never felt that Tony's swaggering form was out of your control.
In making the belated journey across the console divide to the Wii, that precision has been...not lost, exactly, but fudged slightly. Before hordes of rabid Wii fans light their torches, grab their pitchforks and march on my castle, it's not that the new control system is unworkable, just that it's a fairly needless change dictated by the Wii itself rather than gameplay necessity. It's fiddly to learn, often awkward to use when it matters most, yet doesn't reward you with any tangible benefits when you master it. Kind of like how it's entirely possible to design a car where you steer with your feet and accelerate and brake with your hands. Sure, you could get used to such a system, but when there's a more intuitive alternative already available, there's no real incentive to make the effort.
So it is here. Control of Tony is split down the middle. The stick on the nunchuk moves him around, while the remote is used to move the camera and aim your weapons. Other functions, such as shooting, taunting, entering vehicles and accessing menus are scattered a touch haphazardly across the various buttons and triggers. While walking around, everything works fine. There are four different settings for the remote, allowing you greater aiming precision with a slower turn speed, or fast movement with a broader target area. All have their pros and cons, and you're free to tinker until you find one that suits.
I am Henry Jacobs, a student in Nashville, TN. I wanted to do this because there are just so many amazing movies out there, new realeases and old favorites, that I have opinions about. I hope to share these opinions, so I set up this website with a little help from my dad. This is a movie guide appropriate for all ages. I put up reviews of movies I have seen recently, and then all viewers can see information, thoughts, high points, and low points of the movie. This is a website for all ages, nothing scary or recommended for adults only. I hope you find my movie reviews useful, and enjoy the show!
Scarface is a 1983 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, and starring Al Pacino.[6] It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name,[7][8][9] in turn based on the novel of the same name first published in 1930 by Armitage Trail.[7][10][9] It tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Pacino), who arrives penniless in Miami during the Mariel boatlift and becomes a powerful drug lord. The film co-stars Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Mriam Coln and F. Murray Abraham.[6]
Pacino became interested in a remake of the 1932 version after seeing it, and he and producer Martin Bregman began to develop the feature project. Sidney Lumet was initially hired to direct the film but was replaced by De Palma, who hired Stone to write the script. De Palma dedicated this version of Scarface to the memories of Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, the director and screenwriter, respectively, of the original film.[11] Filming took place from November 1982 to May 1983, in Los Angeles and Miami. The film's soundtrack was composed by Giorgio Moroder.
Scarface premiered in New York City on December 1, 1983, and was released on December 9 by Universal Pictures. The film grossed $45 million at the domestic box office and $66 million worldwide. Initial critical response was negative due to its excessive violence, profanity, and graphic drug usage. Some Cuban expatriates in Miami objected to the film's portrayal of Cubans as criminals and drug traffickers. In the years that followed, some critics have reappraised it, considering it one of the greatest gangster films ever made.[12] Screenwriters and directors such as Martin Scorsese have praised the film, and it has been referenced extensively in pop culture, especially in hip hop culture/gangsta rap,[13][14] as well as comic books, television programs, and video games. The film is regarded as a cult classic.[15][16]
In 1980, Cuban refugee and ex-convict Tony Montana arrives in Miami as part of the Mariel boatlift, where he is sent to a refugee camp with his best friend, Manny Ribera, and their companions, Angel and Chi-Chi. The four are released and given green cards in exchange for murdering a former senior henchman of Fidel Castro, at the request of Miami drug lord Frank Lopez. They find work as dishwashers at a restaurant, but are soon dissatisfied; Tony says that he is meant for bigger things. Frank's right-hand man, Omar Suarez, sends the four to purchase cocaine from Colombian dealers. Tony and Angel are taken at gunpoint; Tony is made to watch as Angel is dismembered with a chainsaw, before Manny and Chi-Chi rescue him. They kill three of the dealers and personally deliver the recovered drugs and money to Frank, suspecting that Omar set them up.
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