Scarface Essay, Research Paper

scarface

If you are interested in watching an action filled gangster movie with lots of guns and gore, then ?say hello to my little friend,? as Tony Montana would say. This film is directed by Brian De Palma whom made it after the 1932 classic ?Scarface.? The movie has a couple of well known actors and actresses such as Michelle Phieffer and Al Pacino, in which I feel is Pacino?s best movie. There are many famous and well-known scenes and phrases that have came out of this movie. I feel that this is one of the best films that I have seen for a few reasons, one of which, Al Pacino.

Scarface starts out as Tony Montana comes to America from Cuba and begins with him being questioned by immigration agents were you first learn the attitude and character of Montana. Tony starts off working in a little food stand as a dishwasher before Manolo, his buddy from Cuba, and Tony take a job doing a drug-run for cocaine. This is where Tony begins his rise to the top of the drug world and where the action really starts to begin. Tony and his partner Manolo begin working for a big drug dealer named Frank Lopez and Tony meets Elvira, Frank?s wife, played by Michelle Phieffer. Tony ends up taking Elvira and the business from Frank and becomes very wealthy. This begins Tony?s downfall in which he ends up in conflicts with drugs, the law, Elvira, and even Manolo and his sister. Elvira sits around the whole movie and does cocaine and ends up getting Tony into it. Tony fails to meet orders and all the money and greed ends up hurting Tony in the end of the movie.

The few instances of criticism the film has are minor ones. Some of the scenes seem to be unrealistic but I haven?t seen many gangster movies? that have had all scenes be realistic. Another criticism is how it starts with Tony just doing drug runs and all of a sudden the movie jumps three months later and he has enough money to buy a nice car like nothing. I thought it should have shown a little more or explain how he got that money that quick. The movie is three hours long and tends to drag at some points such as the club scene and the final scene with Gina. The video quality is poor and the color seems dim but the film is from 1983. It only can be seen as one of the films where the screen has black lines on the top and bottom, which make the screen seem smaller.

The praise of the film could be summed up as the whole movie besides what I named above. I thought that the movie was exciting and kept you interested throughout the entire movie. There were a few graphic scenes, such as the Colombian chainsaw scene, for people who like that kind of stuff and a lot of great shooting scenes, like the final scene of the movie. The camera shots were great, such as the camera zooming in from the outside to the inside of the hotel at the Colombian chainsaw scene. Another praise would be the acting, I thought every actor in the movie played their roles great in all of the famous scenes in the movie, especially the scene of Tony confronting Frank with a gun. This was also a good film because throughout the movie they threw in some humor, such as Manolo trying to pick-up girls at the beach, which I think is needed for it to be a good movie.

This film I consider as Al Pacino?s best movie for the role that he played as Tony Montana. I feel that he was the best person for the role of Tony Montana and that his best movies are when he acts that kind of role, such as in The Devil?s Advocate. Michelle Phieffer acted well as Elvira and really looked like a cokehead in the many scenes in which she was coked-up in the movie. The part of Manolo is played out great and Frank Lopez, acted by Robert Loggia, is acted out great also. I also feel This is De Palma?s best film compared to his other well-known, great action movies such as The Untouchables, Carlito?s Way, and Mission Impossible. All of the movies which are known for their great scenes and being action-filled.

Overall, I would recommend this movie to people who like action-filled, intense movies. I feel this was Pacino?s and De Palma?s best film and acted out well by all of the actors. The movie kept me interested throughout the entire thing and had its humor, which I feel is necessary for a good film. Two thumbs up.