Scarface - The Most Overrated Gangster Film Ever Made? 

Scarface is so over the top, that it looks like an after the fact, ultra-romanticized parody of the 80s, with all the right cliches. Like the 50s were portrayed in 1978's Grease. But what makes it weird is that Scarface was released in 1983...

Scarface is a remake of the Howard Hawks 1932 film. It's very true to that film, but in a modern way. It's best to watch the original to fully get what DePalmas version. Which is De Palma making Scarface in the style of De Palma (which by then, over a decade in the business). And it's got a banging soundtrack.@@_zigger_

​@_zigger_ doesn't the fact that it was so early into decade help lend to the authenticity though?

Exactly. They can both be true.

He thought Goodfellas was "pretty good" the first time he watched it. This man deserves no explanations. I don't think Scarface was "over the top" It was about a different type of gangster in a different type of world. Not like the Italians with their centuries of mafia traditions adapting to the modern world. It was a great portrayal of the underworld of Reaganomics & the various desperados from a brutal Latin America. The film was tame compared to the reality - en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_drug_war

For me it was the nonsensical ramblings of a coked-out loser and hypocrite trying to protect what misplaced pride he had left. Just like the bath scene where he's complaing about politicians, like he's any better

"Say Goodnight to the bad guy " is 1000 times better than "say hello to my little friend"

@@AlshainFR That's the point hes not any better but they think they're better than guys like Tony.

@@bigvinnie3 Exactly. One of my favourite things about the movie that the video fails to mention is that Tony's rise to the top is like a guided tour of systemic corruption on every level. Everyone knows Tony is a bad guy (except maybe for the irl people who mistakenly idolise him), but the crooked cops, bankers, politicians etc all fly under the radar. The speech in the fancy restaurant is like the full stop to that running theme, not necessarily directed to the people in the restaurant but all the crooked dishonest people he's encountered on his way up.

@@HisNameWasCrazy Exactly

@ArchibaldMeatpants lol quite the opposite

Oh it's dark and moody, for sure. Dark and moody like a fuckin 12-year-old would imagine "Dark and moody." I absolutely loved this movie when I first watched it as a teenager in the 90s, but it IS kinda shit. Period.

Indeed. This guy has a terrible taste. It seems that he didn't watched or understood the movie at all.

He did witness his close friend get chainsawed 3 inches away from him as he screams for help and he can't do a single thing about it except look away, BUT being forced to watch. Not only that, he got 1 second away from death with an active running chainsaw blaring into his head as his dead friend is hanging from his hands being cuffed. Then 2 seconds after that, he witnesses about 3 people get shot up, he kills someone, and then pretty much said his friend died for cocaine which is where he signed his death wish and spiral. Don't forget the countless murders he did before he even got to miami and the childhood and environment he had to grow up in. Plus he was in the Cuban army AND was in prison apart of a violent gang AND was a "marked assassin". So you could imagine what he witnessed and did inside there.

His wife was another one of his mistakes. Everything that glitters isnt gold.

I guess that's how you recognize who the low-grade losers are going to be among the kids; for every future crime boss, I guess there's got to be 100 mooks who think they are going to be big shots and it just never happens. You are 100% right about the false allure, but I doubt they see everything you just said, how Tony Montana was not just a scumbag, but his own worst enemy.

​@@YA-hm5zyhw would've lived if he never went after Elvira. She was pointless. He should've just picked a regular girl form the club she would've been knocked up in months of meeting him

Tony Montana had the drive to succeed in any profession he chose. Live by the sword, die by the sword. When has any drug lord ever died of old age? (outside of prison)

Scarface and mob merchandise were popular in general in those days. I knew a bunch of kids who had scarface shirts and posters that weren't criminals. The gangster genre is no different than people idolizing westerns. Doesn't mean they're cowboys.

Its 2 hours and 50 minutes. How can it be much longer.

@@Xxrocknrollgodmore scenes

Yea that was literally the only thing I did not like about the movie. I wish we saw a whole lot more with his rise to power. I wish they didn't rush through the montage you mentioned. It could of given a lot more context and development to his character. But overall I still think it's a great film. :)

It was waaaaay too long

​@@weazelsthat's godfather territory. You can't have the type of emotional tonality and theme of this film be that long. It's fast paced reflecting the era and theme of the movie. The godfather drags on forever cause it reflects the old world mafia style plus you can't speed run that movie and it thrives on a slow Cookrr type film length. We needed more scenes with Gina and Manny but that's it.

And don’t get high on yur own supply

The way he laughs when he says it

So iconic you can't even get his name right 🤨

@@diggadirt393 English is not my native language - I want my fuXXing human rights!

@@diggadirt393I don’t think I’ve ever even heard that last name?😂😂

boring? don't you mean simple?

@@Galvatronover boring vapid and simple yes. Maybe i should have said as a person? he is an interesting character but as an actual "man" he is vapid.

His wife (shallow as she is too) even calls him out on it.

The same could be said for Micheal Corleone!

That's the point of the story. Scarface wasn't meant to glamorise crime.

That’s a good way to put it. I think the movie jerking forward a few times makes the character progression feel a little disjointed.

@@teksnotdead902yes!!!!!! On point!

Goodfellas was the same way,

​@rodrigosantoscienceros Literally nothing like it, has a voice over for 1, starts off in his childhood for 2, pretty much stays within his neighbourhood for 3, lifelong friends for 4, back stories and motives for 5, could go on 😂

The only possible disappointment in Scarface for me was that we didn’t really get to see Tony’s rise, it happened so fast, he went from working the grill, to shootouts in a bad drug deal, to kingpin. It was a lot more story inside of the classic montage. I still can’t believe it’s almost 3hrs, it flies by every time.

Bronx Tale is nowhere near as good as Scarface bro

Bronx tale should not be in this convo tbh

I love Bronx tale but really it was just about the message. Great quotes but average scenes and boring storyline.

@@danielnotdamast816I agree. Thats more overrated then this.

Put him in the bathroom ​@@Ashw1115

That last shoot-out scene is still Breath Taking

Never met anyone who didn’t like it for whatever reason

I watch it every three months and always find something new.

I like it more every time I see it. When I was younger I thought it was pretty good, now it's easily in my all time top 5.

REBENGA!

The first half is great the second half is not. I always turn it off after the money counting montage.

@@sole__doubt Really? I love the restaurant scene ("you need people like me") and the iconic final shootout.

@@prlysis The restaurant scene is the best in the second half. I cant stand the final shootout, I never watch it. Its like a cartoon its so ridiculous.

The Godfather bores me to tears compared to Scarface lol

Thank you!

I want to echo this. AI narration is a blight.

To each their own I guess. The first half is great the second half is average at best.

Wut

I didn’t know that Thanks

No it's not! He actually said in an interview he was embarrassed cause of outrageous accent. "Serpico" his favorite

​​@@StevenGilmartin-j9kNo scarface. Serpico is just a horrible aged film.

The movie itself had a cameo in Breaking Bad. Skyler coming across Walt and Junior watching Scarface late at night was very creepy.

Not really a movie for chicks to be fare. Now you know how guys feel about every romcom they ever watched with you.😊

I was born in 1985, but I remember watching a documentary about it and what you just said was the general consensus of movie goers. It got a second life in the late 90s and early 2000s bc American rappers loved it and the Tony Montana character.

@@dukedematteo1995 Exactly. That generation grabbed onto it.

@@CoreyT127 Or maybe she would rather watch Friday the 13th The Final Chapter which is a better film.

Pacino with the Cuban accent? His character is from Cuba which makes sense why he talks like that, and the over the top violence? That is the whole point of the film.

Who is upvoting this silly comment? People are funny. Scarface was over the top even when it was released. It's the style of the film, it's intentional. I love it. Those that think great movies somehow don't become great because they get older are living in a dream world. Cinema is art. I watch movies from the 60s/70s/80s all the time. Quality films stay quality - at release, 10 years out, 40 years out, 100 years out. You mention MCU? they are not good at release. So of course they won't be good. If you think 98% don't hold up, then you don't watch enough movies. Try not watching that MCU rubbish.

@@shootinputin6332 nice rant bro, I love Scarface personally, but it isn't even De Palmas best movie

@@natedogg890 thanks. Saw your comment days ago and been triggered ever since. It's not about Scarface, it's the notion that new = better. When it just ain't true. Only thing that got better with time is special effects, and that's just one aspect of a movie. No matter what age someone is, they should look at movies from the past. They'll find stuff they love.

What’s MCU?

@@bigbadbillybradMarvel cinematic universe aka all that super hero movie crud we've been bombarded with since 2007.

Theif !! With James Caan

Me too lol

In my 20s Montana was the man. In my 30s Frank Lopez was right and thr person to follow. Now in my 40s I realised that Alejandro Sosa is the real MVP of the entire film and the one person who really has power.

I say thats pretty realistic for a gangster, their petty and impolsive scum bags who usually stab their best friends in the back. There's a reason these guys die young or end up in prison for rest of their lives.

@@rodrigosantoscienceros That's not realistic for a guy to make as far as Tony Montana made it. He would've been taken out a lot sooner if that's how he was moving.

@@ejkboxing Various cartel bosses would disagree with you. However seeing as this takes place in America let's stick to this country. Notable American gangsters: Nicky Scarfo, Albert Anastasia,Vito Genovese, and John Gotti were pretty violent street guys who rose to the top and most definitely betrayed a few of their friends because of course they did gangsters aren't exactly good people. And like Tony they didn't actually last to long as boss because they were a bunch of violent fuck ups. However Scarface is a remake of a 1930s movie of the same name which was loosely based on the real life "Scarface" AL Copone. That guy caught syphilis and became a retarded man. If a retarded guy could become a rich mob boss in real life I'm fairly certain regular ass coke dealer can make it big for few years before getting killed.

@rodrigosantoscienceros WOW! You put a lot of thought into your reply. I thought this Scarface movie was only a "ok" ass movie. Once he killed his boy that he came over here with, I checked out.

I recognized it while watching it. I didn't have to think about it. @@coolpeople4287

True, but the fall of Tony Montana was far more entertaining than Michael's fall in Godfather 3.

I can believe children would still be off limits though. I don't think he was too far gone for that to be plausible.

@@agentsnorlson7913 yes women and children should always be off limits but he was at the top of the food chain and if he wasn’t ready to go all the way then he should have chose another profession.

@@GRUSTLER You can tell from the restaurant scene that he's already become so disillusioned he doesn't care about being at the top anymore. He doesn't seem to care about the business with the journalist either, describing it to Manny as "a bunch of bullshit" even though his future depends on it. They also set up his desire to have kids which doesn't work out so that probably added to it being his breaking point.

Erh nevermind 😒. Learn to have a little fun man.

About time we saw some yakuza stuff.

I don't get that line of reasoning. Let alone the financial investment.. do I also have to start my own band to judge music?

@@Ken_Doll_Roy if you’re gonna judge a classic legendary motion picture that’s a time piece, then yes, same goes for music

@@dnice213 Unless you say it's good right?

Never got that bit theres not a point it insists upon its just a sweeping tale of a good man turned evil

You nailed it.

Ouch lol

The Untouables is an impressive yawnfest.

@@Tim_the_EnchanterScarface is a million times better than the Untouchables. I really disliked that movie

Scarface should have been Oscar-nominated, maybe even won.

The only connection is the name. It’s not a remake.

@@justinsidious9772 It is a remake. Scarface 1983 is based on the 1932 version.The plot outline is the same.