Growing up in the ’80s, Scarface was always one of those films I watched when I was younger because of the violence and Al Pacino‘s over-the-top, yet mesmerizing, portrayal of the title character and my enjoyment of it continues to this day. I notice a bit more than I did then, but the point of emphasis remains.
Of course, those were the days of VHS and I remember back in 2003 when Universal finally reissued Scarface on DVD for its 20th anniversary as eBay had been swarmed with bootlegged copies for years selling anywhere from $50-100. I know because I almost bought a copy on several occasions.
Eight years later and not only do fans of this ’80s gangster classic no longer have to spend upwards of $100 on a cheap DVD bootleg, but you can spend $35 on a pristine high-definition Blu-ray edition that also includes the DVD edition of the 1932, Howard Hawks version starring Paul Muni as the titular character, both of which are based on Armitage Trail’s 1929 novel.
The first, and obvious, question is whether or not Universal has truly delivered an upgrade or if they’ve manipulated the picture with digital enhancements and noise reduction? In my opinion, it’s beautiful and sounds as good as it looks with an excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track. Giorgio Moroder‘s score benefits and bullets buzz past your ears at a blistering pace. The colors pop off the screen, but not in a way they look as if they’ve been boosted or blown out. Detail remains and even a certain level of grain persists. The improvement is certainly expected considering we’re talking about a nearly three hour movie that was previously crammed onto a standard definition DVD, but now has some room to breathe.
The features are more or less the same as previous editions with only a few new inclusions. First is a new three-part, 38 minute documentary called “The Scarface Phenomenon” featuring comments from director Brian De Palma, stars Angel Salazar, Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia, Richard Belzer and a host of others including Antoine Fuqua (director of Training Day), Eli Roth (writer/director of Hostel), “Gomorrah” author Roberto Saviano, “Cypress Hill” rapper Sen Dog and the questionable inclusion of Jillian Barberie, who apparently was asked because she voiced the Scarface video game. Talk about a stretch.
The comments from the new documentary along with archival interviews and even comparative scenes from the ’32 original are all part of Universal’s U-Control in-film picture-in-picture feature. A second U-Control feature is a “Scarface Scoreboard” counting how many times the word “fuck” is said and how many bullets are fired. I don’t want to spoil the final count (especially since it’s different from the total Wikipedia lists), but I will say the bullet count is rather modest until the film’s big finale in which apparently 7,230 shots are fired. Watching the counter as the scene plays out it seems a bit random, but perhaps Universal actually had someone count the individual shots.
The two-disc set comes in a steelbook package that includes a code for a digital copy (expireds 9/30/2012) and ten collectible art cards, which do nothing more than get in the way unless you actually like those things.
Overall, I’d say this is a Blu-ray worth owning if you’re an avid fan of this flick and that it’s worth the upgrade. I would probably wait until the price drops below $30, but for those of you with money to waste, maybe the $700 Limited Edition Humidor version is more your speed. I’d suggest passing on that one, but hey, do with your money what you will.
