You've heard the saying "The face that launched a thousand ships"?

Well this is the movie that launched the small time weed-dealing careers of thousands of highschool gangsters with scarface posters on their bedroom walls in their parent's houses.

"Why don't you try sticking your head up your ass? See if it fits"

"First you get the money, then you get the power then when you get the power, then you get the women."

The American dream in a nutshell...and what a wonderful nutshell. That's the best way I can describe this film other than this is one of the coolest, most badass films ever made.

Al Pacino gives it his all in Scarface, but even still it isn't his best performance. I would go as far as to say I prefer him in Carlito's Way than I do here in Scarface, not to mention the Godfather movies and of course Dog Day Afternoon. Maybe that is simply a testament to his skill at an actor. I don't know.

What I do know is besides him, this movie is nothing more than a generic shallow crime film. That isn't a complete negative, as you can be generic and still be good and Scarface is that, but the fact that it means that nothing stands out besides Pacino in this 3 hour runtime, and the movie becomes something that seems, ultimately, average and flat.

a pop culture movie

Not my favourite Pacino role but probably his most defining in cinematic terms. Very stylish and quoteable gangster film that doesn't have the warmth of The Godfather but makes up for it with some brutal violence.

Awesome

I haven't seen this film in almost a decade and was curious to give it a revisit to see if my opinions had changed. I typically struggle with gangster movies as I find the plot trajectory utterly predictable and therefore I fail to really engage with the story or characters - which is exactly what happened with Scarface. It's just a very average movie that doesn't really hold any surprises, but I do like Brian De Palma as a director and more often than not found myself enjoying how scenes were staged and presented. As an example of the gangster movie this appears to hit all the right notes, but I found it pretty tedious as the story slowly chugs away until its inevitable conclusion.

Why It’s Essential — De Palma can be hit or miss, but his films are rarely — if ever — boring. SCARFACE is his take on the crime genre, and it’s a gleefully over-the-top and entertaining achievement.

Why You’ll Want to Skip It — If you swear by the original film and it’s politics, the remake is likely to rankle.

Al Pacino written over it..

This movie's way too fuckin' long, but still awesome. I heard there's a secret apartment in GTA Vice City with a shower that's bloody and contains a chainsaw. Neato.

This was worse than I remembered. The script is painful in places, with some memorably terrible casting. And WoW, those accents.