Scarface (1983)

Few films from the 1980s have lodged themselves so firmly in popular culture as Brian De Palma's Scarface, released by Universal Pictures in December 1983. The film follows Tony Montana, a Cuban exile who arrives in Miami during the 1980 Mariel boatlift and, through violence, ambition and an almost feverish appetite for power, rises to command a vast cocaine empire, only to find that the same qualities that drove him upward become the instruments of his ruin. It is, at its core, a reworking of the American immigrant dream story, turned inside out and covered in blood and white powder. The screenplay was written by Oliver Stone, who drew on Howard Hawks's 1932 original while transplanting the story from Prohibition-era Chicago into the cocaine-saturated world of Reagan-era Miami. The two films share a broad arc and a preoccupation with hubris, but Stone's script goes considerably further in its nihilism and its sheer volume, both metaphorical and literal.

De Palma came to the project with a reputation built on films that mixed technical flamboyance with a taste for moral unease. His earlier work, including the horror landmark Carrie and the crime thriller The Untouchables, demonstrated a director who was never especially interested in restraint, and Scarface gave him a canvas large enough to be as operatic as he pleased. At 170 minutes, it is a long film and an intentionally exhausting one. Giorgio Moroder's synthesiser-driven score, the production design's pastel excess and the cinematography's almost aggressive brightness all conspire to create something that feels less like a documentary portrait of crime and more like a fever dream of greed given form. The supporting cast is strong throughout. Robert Loggia brings a relaxed menace to Frank Lopez, Tony's early patron and eventual obstacle. Michelle Pfeiffer, as Elvira, the woman Tony fixates on as a trophy of his own success, gives what is largely a watchful and contained performance, all surface and little warmth, though whether that is a quality of the character or a limitation of how she is written is a question the film itself seems content to leave open. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as Tony's sister Gina, brings a raw emotional energy to a role that could easily have been peripheral. Steven Bauer, as Tony's loyal friend Manny, provides a warmth that grounds some of the film's more excessive moments. At the centre of everything, of course, is Al Pacino, who had already proved himself one of the defining screen actors of his generation through films like Scarecrow and Cruising, and who here gives a performance that people have been arguing about, approvingly and otherwise, ever since.

Scarface was not warmly received by all critics on release, with some finding its violence excessive and its runtime self-indulgent. Over the decades, however, it has accumulated a cultural weight that puts it well beyond simple reassessment. It became a touchstone for hip-hop culture, a shorthand for a certain kind of outsized ambition, and a film that almost every subsequent crime drama has had to reckon with in some way. Whether it deserves quite the reverence it has accumulated is, naturally, a matter of opinion.

Al Pacino is the greatest and Scarface is one of his most volcanic, unforgettable performances. As Tony Montana, the Cuban refugee who claws his way to the top of Miami’s cocaine empire with a machine gun, and a near-psychotic hunger for power, Pacino doesn’t just act, he erupts. Every line, every snarl, every “say hello to my little friend” is delivered with such raw, unfiltered intensity that it transcends performance and becomes myth. The film, directed by Brian De Palma at his operatic best is a lurid, neon-soaked tragedy that’s as stylish as it is brutal. Everything about it is iconic: Giorgio Moroder’s synth-heavy score, the pastel excess of 1980s Miami, the grotesque opulence of Tony’s mansion, the moral decay masked by designer clothes and cocaine-fuelled rants. It’s a film that doesn’t just depict the American Dream corrupted, it shows it vomiting blood all over the marble floors. The direction is bold, the cinematography garish in the best way, and the dialogue is pure Shakespearean gangster poetry. It’s not realism, it’s excess as art. But as much as I love it, as much as I wanted to give it the full 5 stars, I can’t. Tony Montana is electrifying, yes, but he’s also one-dimensional. Unlike Michael Corleone, Lefty Ruggiero, or Carlito Brigante, he doesn’t evolve, he just escalates. His relationship with Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer) has surface glamour but lacks the emotional depth and tragic intimacy of Pacino’s other great roles. It’s all id, no introspection. And while that’s the point (his downfall is his own arrogance) it keeps the film from reaching the transcendent, soul-shaking level of The Godfather, Heat, or Carlito’s Way. So no, not a 5. But a very high 4.5. One of the greatest gangster films ever made. A cultural landmark. A performance for the ages. Just not quite perfection.

I keep coming back to that comparison with Carlito's Way, a film De Palma made a decade later with Pacino again in the lead, and which for my money achieves something Scarface strains toward but never quite grasps: genuine tragedy, the kind where you understand not just what a man has lost but what he was actually trying to hold onto. Tony Montana burns so brightly that you can't look away, but you can't entirely feel for him either, and that gap, small as it is, is what keeps this just shy of the very top. An astonishing film, a career-defining performance, and essential viewing. Just not the last word.

Rating: ★★★★½  | Year: 1983  | Watched: 2025-08-17

View on Letterboxd →

Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Scarface (1983) on YouTube

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Sky Go · Now TV Cinema · Netflix Standard with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More from Brian De Palma: The Untouchables (1987) · Carrie (1976) · Carlito's Way (1993)
More with Al Pacino: Scent of a Woman (1992) · Cruising (1980) · Insomnia (2002) · Scarecrow (1973)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)