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Scarface is a 1983 film
directed by Brian De
Palma, written by Oliver
Stone and starring Al Pacino
as Antonio "Tony" Montana.
A remake of the 1932 Howard
Hawks gangster film, it tells the story of a fictional Cuban refugee who comes to Florida in 1980 as a result of the Mariel Boatlift.
Tony becomes a gangster against
the backdrop of the 1980s cocaine
boom. The film chronicles his rise to the top of Miami's criminal underworld and subsequent downfall. The
film is loosely based on the 1932 fictionalized Al Capone biopic, Scarface.
Although initially released to little fanfare, and the target of harsh
reviews, Scarface has more recently re-emerged as a celebrated film and
fixture in pop culture, particularly within the world of hip-hop. It developed a phenomenal cult following.
The film is dedicated to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, who were the writers of the original Scarface. This movie is loosely
based on the Mariel
Boatlift where thousands of Cuban refugees entered the United States after
years of communist persecution; it is, however, rumored, that Fidel Castro released many of
the Mariel Boatlift refugees from mental institutions and prisons.
Scarface has been frequently referred to in other movies and on
television. Memorable lines are quoted in Jane Austen's Mafia!, The Simpsons, SportsCenter, and South Park, among others.
Tony Montana's style of dress (along with that of Don Johnson's Sonny Crockett character on Miami Vice) became synonymous
with the cool aspects of 1980s pop culture.
The "Say hello to my little friend" line is also repeated in numerous video
games such as Warcraft II: Tides of
Darkness, Freedom Fighters, Splinter
Cell:Chaos Theory, Dead Rising ,Hitman: Codename 47 & Psi-Ops: The Mindgate
Conspiracy.
Ding Hai, the main character in the TVB
television series The Greed of Man, is suggested to be influenced by
Tony Montana's persona.
The film New Jack
City did feature a few scenes from Scarface although the Nino
Brown character was modeled after Tony Montana.
The film Little
Nicky included the say hello to my little friend scene where in
that case Adrian (possessing the of the Police commissioner) superimposed his
brother Nicky's head onto Tony Montana's as a means of getting him out of the
way.
The video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
(for PS2, PC and Xbox) borrows many in-game elements from Scarface, such
as certain story elements, characters, and locations. For example, it is
possible to find an apartment that looks similar to the apartment in which Tony
is double-crossed and attacked with a chainsaw. Almost certainly a reference to
Scarface, the player acquires the chainsaw weapon in this apartment.
Ricardo Diaz, a crime boss in the game, is always wearing a red Hawaian shirt
identical to the one Montana wears in a portion of the movie. One of the game's
mansions is modeled heavily after Montana's mansion where the infamous shoot out
at the end of the movie takes place. Also, in the game, the player can visit a
club, and the main dance floor has the same light patterns and basic set up as
The Babylon Club in the movie. The earlier title in the series, Grand Theft
Auto III, included the music from the film for its 'Flashback FM' radio
station.
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