I have a question to whoever will answer it!

Okay! I'm no expert on Scarface, But I LOVE the movie, but when I read some of the messages on the board. Some say its overrated, my question is "In what ways is Scarface overrated?" I want anyones thoughs and or opinions! I'm just curious! I really would like everyone opinion

I think they say it's overrated just because "everybody" likes it, and it's easy to get high expectations before watching it. And like all movies, not everyone can enjoy Scarface.

But personally, I love it.

It's good qualities are style and a good performance. The plot has been used dozens of times and only the setting and a few scenes makes it new from the original. It also lacks depth. I still think it's a great movie, but it's ridiculously overrated.

It's an adapted remake, of course it's going to be somewhat like the original.

I'm putting down the original themes I've heard people speak of.

Hi Scarface Princess

I love the film because of Al's performance, and I think it's a great movie, but I don't regard it as a cinematic masterpiece. The original Scarface was in some ways more subtle than its overblown relative. Brian de Palma, IMO, turned all the characters into caricatures: baddies with sinister moustaches, psychopath assassins and of course, annoying women.
The emotional interaction between characters is pretty basic when compared with the other projects that Al has been involved in.
The soundtrack is that awful synthesized eighties stuff, and there is a lack of humour which sometimes makes the film feel like one of those soap operas, Days of our Lives or something like that. Tony's "Oh no you didn't just touch my sister" facial expression is just something I can't take seriously
I don't know, there's just a lot in Scarface which feels gratuitous to me, the violence, the swearing, the weird Tony/Gina vibe... it seems more like a spectacle, a blockbuster, than a thoughtful look at the rise and fall of a guy who was told 'the world is yours'. Not a bad thing, movies purely for entertainment have their place, but I personally don't think Scarface deserves to be mentioned up there with some of the greatest films of all time. JMO!

I also love the film. And AL's performance makes it that much better. While it is not a cinematic masterpiece, it is a film that can be loved by many abd watched over and over again. As for the 80's soundtrack, well it was a very fitting soundtrack for the time that Scarface is taking place. And if you really listen to the words closely from many of the songs, they are very fitting for what the scene may be at that moment and what the movie is about. Yes it is not in the class of The Godfather, but there is no doubt that it is one of the most popular movies of our time.


Don Cardi

Thank you everyone who replyed I enjoy reading peoples opinions. KEEP THEM COMING

With you on that one, Don Cardi I think the reason I hate the soundtrack so much is that it was so very eighties, and so having discovered the film in the late 90s it seemed very dated to me. And often people detest the music of the decade they grew up in... so fair enough, you got me. I'm biased on the music!

Scarface is a good movie. I liked it, as I always will. However, it is overrated. Everybody likes it, but unlike The Godfather, it lacks story-depth (as mentioned in former posts). I hold movies which are rich in story line. Scarface is good on the surface, but when you try to dig deep, not much can be found.

Very true Tony, as you point out it is a very entertaining movie, but it does lack depth and the proof is right here, in this thread, as there are rarely posts here that get into the "underlying message" or the debt of a character from this movie. However, next to The Godfather movies, Scarface is also one of the most quotable movies out there. So no matter what, "I steal Luv dis movie mang! It is devinatelee won ov my favorites mang an dere will neva be anotha Tony Montana like dis won mang!"


Don Cardi

The soundtrack is very amuzing. I love the way Tony and Elvira dances at that night club.

I myself am a huge fan of the movie!
But I also understand why some people find it 'overrated' or even 'bad, a piece of junk,...' From experience I noticed that 90% of people who didn't like Godfather, also don't like Scarface!!
Usually girls (sorry, i'm totally not sexistic) or generally people who don't like 'older' movies, don't like the 'genre' or expect every movie to be top quallity colors, sound, effects, fast-edited...
With these movies you have to understand the time in wich they were made, and take a little while to adjust to the style and tempo of the movie!
Believe it or not, I've had times when I tried to show and explain scarface or Godfather to a non-fan or novice vieuwer, and didn't like the movies myself those moments... You're waiting for a great scene, hoping they will be amazed, impressed, or just liking it, and when the scene comes, they are totally un-interested, give a reaction like :"what's so great about that?"....
I guess these are really movies you LOVE or HATE!!!
One last thing, lots of people say GF3 is so bad?
WHy? I never thought it was bad...
(sorry for spelling-mistakes, i'm from Belgium, I speak DUtch and French normally)

I think ppl say it's overated because everyone likes it, and it's not critically acclaimed on a 5 star level.

To me it's still one of my favorite gangster movies, if not favorite.

ironically enough, alot of movies have a plot that match with another movie. completely different characters, but same basic plot.

It's a great film, but there are several things that piss me off about it. As DV mentioned, it lacks any depth at all, and I must've seen sixty other films with the same plot! Sure, it is a remake, but does that make a replica? No, and that's exactly what they did not do, which is good. They could have added a bit more to it though--his rise and fall could have worked out in more original, minimaly done ways. Look at Goodfellas; it's a rise and fall gangster film. But it's done with so much more than meets the eye. It's not like he just happens to stumble upon a life of crime, and then, oh no! I've been shot or arrested! Henry Hill knows what he's getting himself into, and then he rats.

Aside from all that, I hate its influence on the hip-hop community, to whom I say: fuck you. I don't care if they like it. They can love it. They can do what they please with it, as long as they don't go on saying they can relate to it. Give me a break! You're Kid Rock, you grew up on a farm, you moron! Did you spend six months in an illegal aliens camp? No! Did you kill for citizenship? No! Did you build a vast empire, which ended with you losing everything you had, both possessions and loved ones? NO! You didn't! Go vote or die you wanna' be! Besides it being a rags to riches story, you have nothing to do with it! On that level, you could relate to Cinderella! Come on, Cinderella was a rags to riches story. She went from being an ignored child who was used as forced labor to Queen of the country!

And then there are the fans. Some are cool, some aren't. I can't stand the illiterate idiots who've never even bothered to see other great films, but sit around saying crap like: "OmG!!! scarface be teh best movie eva! dat citizen kane thing was a piece of shh*t cuz tere werent ne explosions or gunz!!! LOLLERCAUST!" Honestly, go die.

Don't get me wrong. I like the movie, but it's like enjoying a Bond movie. It's entertaining, and great, and so well established/recognized, but you would never consider it a classic, or compare it to say, The Godfather.

I agree. You don't relate to it you pseudo-masculine pricks. "I relate, I came from nothing. Fuck you. You relate to the rise, what about the fall? In fact, why don't you relate to the 94959 other rise/fall gangster films? Think about it, what if John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, or Kurt Cobain said (if the first two were alive to see it) "I relate to Scarface. I can relate coming from nothing." It would sound odd that of all the success stories, they picked that. Why is it Scarface? Because these rappers who associate themselves with it are real gangstas don't you know.

Exactly! It makes me want to vomit! They would just like to think they're badass...

But as far as the fall goes, I think you're over looking Mc Hammer and Vanilla Ice. Now they were "gangsta".

I agree with both of you guys on the influence in the hip hop community. I think the special edition DVD has some kinda 'feature' (I won't even dare to call it special or a bonus) but they have all these rappers saying how this movie has inspired or influenced them and their lives. Do I really care!? Is it going to help me sleep at night that my favorite movie of all time influenced Method Man!?? Furthermore, does anybody outside the hip hop community even care? I agree with you in that it is overrated in that respect. Gang bangers act like it's the Holy Grail of movie making when all they've ever seen is The Cookout, Paid In Full or some other story like that. Not to mention I've seen a lot of them try to act Italian like in The Godfather or Goodfellas. I've been listening to a lot of Notorious BIG as of late and all I keep hearing is how "I'm a Goodfella" or Little Kim saying "I'm a Goodfella kinda lady!" WTF is a 'goodfella kinda lady!?" You'r not Italian, you're not Tony Montana, you're not Vito Corelone, you're not Michael Corleone, you're not Al Pacino, you're not Marlon Brando, and you're not Robert De Niro!

You're in a pretty sad state when a movie that portrays a drug dealing murdering character influeneces your way of life!

I love all these gangster movies, GF, Goodfellas, Casino, Scarface, etc. but to have a movie like that be the foundation of what influences the direction you take in real life is pretty sad.


Don Cardi

I couldn't agree more. And I hope those rolling eyes weren't directed towards me. The movie is my favorite but hasn't "influenced" my life

They were NOT directed towards you. They are just a show of disgust that people IN GENERAL claim that Scarface has influenced and shaped their lives.


Don Cardi

Ok-a-lee, dok-a-lee

That hip-hop feature on the DVD was stupid and should've been replaced with the trailer. I pissed myself when gangbangers were interviewed.

At least DePalma stopped them from putting rap music on the movie instead of the 80's music.

They were gonna do that!? What a terrible idea

Yes, and supposedly it will be used in the video game.

Rap in the game? These rappers are such shits!

Because when I think 1983, I think Gangster Rap...

I would be FINE with early 80s rap in the game, along with an array of other 80s tunes, but pure rap? Are they on crack--that wouldn't surprise me, after all, they base their careers around a fictional character who dealt it.

But editing the film's soundtrack is ridiculous and asinine! That'd completely ruin it, and forcefully drag you out of the setting. I'd hate to see Tony and Elvira dancing, when all of a sudden we hear blaring from the stereo system, "I'M STRAIGHT OUTTA' COMPTON!" Jesus Christ, that'd SUCK!

I concur. I'm glad they "restrained" themselves from doing it on the DVD or else Universal would have 1 less employee right now

they had rap in the 80s

Very true but the early rap wasn't like the rap we have tody. When I'm watching Scarface I'd rather listen to the original music, even though some here don't like it because it's "too 80s cheesy." I however love it and would rather listen to the original music than to hear Ja Rule's 2005 remix of Dance, Dance, Dance. The music just wouldn't match the time the movie was made and would stick out too poorly (not to mention piss me off). As many have said, WHO CARES that Scarface "influences" rappers!? NO ONE!

The director's intentions shouldn't be desecrated with a bunch of poser wannabes. They had color photography in the 80's, but that doesn't mean someone who is inspired by Raging Bull should change the film to color.

Exactly. If they ever made Raging Bull in color I'd watch it but I'd hate it. Don't mess with success. I can understand now how all those Star Wars fans got so upset when Lucas went back and added things to the movies (such as Hayden Christianson at the end of Return of the Jedi).

I don't think SCARFACE is overrated. If anything, its a pretty damn good movie, but not a great movie.

As for it not having any "depth"...its not deep or anything, its just a big budget epic gangster movie which works really well.

I'll do a big review of this movie sometime, but when I feel like it....

Brian DePalma's SCARFACE - **** out of 5

Personally, Scarface is my favorite movie. But, in my critical opinion, movies like the Godfather, Goodfellas, and Casino are way better since they have greater "depth" in them

Wow, a post about Scarface, and not one mention of Steven Bauer's "Manny Ray."

For me, he makes this movie enjoyable with repeated viewings. If John Travolta had the role as was original intended, it would not have been the same. Manny provides what little depth there is in the film - the scene where he is driving Gina home from the club is one example - and he is endearing. You feel bad for Manny at the end, and kind of despise Tony for what happens. With that, you kind of don't care about Tony's fate because of the type of person he became (and he wasn't all that good to begin with).

The thing with this movie is this: if you watch it over and over again, you pick up little things you may have missed the last time. You think Tony is so stoned out that he doesn't care about what happened to Manny, yet you get to hear little utterances about how he loved him when he's mumbling to himself just before the siege.

The movie was long, let's face it, and it was long with just the basic elements in place. It could have gotten more depth if they did the film ala Kill Bill, Part I & Part II. But you couldn't possibly fit everything into "Scarface."

In the end, they did the best with what they had. And it is good enough for me. I may not care enough about Tony Montana to feel badly for "his fall," but I do enjoy watching their exploits.