Tony Montana manages to leave Cuba during the Mariel exodus of 1980. He finds himself in a Florida refugee camp but his friend Manny has a way out for them: undertake a contract killing and arrangements will be made to get a green card. He's soon working for drug dealer Frank Lopez and shows his mettle when a deal with Colombian drug dealers goes bad. He also brings a new level of violence to Miami. Tony is protective of his younger sister but his mother knows what he does for a living and disowns him. Tony is impatient and wants it all however, including Frank's empire and his mistress Elvira Hancock. Once at the top however, Tony's outrageous actions make him a target and everything comes crumbling down.Written by
garykmcd
Omar's car is a 1983 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. See more »
Goofs
Beginning chainsaw scenes: Car with top down enters street, there is no sunlight on the street, sun is behind buildings. Montana and partner go to apartment to buy drugs. Camera pans out to street and there is full daylight on the street and on the car and girl in bikini next to car. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Fidel Castro:
...los que no se adapten... al esfuerzo y al heroísmo de una revolución... ¡No los queremos! ¡No los necesitamos!
[in subtitles: They are unwilling to adapt to the spirit of our revolution. We don't want them! We don't need them!]
Fidel Castro:
[Translation word-for-word:... the ones that won't adapt... to the effort and heroism of a revolution... We don't want them! We don't need them!]
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Crazy Credits
SCARFACE is a fictional account of the activities of a small group of ruthless criminals. The characters do not represent the Cuban-American Community, and it would be erroneous and unfair to suggest that they do. The vast majority of Cuban-Americans have demonstrated a dedication, vitality, and enterprise that has enriched the American scene. See more »
Alternate Versions
Network TV version deletes or edits all violent scenes for censorship reasons and adds some extra footage:
the introduction text about Cubans fleeing from Mariel is slightly different from the text shown in the theatrical version (a disclaimer stating that the events are fictitious has been added);
extended Freedom Town section: Tony in a phone booth trying to call his sister Gina; Angel looking in a phone book for his brother Pablo; extended conversation between Tony and Manny about getting out of Freedom Town; Tony and Manny watching television.
Tony's first visit to his mother's house is longer. Tony opens a bottle of champagne and makes a toast to America.
before Tony's first visit to Sosa, the onscreen text has been changed from "Cochabamba, Bolivia" to "South America";
during that visit Tony is introduced to Sosa's girlfriend Gabriela;
Tony's first meeting with his lawyer George;
when Alberto is planting the bomb under the car in N.Y., Tony sees cops nearby and distracts them by pretending to be looking for his missing dog.
I find myself enjoying this film when I watch it. Well, perhaps enjoying is a bit of an odd verb when you think of the storyline, its characters, the amount of violence and of course, the f-bomb being dropped about 15,000 times.
I like Pacino in this film. He shows us the violent anger we didn't see in Michael Corleone. We're Michael would say, "Never hate your enemies, it clouds your judgement," Tony Montana's out killing everybody. Now granted, there are moments in his performance...or in the script where you have to laugh. The questioning scene in the beginning of the film is a fine example of this. When asked where he got that scar on his cheek...well, I can't write what he says in the regular version, but I will tell you that on edited version on TNT, it from was "eating pine apple."
There is a great performance from Robert Loggia. He's the only character I truly believed in the film. Frank was a businessman, not a killer. All he wanted was the money. Greed killed him, as it has killed so many people. I enjoyed the direction Loggia went with Frank. It has carried over his recent work and has made Loggia one of Hollywood's must durable supporting actors.
Brian DePalma adds his usual blend of violence, but it seemed that for once, he was trying to make his own film. Not borrowed. No guessing games on who he stole from this time. Although he's blasted for the film's content, it is a new beginning to his career which took off, but it was really "The Untouchables" that made me consider him a serious director.
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I find myself enjoying this film when I watch it. Well, perhaps enjoying is a bit of an odd verb when you think of the storyline, its characters, the amount of violence and of course, the f-bomb being dropped about 15,000 times.
I like Pacino in this film. He shows us the violent anger we didn't see in Michael Corleone. We're Michael would say, "Never hate your enemies, it clouds your judgement," Tony Montana's out killing everybody. Now granted, there are moments in his performance...or in the script where you have to laugh. The questioning scene in the beginning of the film is a fine example of this. When asked where he got that scar on his cheek...well, I can't write what he says in the regular version, but I will tell you that on edited version on TNT, it from was "eating pine apple."
There is a great performance from Robert Loggia. He's the only character I truly believed in the film. Frank was a businessman, not a killer. All he wanted was the money. Greed killed him, as it has killed so many people. I enjoyed the direction Loggia went with Frank. It has carried over his recent work and has made Loggia one of Hollywood's must durable supporting actors.
Brian DePalma adds his usual blend of violence, but it seemed that for once, he was trying to make his own film. Not borrowed. No guessing games on who he stole from this time. Although he's blasted for the film's content, it is a new beginning to his career which took off, but it was really "The Untouchables" that made me consider him a serious director.