Suspecting that Omar set them up, Tony and Manny insist on personally delivering the recovered drugs and money to Frank.ĭuring their meeting, Tony is attracted to Frank's trophy wife, Elvira. The deal goes badly, however, when Tony and Angel get captured Tony is forced to watch as Angel gets killed when the dealers dismember him with a chainsaw, shortly before Manny and Chi Chi manage to rescue Tony and they kill the Colombians. They become dishwashers at an eatery, but a dissatisfied Tony proclaims that he is meant for bigger things.įrank's right-hand man, Omar Suarez, sends the four to purchase cocaine from Colombian dealers. The four are released and given green cards in exchange for murdering a former Cuban general at the request of Miami drug lord Frank Lopez. In 1980, Cuban refugee and ex-convict Tony Montana arrives in Miami, Florida, as part of the Mariel boatlift, where he is sent to a refugee camp with his best friend Manny Ray and their companions Angel and Chi Chi. The film has come to be regarded as a cult classic. Screenwriters and directors such as Martin Scorsese have praised the film, and it has been referenced extensively in pop culture, especially in hip hop music, as well as comic books, television programs, and video games.
In the years that followed, critics have reappraised it, and it is now considered one of the greatest gangster films ever made. Some Cuban expatriates in Miami objected to the film's portrayal of Cubans as criminals and drug traffickers. Initial critical reception was negative due to its excessive violence, profanity, and graphic drug usage. The film grossed $45 million at the domestic box office and $66 million worldwide. Scarface premiered in New York City on December 1, 1983, and was released on December 9, 1983, by Universal Pictures. The film's soundtrack was composed by Giorgio Moroder. Filming took place from November 1982 to May 1983, in Los Angeles and Miami. Sidney Lumet was initially hired to direct the film but was replaced by De Palma, who hired Stone to write the script. Pacino became interested in a remake of the 1932 version after seeing it, and he and producer Martin Bregman began to develop it. De Palma dedicated this version of Scarface to the writers of the original film, Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht. The film co-stars Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Robert Loggia. A remake of the 1932 film of the same name, it tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana ( Al Pacino), who arrives penniless in 1980s Miami and goes on to become a powerful drug lord. Scarface is a 1983 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone.