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Title: |
Scarface
(1983) |
| Reviewed By: |
Charlie Dryden |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video Format: |
2.35:1 cinemascope.
Non-anamorphic |
| Audio Format: |
English Dolby 2.0 |
| DVD Format: |
SS-RSDL |
| Language Tracks: |
English |
| Subtitle Tracks: |
Spanish / French
/ English captions |
| Length: |
170mins |
| Rating |
R |
| Release Date: |
March 31,1998 |
| Regular/Special Edition |
Collector's Edition |
| Region Code: |
1 |
| Studio: |
Universal |
| THX: |
No |
| Commentary |
No |
| |
|
| Documentaries |
Yes |
| |
|
| Featurettes |
None |
| |
|
| Filmography
& Biography |
Yes |
| |
|
| Interviews |
None |
| |
|
| Trailers &
TV Spots |
Theatrical Trailer |
| |
|
| Alternate/Deleted Scenes
& Clips |
Yes |
| |
|
| Music Video(s) |
None |
| |
|
| Other |
None |
| |
|
| Cast &
Crew |
| Cast
|
Al Pacino/Michelle
Pfeiffer |
| Written by |
Oliver Stone |
| Produced By |
Martin Bregman |
| Directed By |
Brian DePalma |
| Score By |
Giorgio Moroder |
| The Review: |
| It's hard to find anything
new to say about one of the most lauded but also controversial
gangster pictures of all time, especially a film which even
the casual fan of the genre will probably have already seen.
Upon the movie's original theatrical release, when most every
critic across the States had trouble dealing with the pioneering
level of violence on display, further hindered by the much
publicised rating battle with the MPAA the film was a huge
success, further consolidating Al Pacino's position as one
of America's finest actors. His searing performance is the
one element that drives this movie, never allowing his portrayal
of Cuban cocaine boss Tony Montana to take a back seat to
Brian DePalma's whiz-bang camera gymnastics. The supporting
cast are also on fine form, especially Michelle Pfeiffer,
whose snobby portrayal of Tony's wife works perfectly against
Pacino's swaggering screen presence. Although being set in
a very different world to the original Chicago Mafia setting
of Howard Hawks' original 1932 Scarface, screenwriter Oliver
Stone has kept many of the situations and characters of that
film and transferred them to the flashy, violent and extremely
rich world of the Miami cocaine underworld of the 1980's.
Here we see the murderous rise to ridiculous levels of power
and wealth, whilst exploring the emptiness at the heart of
Tony's single-minded pursuit of the American dream. . |
| Image & Sound: |
| By 2000 standards the level
of quality in terms of both picture and sound falls well below
the accepted standard, especially bearing in mind this disc's
status as being part of Universal's esteemed Collector's Edition
series, where DVDs such as "The Mummy" and "Out Of Sight"
set new standards in must-have presentation. Even catalogue
titles like "The Thing" and "Jaws" receive the red-carpet
treatment in terms of transfer and remastered sound. In all
fairness, the Scarface DVD hails from the bygone era of 1998,
way before 16x9 transfers became the norm; a fact that the
2.35 'scope ratio of this disc makes us painfully aware. The
overall print looks saggy and faded. The over-the-top colour
scheme of the film (and indeed, Pacino's shirts) is reduced
to washed out pastel shading. Pitiful black levels only add
to this lack of clarity. The soundtrack is presented in its
original Dolby 2.0 surround format which, whilst not allowing
the level of nuance possible with a 5.1 mix, still manages
to achieve a convincing sound stage. The sound mix seems very
bass heavy, attaining the maximum effect from Giorgio Moroder's
80s electro-pop score, although never getting in the way of
crisp dialogue reproduction and stylised sound effects which
complement DePalma's directing style. |
| Extra Features: |
| The real meat of the extras
package is the superb, fully chaptered documentary on the
making of the film. This really is brilliant, and is something
which Universal are consistently good at doing, (witness the
similar documentaries on Psycho (both versions), Jaws and
Conan). Just about every aspect of the movie, in both its
production and critical acceptance are explored in detail
with the participation of most of the major players. Backing
this up are a neat array of minor features such as trailers
and text only film biogs and production notes. All this, together
with a lovely full colour booklet containing an essay from
DePalma backed with lots of stills makes for a superb package. |
| Finals Words: |
| Lets face it, the only thing
wrong with this disc is its age; but with little chance of
a re-issue anytime soon, this is currently the best way of
viewing one of both Pacino and DePalma's finest works. The
hatful of extras, including the centrepiece documentary, go
towards making an irresistible package. Go buy! |
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