The Movie
Al Pacino's performance as Scarfaced Tony Montana drew some criticism in its day for its over-the-top flourishes, but time and deeper appreciation have revealed it to be something of a marvel. This was a "villain" for the ages, a contemporary bad guy in a close-to-home setting, namely Florida during the height of drug trafficking. And who could deny that the '80s were a time of excess in this country?
This being a movie however, Scarface asks us to at least consider a bit of sympathy for our main character. Tony lives by his street smarts, his balls certainly but also a code of ethics, with a short list of things he just won't do, in a world where others will do absolutely anything for a buck. He rises quickly to wealth and power, but his all-too-human weaknesses are ultimately his undoing.
Oliver Stone's script builds brilliantly upon the already outstanding gangster archetype of the 1932 Scarface, while giving us shocking insight into the cocaine trade down in The Sunshine State, here tied into the influx of Cuban refugees in 1980. The characters are indelible, the relationships powerful, and the taut structure of it all turns a three-hour drug drama into a full-blown epic.
The Picture
The VC-1 remaster shows a newfound HD crispness that has been missing from DVD, rife with texture and revealing subtle bits like the logo on a bottle of perfume ("eau de calendre"). The vibrant Miami colors have the requisite pop.
The 2.35:1 image can still be soft in places however, with blacks that are conspicuously mushy, including shadows that threaten to swallow up the actors. The bitrate typically ranges from the high teens to low 20s (megabits per second), owing to the length of the film and the generosity of extras, leading to minor ringing and some noise, although grain is minimal. Some patterns are also subject to moiré, while fine details like high tension wires in the background can strain the limits of even 1080p/24 presentation.
The Sound
Giorgio Moroder's score first and foremost has been wonderfully expanded as part of the new 7.1-channel home theater mix, and the clarity of the DTS-HD Master Audio format further celebrates the be beauty of the music... in its early '80s, post-disco sort of way. Lots of sonic touches have now gone discrete and cleanly so, from a radio playing to sirens or a helicopter or myriad background noises, to the point that the soundtrack is almost a living entity. The frequent gunshots are sharp and distinctive, commanding our attention. This track has consistently improved over its home video history, a tradition that continues here.
The Extras
Like Tony's "little friend," this bad boy is fully loaded and ready to rock. One aspect of Universal's U-Control Bonus View counts the F-words uttered and the bullets fired (even from machine guns!) so we don't have to, another shows a window of pertinent interviews interspersed with clips from the 1932 Howard Hawks/Ben Hecht original movie for comparison.
New and exclusive to Blu-ray is "The Scarface Phenomenon," a three-part documentary (38-and-a-half minutes, HD) full of interviews with the filmmakers and famous fans plus lots of clips from other media, seeking to put this once underappreciated film into context. Older, DVD-originated content is ported over here, in SD, including 22-and-a-half minutes of unchaptered deleted scenes and multiple featurettes.
The Blu-ray is also BD-Live-enabled, with content/control support for the pocket BLU app for mobile devices. Disc Two is a DVD of the 1932 Scarface starring Paul Muni. A Digital Copy of the Al Pacino version is also provided as an online download via a unique printed code for either iTunes, Windows Media, VUDU or Amazon Instant Video. A packet of ten stylized art cards is also tucked inside the SteelBook case, representing the work of the winners of a national fan art contest.
Final Thoughts
Bleak, often disturbing and still resonant, the harsh tale of Tony Montana has rightly become the stuff of modern movie legend. Kudos to Universal Studios for the time and care they obviously put into this prestigious Blu-ray debut.
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