Scarface (1983) Special Edition DVD – Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2004) under review ...

Scarface (1983) Special Edition DVD – Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2004)

Special Features

• ·         The Rebirth Of Scarface development featurette
• ·         Acting Scarface featurette
• ·         Creating Scarface 'making of' documentary
• ·         Scarface: The TV Version comparison featurette
• ·         Deleted scenes (22 mins)
• ·         Origins Of A Hip-Hop Classic documentary
• ·         Theatrical and teaser trailers

If ever there was a film that had the kind of cult following that consisted of ever youthful admirers who always wanted to know more about its inception and legacy, and its cast and its creators then Scarface surely is that film.  Brian De Palma’s classic film, a successfully remake of an old-time gangster classic, splurges a big fat ink stain in all the suitable boxes and portrays the scurrilous pursuit of the American dream with such a gritty bludgeon like no other film ever has, before or since.  Cart-wheeling through hoop after hoop to impress the male psyche we are treated to a melange of guns, breasts and violence, drugs, chainsaws and tigers.

Tony Montana arrives in Miami, Florida, USA from Cuba pronouncing himself as “a political refugee”.  He climbs through the cocaine fuelled gangster underworld claiming he wants everything that he’s got coming to him; “the world chico, and everything in it”.  It’s a masterfully theatrical performance from Al Pacino who asserts his credence and trustworthiness succinctly, becoming the envy of alpha male and living out a few man’s dreams when he says “I’ve only got two things in this world: my word and my balls, and I don’t break ‘em for nobody” in the face of a South American drug baron.  It’s definitely Oliver Stone’s script and Pacino’s portrayal of Montana, both with deftly touched with a subtle hint of humour that endears us to the lead character and the expected demise of Montana leads us to the unexpected sombre ending of his bloodied carcass lying face down in his overblown entrance hall fountain.  Were we expected to be sad at the death of our new favourite caricature?

The sets are lavish and the colours are unflinchingly coarse (I’m sure this movie has inspired more than a few ghastly makeovers in those with the taste and mindsets of Delboy Trotter).  Producer Martin Bregman had clearly spent greatly to realise the dreams of the Cuban gangster as he reaches the top of the cocaine pyramid; that is symbolised quite literally by a mound of cocaine in one of the closing scenes looks like a snow capped mountain top before Montana throws his face into it.

The soundtrack is a mix of electro 80s chart fodder and Giorgio Moroder’s synth noodlings that run the risk of being overbearing at certain intervals.  This can be enjoyed; or not, in Dolby 5.1 surround on the Special Edition DVD.  Which brings us nicely the double disc sets special features.

An excellent extra is a short piece on how Universal managed to edit the original film to be suitable for network TV in America.  Just how they managed to cope with all the nudity and violence is one thing, but the 160 f-words and the other language is another.  There’s also a short from pioneering black record label Def Jam Recordings chronicling the link to rap/hip-hop culture and the 80s movie.  There’s the revelation that P Diddy has seen the film 63 times, and it’s probably more since the recording of the interview.  We receive a real insight into the funding, production of the film and the method acting style of Al Pacino.

Plus, there’s the usual DVD fodder such as trailers and deleted scenes (that you can’t help but always think “they must have been deleted for a reason, so why show them now?”).  But, what is a real treat is the set of shorts that document the making of the film – The Rebirth of Scarface, Acting Scarface and Creating Scrface.

But what this film is really crying out for is a commentary from one or more, or all of the main players.  They’re all here on the DVD; sit them in a room together for a few hours and maybe even record their conversation as the film plays.  I don’t know?!  Even if it takes a few bags of white powder I think it should be done and I’m sure it’s what every die-hard fan would love to hear accompanying their favourite film.  No doubt the imminent release of the Blu-Ray edition of the film will be gobbled up with the usual whether this is featured or not.  Whatever the case may be, this is a highly entertaining film, and the DVD set includes some highly entertaining extra material.

Scarface (1983) Review

Almost thirty years after its original theatrical release, the brash eighties remake of Howard Hawks’ pioneering 1932 gangster movie Scarface has become a part of film, youth and criminal culture to such a degree that it almost seems redundant to question those who revel in reverence of it. But why is this film held in such high esteem? I’ll tell you why; because it is a film that pulls together a plethora of unassuming components to create an era defining spectacle that sits pretty (or ugly) in the middle of the eighties; between Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull – a glorious adios to the brooding dramatic cinema of the seventies in 1980 – and 1990’s Goodfellas, which welcomed the quicker paced editing-driven movies of the nineties.

So, what of the parts? Screenwriter Oliver Stone delivers an overwritten hodgepodge of ideas and unsubtle one-liners as a script. It has an over-long running time of almost three hours. The direction from Brian De Palma is clunky and cliché ridden. The soundtrack’s grotesque, grandiose electro-pop marathon gives any discerning listener a headache; and Giorgio Moroder’s synth bursts have dated the movie so badly that – lacking the operatic finesse of a film ten years older – it seems more aged than its gangster-canon predecessor The Godfather. The acting is over-the-top and most of this precipitates from Al Pacino as the malevolent lead character Tony Montana.

Perversely, it’s the combination of these negative elements that cause it to be a classic: The script delivers some of the most memorable and oft-quoted lines in cinema history (“Say ‘hello’ to my little friend!”) and is often cited as one of Stone’s great early achievements. The film never feels long in play and always seems like a good way to while away any afternoon or evening. The music – such as Paul Engemann’s ‘Push It to the Limit’ about chasing the American dollar featuring lo-tech drum machines – characterises the era of the movie so adeptly that it would be impossible to imagine it with any other tuneful splurges. Lead actresses Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio give performances that would elevate them both to the status of leading ladies in future films. And Al Pacino’s tragicomic anti-hero Tony Montana has, for better or worse, had movie-goers obsessed with the character since his inception almost thirty years ago.

The continued success of this movie could almost stand as an argument for the idea that a collection of wrongs just might make a right. *****

Review by Matt Henshaw