Words alone cannot express how much I love this movie. The first time I saw it, it blew me away. When I watched it again recently it hadn't lost any of its impact. SCARFACE is, quite simply, one of the best films in the "gangster" genre that there is, if not the best. The simple tale tells of Tony Montana's journey from being a lowly refugee, to working in a cheap mobile café, to working for a drug lord's assistant, to working for a drug lord, to becoming a drug lord and then losing everything due to his own mistakes.

De Palma here crafts an epic tale in what I consider to be his finest film. Although it runs for over two and a half hours, this is never less than engrossing, something that is partially due to the excellent acting we have on display from the ensemble cast. Al Pacino has never been better as the volatile Tony Montana, making the role his own and his performance is a totally convincing one right down to his appearance and accent. Steven Bauer is also very good in an understated role as his partner, his role always takes the backseat when compared to Pacino's but it is still a pivotal one. Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are the addicted wife and loving sister respectively, and as both of their loves are ruined, we feel their pain with them. The supporting cast includes great turns from Robert Loggia (drug lord),F. Murray Abraham (quietly sinister),Harris Yulin (a corrupt cop) and Paul Shenar (a drug baron).

The film does start slowly but the build-up is worthwhile. De Palma's trademark excessiveness turns up in the form of a number of brutal shootings and, especially, a gruelling chainsaw murder. However, all the best is saved for the wildly excessive finale which, in my mind at least, even surpasses that of THE FURY. Pacino has dug his own grave and has destroyed his business and either killed or alienated all of his friends and family. He sits alone in his huge mansion, snorting from a pile of cocaine on his desk. It is at this point a small army invade the mansion and execute all of his staff; he must then battle them alone in a bloody massacre in which the outcome is foretold. I love this ending, with all the violence it holds, and I love the way that Pacino's body is so pumped full of drugs that he doesn't even notice it when he gets repeatedly shot. Who can forget the classic line "Say hello to my little friend!" as he machine-guns a dozen men on his staircase. A classic, re-watchable movie with the director and stars all at the peak of their game.

I am sure that I'll probably get some nasty emails about this one, but I think SCARFACE might just be one of the worst movies of the last 25 years---especially since it is so adored by so many and been so readily accepted as a "great film". It is supposed to be an updated remake of the classic film of the same name from 1932 (starring Paul Muni). Despite this, the movie is sloppy and cheap. Instead of good writing and intelligent film-making, they hired Oliver Stone to write a hackneyed film. The result is a deliberate assault on the sensibilities by using the f-word again and again as well as using extreme and pointless violence throughout. It's easy to say "f---" and the like and it's easy to have millions spent for special effects explosions and gunfire, but these alone do not constitute a good film, as the writing was almost absent in the film and it was just a giant over-the-top parody of gangster films. It's as if DePalma's mantra for the film is "when in doubt, have Pacino say the f-word or have him kill some people". Also, while some have praised Al Pacino's performance, to me it seemed like ridiculous self-parody--like a dirty version of the guy he played in DICK TRACy--which, at least, was SUPPOSED to be a cartoon. None of his brilliance from THE GODFATHER is present, as he plays a buffoon. There is absolutely no subtlety, no finesse and nothing of value in the film. In fact, and I know this will again prompt some nasty emails, I really think the film is intended for a stupid and undemanding audience who actually get off on this sort of brain-rot. Avoid this like the plague--your brain will thank you for this!

Ed Wood, Jr. could have made a much better film had he been given this budget.

I love Al Pacino and I liked out of Brian De Palma's work The Untouchables, Carrie and Carlito's Way. But sorry, Scarface didn't do anything for me.

While I can understand what people mean when they think it is over-produced, one of the things I did like about Scarface is that in my view it is well made. The cinematography is very good with some interesting uses of lighting, while the scenery and costumes are equally eye-popping. The music is somewhat cheesy, but it is also tolerable and some of the soundtrack choices were quite nice. In terms of acting, Steven Bauer and Robert Loggia are quite wonderful. Also De Palma's direction does have occasional flashes of brilliance, the scene with the chainsaw and the Columbian dealer is quite shocking.

However, I am afraid I am one of those who didn't like Al Pacino here. Don't get me wrong, Pacino is a wonderful actor, and while I may have people telling me the excess was intentional, this particular reviewer thought that the excess got too much after a while. In short I thought Pacino overacted so wildly I found it very hard to relate to him or his character at all. The film is also much too long, has one too many scenes where it is drawn out, the script is excessively cheesy(did Tony really have to swear as much as he did?),the characters are shallow and cartoony and the story is unfocused with some unbelievable scenes(Tony's sister shooting at him while telling him to (enter obscenity) her). Also the incest is far too explicit here. In terms of other acting, Michelle Pfeiffer looks beautiful but she struggles with a poorly handled character, while F Murray Abraham is just wasted.

Overall, didn't do anything for me, sorry. I much prefer the 1932 film, which was quite shocking for its time and it also handled the incest much better. 5/10 Bethany Cox