Timeless piece of pure entertainment

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2014)

I love everything about this movie: the machismo, the bad accents, the music, the characters (even the periphery ones like Nick the Pig or Hector) the clothes, the cars, the dialogue, the setting, the eye candy, the 80s, the decadence, the hot tub, the (underappreciated) cinematography, the violence, F. Murray Abraham, the beach, the montage
After a decade of developing his own directorial vision, in the image of Hitchcock, De Palma is at the top of his game with perfect style, pacing and cinematography. Several scenes demonstrate this. First, the very opening shot after the credits. The camera focuses only on Tony seated in the center of a room being interrogated. It circles around the room in a long take, no other face is seen. From this, we are immediately engaged by Tony, his demeanor, his accent, the scar that he bears on his face. He's a bad mofo, hot-tempered, but he's determined and he damn well knows what he's doing. Then there's the buildup to the infamous chainsaw scene. A disguised single shot, absorbing the tension in the soon-to-be doomed drug deal with the Colombians in a hotel room, and then panning outside the hotel through a bathroom window, all the way across Ocean Drive and into Manny's convertible as he clumsily attempts to pick up a blonde bombshell in a bikini, then back up into the hotel bathroom through the window as the brutality begins. Next worth mentioning is the first uninterrupted shot inside the Babylon Club. Hovering over the dance floor for a moment, then following some VIPs as they roll in, and then to Frank's table. The music, the lights, the colors, the people dancing, it feels so natural. There are so many other great shots. When Tony first sees Elvira at Frank's, when he sees Gina getting pulled into the bathroom, the beach and beachside bar in paradise, the approach to Sosa's place in Bolivia. And of course the final take after the shootout at Montana's mansion, reviewing the carnage and futility of Tony's existence. All brilliantly filmed. The over- the-top synthesizer score, hits just the right tone every time, whether tense or somber.
The characters, not just Tony and Manny, even those like Alejandro Sosa and Omar Suarez are so vividly illustrated by the script and the close-up shots, memorably performed by Paul Shenar and Abraham. And can't forget Robert Loggia as the Jewish Cuban Frank Lopez or Harris Yulin as Bernstein, the unscrupulous loathsome cop who arrogantly assumes he belongs in the inner-circle of Miami's top drug lords. Finally Mark Margolis as the genuinely creepy and cold-blooded assassin, Alberto. Each adds richness to the movie and their performances compliment, even add merit, to Pacino's hyperbolic portrayal as Tony.
I get that this is not for everyone. Some will be turned off by the violence. Others will just laugh at the music and accents. But for real movie lovers, I can't see how this is anything but a supremely enjoyable film, no matter how many times it's been viewed.