When I first saw Brian De Palma’s Scarface, a decidedly eighties remake of the classic Howard Hawks gangster movie, I loved it. I was a teenager, the perfect age to see Tony Montana’s dizzying rise in the Miami underworld, followed by his violent, cocaine-fueled fall.
Now I kind of hate it.
My dislike of Scarface mainly stems from the movie’s obnoxious fan base. There are many movies and bands I enjoy that are cursed with followers that are beyond irritating, yet I refuse to let them poison the enjoyment I get out of whatever it is they love for erroneous reasons. Scarface is different in that the film’s fans are indicative of the movie’s failings as a story and a as a piece of art. It’s a classic case of rabid fans “not getting it.”
The point of Scarface was to present the dark side of the American dream, giving us the story of an immigrant who gets to the top of the food chain in the most brutal, horrible manner possible, only to lose it all in an explosion of violence. The problem is that the film’s violent climax, while iconic, is also intoxicating in how it glorifies Montana’s death. They way Montana goes out after getting all the lead the drug cartels have to muster pumped into him is even more exhilarating than the process in which he builds his massive criminal empire, the way he goes out killing his enemies and screaming like maniac seems like the best way to go when watching this movie.
This gangster yarn seems to be something people are more keen on worshiping and emulating for the wrong reasons, in that Tony Montana is not a role model, yet he is treated as such by the movie’s fan base. I would argue that for this very reason, the movie is a failure when it comes to presenting its themes. The film sets out to present the so-called American dream gone bad, yet it presents it in the sexiest, most desirable manner possible. It’s the cinematic embodiment of the “get rich or die tryin'” mentality that I’m not so sure the filmmakers intended.
Make no mistake, Scarface is a wildly entertaining movie. I don’t think there’s another movie from the eighties that does excess like this one, yet it’s another entry in art’s grand tradition of something building a fan base for all the wrong reasons.
The Blu-ray of this film comes with an insane amount of extras, including a DVD copy the excellent Howard Hawks original (sadly not an HD transfer). It comes in a steel keep-case with art cards and 22 minutes of deleted scenes, among a slew of mini making-of docs and appreciation shorts. If you love this movie, you’ll eat this up.
Available on Blu-ray, as well as a limited edition set
Another Brian De Palma film comes to Blu-ray this week, one that’s a bit more in his wheelhouse of crazy, entitled Dressed to Kill. De Palma is at his most entertaining when he’s doing sleazy Hitchcock deconstructions, my favorites being Body Double and Blow-Out. Dressed to Kill isn’t as good as those, as the big plot twist is about as predictable as the sudden death of a heroin-addicted rock star, but it’s still a lot of fun.
De Palma loves to take the skeleton of the plot of Psycho and retool it like the toys his gadget-obsessed protagonists come up with, this film and Sisters being two prime examples. The Hitchcock infatuation doesn’t stop with those films, movies like Body Double and Obsession rework Vertigo and Rear Window into bizarre concoctions, but I digress. I like De Palma when he’s doing this, not when he’s making hateful garbage like Redacted.
Dressed to Kill stars Michael Caine as a psychiatrist named Dr. Robert Elliot, who has a mysterious, murderous transvestite for a patient who seems to cut up any pretty gals who give his male side any twinge of attraction. Angie Dickinson plays another one of Dr. Elliot’s patients, a malcontent wife unsuspecting of the danger that lurks around the corner. The film’s opening act with her on the prowl for a man in an art museum after a session with Dr. Elliot is classic De Palma, evoking suspense with his floating camera, using minimal dialogue while Pino Donaggio’s dreamlike score sets the mood. Keith Gordon plays a gadget-buff voyeur who seeks to unmask the killer using camera tricks and good timing, much like John Travolta’s obsessive sound engineer in Blow-Out. The story isn’t exactly original, given that it’s basically Psycho at heart, but it’s an entertainingly told re-tooling of familiar ideas.
If you own the DVD, the extras carry over from there, there isn’t anything new on this disc, apart from the HD transfer. The extras carried from the DVD, however, are solid, the only thing it’s missing it’s missing is a commentary track. I have one complaint about the Blu-ray cover: get that stupid “from the director of Scarface” sticker off of there. Die-hard Scarface disciples who aren’t already De Palma fanboys probably aren’t going to be thrilled by the world of transvestite killers and obsessive voyeurs.
Available on Blu-ray
Other Noteworthy Releases
X-Men – First Class: This comic-book summer blockbuster actually comes to Blu-ray and DVD on Friday, September 9th, so keep your eyes peeled for it then. For my thoughts on the film, read my review.
Hanna: Joe Wright took a break from making overcooked movies tailored for Oscars by making this straightforward action movie starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, and Cate Blanchett.
Everything Must Go: Will Farrell goes into serious indie mode in a film based on a Raymond Carver story.
United 93: In preparation for the tenth anniversary of 9/11…
Available on Blu-ray
Straw Dogs: Sam Peckinpah’s controversial thriller starring Dustin Hoffman gets a Blu-ray facelift in preparation for Rod Lurie’s upcoming remake.
Available on Blu-ray
The Hills Have Eyes: Not Alexandre Aja’s remake, which I actually prefer, but Wes Craven’s so-so original. It was like a less interesting, less intense version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Its mediocrity made it a good candidate for a remake, and I felt what they came up with a few years back improved upon the weaknesses of this film.
Available on Blu-ray
Airwolf – The Movie: I know there are some serious Airwolf fans are out there reading this, so this one’s for you.
Available on DVD
This post originally appeared over at Parcbench
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