Scarface (1983 film)

Oliver Stone (pictured in 1987) wrote the script for Scarface while struggling with his own addiction to cocaine.

Scarface began development after Al Pacino saw the 1932 film of the same name at the Tiffany Theater while in Los Angeles. He later called his manager, producer Martin Bregman, and informed him of his belief in the potential for a remake of that film.[12] Pacino originally wanted to retain the period piece aspect, but realized that because of its melodramatic nature it would be difficult to accomplish.[16] Sidney Lumet became attached as the director, developing the idea for Montana to be Cuban arriving in America during the Mariel boatlift.[12][17]

Bregman and Lumet's creative differences saw Lumet drop out of the project. Lumet had wanted to make a more political story that focused on blaming the current Presidential administration for the influx of cocaine into the United States, yet Bregman disagreed.[18][16] Bregman replaced him with Brian De Palma, and hired writer Oliver Stone, later stating that it took only four phone calls to secure their involvement. Stone had seen the original 1932 Scarface and had not enjoyed it, so he initially rejected the offer.[19]

Only after he talked to Lumet was he convinced to accept the offer since they agreed on transforming the film from a period piece to a contemporary film,[19] saying, "Sidney had a great idea to take the 1930s American prohibition gangster movie and make it into a modern immigrant gangster movie dealing with the same problems that we had then, that we're prohibiting drugs instead of alcohol. There's a prohibition against drugs that's created the same criminal class as (prohibition of alcohol) created the Mafia."[19]

Stone researched the script while battling his own cocaine addiction.[20] He and Bregman performed their own research, traveling to Miami, Florida, where they were given access to records from the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Organized Crime Bureau.[18] Stone moved to Paris to write the script, believing he could not break his addiction while in the United States, stating in a 2003 interview that he was completely off drugs at the time "because I don't think cocaine helps writing. It's very destructive to the brain cells."[16][21]

Pacino insisted on taking the lead role as Tony Montana, although Robert De Niro had been offered it and had turned it down.[12][22] Pacino worked with experts in knife combat, trainers, and boxer Roberto Durán to attain the body type that he wanted for the role. Durán also helped inspire the character, who had "a certain lion in him", according to Pacino. Meryl Streep's immigrant character in Sophie's Choice (1982) also influenced Pacino's portrayal of Tony Montana. Bauer and a dialect coach helped him learn aspects of the Cuban Spanish language and pronunciation.[16]

Pfeiffer was an unknown actress at the time, and both Pacino and De Palma had argued against her casting, but Bregman fought for her inclusion.[12] Glenn Close was the original choice for the role, while others were also considered, including Geena Davis, Carrie Fisher, Kelly McGillis, Sharon Stone, and Sigourney Weaver.[23]

Bauer got his role without even auditioning. During the audition process, casting director Alixe Gordin saw Bauer and instantly noted that he was right for the role of Manny, a judgment with which both De Palma and Bregman agreed. He was the only actual Cuban in the principal cast. John Travolta was considered for the role.[12][22][24]

Pacino was injured during rehearsals for a gunfight when he grabbed the barrel of a prop gun which had just been used to fire several dummy bullets. His hand stuck to the hot barrel and he was unable to remove it immediately; the injury side-lined him for two weeks. The gunfight scene also includes a single camera shot directed by Steven Spielberg, who was visiting the set at the time.[25] During filming, some Cubans objected to the film's Cuban characters being portrayed as criminals by non-Cuban actors. To counter this, the film features a disclaimer during its credits stating that the film characters were not representative of the Cuban-American community.[24]

Despite its Miami setting, much of the film was actually shot in Los Angeles, as the Miami Tourist board was afraid that the film would deter tourism with its depiction of the state as a haven for drugs and gangsters.[26] Tony's opulent Miami mansion was portrayed by El Fureidis, a Roman-styled mansion in Santa Barbara, California.[27] The picture was shot over 24 weeks from November 22, 1982 to May 6, 1983.[28][29] The special effects were performed by Ken Pepiot and Stan Parks.[30]

Scarface was given an X rating in America three times for extreme violence, frequent strong language, and hard drug usage.[31] The restrictive rating was more associated with pornography at the time, which limited the number of cinemas willing to screen such a film and restricted promotional advertising, potentially affecting box office takings. One cause of the X rating was the scene early on in which Montana's associate Angel is dismembered with a chainsaw off-screen. De Palma made edits to the scene and resubmitted it to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) but was again given an X rating.

He made further edits and resubmitted it from three to five times before refusing to edit the film further, telling Universal either to release it in its current form or fire and replace him with someone who would edit it. Universal opted to appeal the MPAA's decision. Studio president, Robert Rehme, attended the hearing, which was presided over by his friend MPAA President Jack Valenti.

Among those speaking on behalf of the film during the appeal were film critic Roger Ebert, the head of Florida's Broward County organized crime division, and the head of a major theater chain named Alan Friedberg. MPAA member Richard Heffner later admitted that he could have fought harder to retain the X rating, but he believed that Valenti did not support the decision, as he did not want to alienate the big film studios. The decision was overwhelmingly in favor of releasing the film with a less restrictive R rating.

In response, De Palma argued that his original version should be rated R if the latest version was now considered R-rated. The MPAA refused and would only allow the latest edit to pass with an R rating. De Palma believed that the changes were minor enough to be unnoticeable and released the film uncut anyway, only confessing to it months after the film's release.[32][33]

Instead of using popular music from the period in which the film is set, the music in Scarface was produced by Academy Award-winning Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder. Reflecting Moroder's style, the soundtrack consists mostly of muzak-like synthesized new wave, electronic music. De Palma said that he repeatedly denied Universal's requests to release the film with a "pop" score because he felt Moroder's score was adequate.[34]

Scarface premiered on December 1, 1983, in New York City, where it was initially greeted with mixed reaction. The film's two stars, Al Pacino and Steven Bauer, were joined in attendance by Burt and Diane Lane, Melanie Griffith, Raquel Welch, Joan Collins, her boyfriend Peter Holm, and Eddie Murphy, among others.[35] It was then given a wide release on December 9, 1983.

Scarface was initially released by MCA Home Video on VHS, CED Videodisc, Laserdisc, and Beta in the summer of 1984 – a two-tape set in 1.33:1 pan and scan ratio – and quickly became a bestseller. A 2.39:1 Widescreen VHS would follow years later in 1998 to coincide with the special edition DVD release. The last VHS release was in 2003 to counterpart the 20th anniversary edition DVD. The 2003 DVD was remastered and re-released through Universal Records.

The television version of Scarface premiered on ABC on January 7, 1989.[36] 32 minutes of violence, profanity and sex were edited out, and much of the dialogue, including the constant use of the word "fuck", which was muted after the beginning of "f-" or replaced with less offensive alternatives.[37]

The film received a North American DVD release on the film's fifteenth anniversary in 1998, featuring a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, a "Making of" documentary, outtakes, production notes, and cast and crew biographies. This release was not successful, and many fans and reviewers complained about its unwatchable video transfer and muddled sound, describing it as "one of the worst big studio releases out there".[38] In 2003, Music Inspired by Scarface, a Def Jam Recordings compilation album, featured songs by various hip-hop artists which either draw direct inspiration from the film, or contain subject matter that can relate to the film.[39]

Scarface was released on Blu-ray on September 6, 2011, in a two-disc, limited edition, steelbox package:[40] the set was criticized for its poor picture quality due to usage of an old master created from the DVD release.[41] Disc two is a DVD of the 1932 Scarface, featuring a TMC-produced introduction by Robert Osborne and an alternate ending. Bonus features include The Making of Scarface documentary, and a new retrospective documentary: The Scarface Phenomenon.[42]

A special gift set, limited to 1,000 copies, features the Blu-ray set housed in a cigar humidor, designed by humidor craftsman Daniel Marshall. The humidor box set retailed at $999.99.[43]

A standard 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and limited edition set were released on October 15, 2019. The limited edition set contains a specially made statue, a newly remastered transfer and, for the first time on Blu-ray, the 1932 original. There is also a standard set which contains the same 4K transfer and a remastered 1080p disk but does not include the 1932 version.[44][45][46] A month later on November 19, the 1932 original was given its own individual release.[47] The 4K release ports over all of the old special features and adds one new one, which is a reunion special in tribute to the 35th anniversary of the movie's release.

Scarface was released theatrically in North America on December 9, 1983. The film earned $4.5 million from 996 theaters during its opening weekend, an average of $4,616 per theater, and ranking as the second-highest-grossing film of the weekend behind Sudden Impact ($9.6 million), which debuted the same weekend. It went on to earn $44.6 million in North America and $20.4 million from other markets, for a total of $65.1 million. This figure made Scarface the 16th highest-grossing film of 1983, and seventh highest grossing R-rated film in North America for 1983.[3][48] It has since been given three re-releases in 2003, which featured a remastered film for the film's 20th anniversary, 2012, and 2014, bringing the total earned to $45.4 million domestically, for a total of $66 million worldwide.[3]

The original release of Scarface was met with a negative critical response,[12] and drew controversy regarding the violence and graphic language in the film.[49] The New York Magazine defined it as an empty, bullying, and overblown B movie.[50]

Writers Kurt Vonnegut and John Irving were among those who allegedly walked out in disgust after the notorious chainsaw scene.[51] At the middle of the film, Scorsese turned to Bauer and told him, "You guys are great – but be prepared, because they're going to hate it in Hollywood ... because it's about them."[52]

Roger Ebert rated it four stars out of four in his 1983 review, and he later added it to his "Great Movies" list.[53] Ebert wrote, "DePalma and his writer, Oliver Stone, have created a gallery of specific individuals, and one of the fascinations of the movie is that we aren't watching crime-movie clichés, we're watching people who are criminals."[54] Vincent Canby praised the film in The New York Times: "The dominant mood of the film is... bleak and futile: what goes up must always come down. When it comes down in Scarface, the crash is as terrifying as it is vivid and arresting."[55]

Leonard Maltin was among those critics who held a negative opinion of Scarface. He gave the film 1½ stars out of four, stating that Scarface "wallows in excess and unpleasantness for nearly three hours, and offers no new insights except that crime doesn't pay. At least the 1932 movie moved." Maltin included an addendum to his review in later editions of his annual movie guide, stating his surprise with the film's newfound popularity as a cult-classic.[56]

In his review for Newsweek, David Ansen wrote, "If Scarface makes you shudder, it's from what you think you see and from the accumulated tension of this feral landscape. It's a grand, shallow, decadent entertainment, which like all good Hollywood gangster movies delivers the punch and counterpunch of glamour and disgust".[57] Jay Scott writes in his review for The Globe and Mail, "For a while, Al Pacino is hypnotic as Montana. But the effort expended on the flawless Cuban accent and the attempts to flesh out a character cut from inch-thick cardboard are hopeless."[58] In his review for The Washington Post, Gary Arnold wrote, "A movie that appeared intent on revealing an alarmingly contemporary criminal subculture gradually reverts to underworld cliche, covering its derivative tracks with outrageous decor and an apocalyptic, production number finale, ingeniously choreographed to leave the antihero floating face down in a literal bloodbath."[59]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 81% approval rating based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 7.44/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Director Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino take it to the limit in this stylized, ultra-violent and eminently quotable gangster epic that walks a thin white line between moral drama and celebratory excess."[60] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[61]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
  • Tony Montana – Nominated Villain[62]
• 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • Tony Montana: "Say "hello" to my little friend!" – #61[63]
• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • #10 Gangster Film[64]

Notably Scarface is the only remake to appear in the same AFI 10 Top 10 list as the original film. It is #10 while the 1932 original is #6.

In 2001, plans were made for hip hop artist Cuban Link to write and star in a sequel to Scarface titled Son of Tony.[82] The plans drew both praise and criticism and, after several years, Cuban Link indicated that he may no longer be involved with the project as the result of movie rights issues and creative control.[83]

Universal announced in 2011 that the studio is developing a new version of Scarface. The studio stated that the new film is neither a sequel nor a remake, but will take elements from both this version and its 1932 predecessor, including the basic premise: a man who becomes a kingpin in his quest for the American Dream. Martin Bregman produced the 1983 remake and would produce this version also,[84] with a screenplay by David Ayer,[85] and David Yates in talks to direct the film.[86]

On March 24, 2014, TheWrap reported that Pablo Larraín was in negotiations to direct the film, along with Paul Attanasio writing the film's script. The film's update will be an original story set in modern-day Los Angeles that follows a Mexican immigrant's rise in the criminal underworld as he strives for the American Dream.[87] Jonathan Herman was set in March 2015 to rewrite both drafts of the script.[88]

On August 10, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Antoine Fuqua was in talks to direct the film.[89] On September 28, 2016, Variety reported that Terence Winter would be penning the script for the film.[90] In January 2017, Fuqua left the project and Diego Luna was cast in the lead role.[91] On February 10, 2017, it was announced that the film would be released in theaters on August 10, 2018, with the film's script being written by the Coen brothers.[92]

On March 30, 2018, it was announced that Fuqua will direct the new film with Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer writing the screenplay.[93]

On August 9, 2018, the film had not been released in theaters as originally planned and filming had been announced to start in October 2018. Filming would take place in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Mexico.[94]