Scarface, 1983.
Directed by Brian De Palma.
Starring Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
SYNOPSIS:
Do you want an Amazon-exclusive Ultimate Collector’s Edition of Scarface? Well, here it is! This is the 2019 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray edition in a nice Steelbook package, wrapped in an oversized box with a metal poster and a certificate of authenticity. The perfect holiday gift for the Brian De Palma fan in your life.
Now that we’re in the Golden Age of Home Video, where technology can squeeze every last drop of resolution out of a film and provide a nearly perfect home theater experience, what’s next? Well, collector’s editions, of course!
I can’t blame the studios for going down this road, though: if it’s what people want, then why not give it to them? In the case of Brian De Palma’s 1983 classic Scarface, Universal Studios has released an Amazon-exclusive Ultimate Collector’s Edition, just in time for the holidays.
But first, the movie, which is easily the most meme-able and quotable of all of De Palma’s films. Al Pacino stars as the titular character, the fictional Cuban refugee Tony Montana, who arrives in Miami in the early 1980s and quickly becomes one of the most infamous drug lords in the country.
It’s a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, a Howard Hawks movie that starred Paul Muni in the role of Italian immigrant Antonio “Tony” Camonte, who likewise rises through the ranks of organized crime in Chicago. De Palma was wise to transplant the story to early 1980s Miami, which really was a haven for drug dealing at the time. (The 1932 film was included on a DVD in a 2011 release of Scarface, but it’s not found in this set.)
Upon their arrival as part of the 1980 Mariel boatlift, Tony and his companions — Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer), Angel (Pepe Serna), and Chi-Chi (Angel Salazar) — get green cards from the current drug lord, Frank Lopez, in exchange for murdering one of Fidel Castro’s former henchmen. The four of them quickly grow tired of their dishwasher jobs and begin working their way into the local crime scene.
Tony charts his own course, which angers Frank, who, understandably, gets even angrier when he sets his sights on Frank’s wife, Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer, who was an unknown prior to this movie). One thing leads to another, yadda, yadda, yadda, and eventually Tony is introducing his enemies to his “little friend” amid a hail of bullets. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything when I say that the ending reeks of a Greek tragedy (and I say that in a good way).
This Ultimate Collector’s Edition comes in an oversized box that includes a Steelbook containing 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs, along with a code for a digital copy, a metal poster with a magnet wall mount, and a numbered certificate of authenticity. The discs are the same ones found in the 4K Ultra HD edition issued in 2019, which features a gorgeous remaster of the movie.
The only extra on the 4K platter is the 27-minute Scarface: 35th Anniversary Reunion, which features a 2018 conversation with De Palma, Pacino, Pfeiffer, and Bauer filmed at the Beacon Theater in New York City.
The rest of the extras are found on the Blu-ray disc, which I’m pretty sure includes the same remaster as the 4K disc. The extras found on the high-def disc include:
• The Scarface Phenomenon (39 minutes): This one covers some of the same territory as the reunion group chat, but it’s still a good retrospective on the making of the film, which might seem tame by today’s standards but was pretty shocking in 1983.
• The World of Tony Montana (12 minutes): A look at the intense world of the cocaine trade in Miami in the early 1980s.
• The Creating (30 minutes): The film’s development gets its turn in the spotlight.
• The Rebirth (10 minutes): Hawks’ movie is compared and contrasted with De Palma’s remake.
• The Acting (15 minutes): Producer Martin Bregman joins De Palma and Pacino to discuss the cast and their performances.
• Scarface: The TV Version (3 minutes): Why even try to show this movie on TV? (I know — money.) This is an amusing look at how the film was sanitized for regular broadcasts.
• The Making of Scarface: The World Is Yours (12 minutes): I’ve never played the videogame, which came out in 2006, but here’s a look at it.
More than 22 minutes of deleted scenes round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
