DVD available at Amazon.com
Director:
Brian De Palma
Cast:
Al Pacino”¦”¦”¦.Tony Montana
Steven Bauer”¦”¦”¦.Manny Ray
Michelle Pfeiffer”¦”¦”¦Elvira Hancock
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio”¦”¦”¦Gina Montana
Robert Loggia”¦”¦”¦.Frank Lopez
F. Murray Abraham”¦”¦”¦.Omar
Harris Yulin”¦”¦”¦Mel Bernstein
Universal Pictures presents Scarface. Written by Oliver Stone. Inspired by Howard Hawks’ 1932 Scarface. Running time: 170 minutes. Rated R. DVD release date: October 3, 2006. MSRP: $29.98.
Scarface is a Greek tragedy — only with Cubans and a Miami setting — thinly disguised as a gangster opus. In this rags to riches tale Antonio “Tony” Montana (Al Pacino) is a flawed malcontent who is succumbed by his own paranoia. Though, if you ask fans of the film, they will more than likely remember the chainsaw-in-a-shower scene, than Tony’s downward spiral.
The character Al Pacino plays is not very dimensional; he’s a Cuban refugee who bluffs, cheats and finagles his way to becoming a drug kingpin. One-dimensional he may be, there also is a humanistic quality about him. Tony Montana longs to live the American Dream, and won’t let anyone stop his meteoric rise to the top. Dirty cops and rival gangs pale in comparison to some of the things he witnessed in the barrios of Cuba.
Pacino is no stranger when it comes to portraying nefarious characters. A few years before Scarface was released, he became an overnight star as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. And like Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece, so to is this tale depicting the rise and fall of a gangster. It has little in common with Howard Hawks’ 1932 Scarface, which was, for a time, the most violent gangster film ever produced. That film was inspired by the exploitations of Al Capone.
This Brian De Palma remake ups the violence factor and the body count, and explores how an immigrant can rise to prominence only to self-destruct. At the time of Hawks’ gangster picture alcohol was the illegal substance that was much desired. In the 1980’s, it was cocaine. For a Cuban refugee there aren’t many choices as far as gainful employment is concerned. So, Tony works with his friend Manny Ray (Steven Bauer) for an honest wage as a dishwasher. But when given the opportunity to make a few thousand dollars by chaperoning a drug deal, Tony sees it as a reversal of fortune. With organized crime, he can get money, power and women. His mantra.
Tony Montana’s words and ungodly amount of profanity is fueled by then unknown screenwriter Oliver Stone. He dutifully updates Ben Hecht’s 1932 screenplay by changing the Great Depression’s gangland setting and bringing it to 80’s Miami. Combined with Al Pacino’s scene-chewing, iconic performance, a synthesizer-fused score and a three-hour run time, Scarface was destined to be an epic.
Getting his first real taste of success, monetarily speaking, Montana works his way through the south Florida drug trade. De Palma doesn’t give a “how to” guide at drug trafficking, but rather keenly observes a drug kingpin in his natural environment.
It is his demeanor and characterizations that make him so identifiable by rap stars and hip-hop artists. Tony has the life that most would covet: rich and powerful, a mansion full of servants, and beautiful women. This is why most rap acts have a copy of Scarface in their DVD collection. But the exploits depicted in De Palma’s film shouldn’t be considered amorous. Tony Montana has everything, but lacks something truly worth having: happiness. He is so consumed with the overindulgence of the cocaine biz he eventually drowns — in more ways than one. And, like the great James Cagney, he meets his demise with a crass remark that echoes through the halls of his plush estate.
Rappers are quick to revel in Tony Montana’s success, seeing him come from the gutter to his dramatic rise to the top. While drug dealing gives him such a lifestyle, Tony sells his soul for such an opportunity. His fall from grace is inevitable, but to see Tony at the height of power is to see a man who is no different than the impoverished. He is a wretched man who masks his discontent with lavish furnishings. In the neon-clad Babylon nightclub Tony is wooden, bored to the activity around him. He can’t even muster a laugh during a comedy routine. Later, to get his bearings, he plunges face first into a pillow of cocaine ecstasy, drowning in delight.
Scarface is a grandiose spectacle that deals in pipe dreams and a protagonist’s inability to be happy. From the opening interrogation by U.S. federal officials to Tony’s introduction to the business of cocaine — and eventual hostile takeover of the empire headed by drug kingpin Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) — to his downfall we don’t get much personal growth. But the nuances that Al Pacino gives the character, the ability to be loud with that vacuous expression of his is inspired. Writer Stone is no stranger when it comes exploring the hedonistic mentality of the 80’s. (Years later he wrote and directed Wall Street, with Michael Douglas as the slick-haired Gordon Gekko, a film that stands as a testament to personal greed.) Brian De Palma’s direction, especially the tumultuous third act with a bullet-strewn foyer, is over-the-top to an extent but beautifully encapsulates Tony Montana’s self-indulgent lifestyle.
The discs come housed in an Amaray keepcase that fits inside a sturdy cardboard slipcase. The unintended effect: making it loom larger than other DVDs you may have around it. Tony wouldn’t want it any other way.
Considering a number of studios give their double-dips needless and unremarkable titles like Pretty in Pink: Everything’s Ducky Edition, be thankful this third DVD release — yes, third — is only titled Scarface: Platinum Edition. For those who bought the “anniversary edition” last year, be prepared to be irate, as this DVD has one change that is worth the upgrade. (More on that soon.)
THE VIDEO
(Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen)
A great transfer of a 23-year-old movie, but there isn’t much difference between this platinum release and the “anniversary edition” from last year. The anamorphic widescreen presentation has a smooth-looking picture. Only for some sequences does it look like there is a problem with the print. Most likely, the problems are age related. Good color saturation and detail also add to the transfe’s video quality.
THE AUDIO
(English — Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS 5.1; French — Dolby 2.0)
Never mind the extras, this is your #1 reason to buy this new edition. According to the back of the DVD packaging, it notes that the movie comes equipped with completely restored and digitally enhanced audio. The previous release was lacking in the audio department; explosions were tinny, the gunshots didn’t have the oomph one might expect. In preparation for the 20th anniversary theatrical release, Universal remixed the score, and replaced all the gunshot sound effects with those newly created. But when it arrived to DVD as a two-disc special edition, it included the original, vintage soundtrack. In essence, the consumer had to settle for something dated, even though Universal had created a new-and-improved soundtrack specifically made for home viewing.
One year later, and we are finally given the version we should have received initially. So, by all means, ditch the previous release in favor of enhanced audio. It really does improve your viewing experience. Gunshots pepper the soundtrack, and explosions with base. The DTS is a thing of beauty, especially during the climatic gun battle, and is much better than previous incarnations. Also included are optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Those who disliked the inclusion of the featurette “Origins of a Hip-Hop Classic” from the anniversary set can rest easy. It is nowhere to be found in this re-release. But it does include the superfluous featurette on the making of Scarface: The Video Game. The 12-minute piece is amusing just to see the voice actors involved: Scarface alums Steven Bauer and Robert Loggia, James Woods, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara (both who are on TV’s Entourage), Cheech & Chong (hmm, I only thought they liked marijuana), and Ice-T.
With much of the first disc’s space regulated to containing the numerous audio tracks, it leaves little space for special features. So we are left with a single bonus. The Scarface Scorecard, when enabled, is a small ticker keeping track of the number of times the F-word is used, and a small ticker keeping track of all the bullets fired. It’s completely unwarranted, but fun nonetheless. Watching the tally the first few minutes, I quickly went to the end to see the final shootout. The results will blow your mind.
The second disc is almost identical to the previous incarnations, aside from a few changes. Already mentioned, the hip-hop featurette is gone, replaced with a behind-the-scenes look at the Scarface video game. Also new is The World of Tony Montana (11:38), a featurette about how Tony Montana was the prototypical American gangster. Featuring comments from the entertainment editor of Maxim magazine, and few drug enforcement agents, they elaborate on the lifestyle of a drug kingpin.
Ported over from the 2003 release is a trio of retrospective features — The Rebirth (10:08), The Acting (15:06) and The Creating (29:34). Written, produced and directed by documentarian Laurent Bouzereau, these three featurettes provide a good overview for those who are not familiar with the Scarface history. At one time Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro had planned to do a Scarface project together, but the plan was nixed once they learned Brian De Palma was already working on it. When the original draft wasn’t hitting on all cylinders, Oliver Stone was brought in to punch up the script. Through rewrites and directing changes, which went from De Palma to Sidney Lumet to De Palma again, producer Martin Bregman got everything in order to make this hyper-realistic gangster picture.
The casting was a long, arduous affair. Al Pacino was already a given, having been a friend of Bregman’s since his pre-star days. Most of the characters were selected based on their first read-through auditions. And, in order to improve their interactions on screen, the cast rehearsed for a month. They were so proficient with the dialogue after a month they could turn it into a stage play and go on tour. So says actor Steven Bauer, anyways.
The last section is the longest and most detailed of the three. Here, special attention is paid to mansion firefight that culminates the film. At least five cameras were shooting at once. For two weeks, Al Pacino was recuperating from burns sustained from the machine gun discharge. One day Brian De Palma’s friend Steven Spielberg was on the set and suggested a particular low-angle shot, which would appear in the film. Another topic of interest is Giorgio’s Moroder score and how his change in melody alters the mood when Tony Montana is with the women of his life.
The last feature ported over is The TV Version (2:47), a short piece about the alterations made to Scarface that made it airable on network TV. The changes are amusing, to say the least.
THE INSIDE PULSE
Al Pacino as Tony Montana is an audacious character that went from nothing to something. He lived the American Dream believing the world was his for the taking. It was, but it also led to his fall from grace. Strong direction by Brian De Palma and a thoroughly researched script by Oliver Stone, aside from the over-the-top exploits, are the perfect companions to Pacino’s presence. It was a movie that was way ahead of its time. To be made now, it would seem commonplace. As for the DVD, the latest incarnation of Scarface is sure to miff a number of consumers who don’t want to be duped into buying the same disc again. But the enhanced audio — for those who have a nice set-up — is the best reason to double dip as most of the extras have been ported over from past releases. So a mild recommendation for the platinum edition release.
