Extreme. A Classic That Requires A Huge Investment From The Viewer.

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2019)

This was my favorite movie for a couple of years in high school, followed by 'The Godfather' (1972) for a couple of years as I matured a little (very little). There was a time where I would have just clicked 10 stars for this film and moved on to another film to watch and review. Realistically, I have probably started this movie (and watched at least 80 minutes) over 20 times... I have probably finished it over 10 times. As an honest movie reviewer in 2019, I can admit that I used to have a hard time finishing the film that I told the world was my favorite...
The hard truth of the matter is that I really wanted 'Scarface' (1983) to be my favorite movie, but it wasn't. This isn't a perfect film. As a matter of fact, it is flawed in as many ways as it is great. The final product leaves the viewer exhausted, unhappy, and restless.
Everything about this movie is extreme. Pacino is extremely good, the content is extremely violent, the film is extremely long, and it requires an extreme amount of emotion and time from the audience. But, if you can survive the 3 hours, you will have an imprinted emotional connection with the film that will last a lifetime. Like an assault victim, you will never forget the characters and the emotional investment you made in the film.
RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria:
Acting - 1/1;
Casting - 1/1;
Directing - 1/1;
Story - 1/1;
Writing/Screenplay - 0.5/1;
Total Base Score = 4.5
Modifiers (+ or -):
Standout Performances: +1 ( Al Pacino );
Music Score/Soundtrack: -0.5 (cool mood music, but bad dated 1980's songs);
Believability/Consistency: +1;
Quotability: +1 (This movie is so quotable that you could probably put a version of the script together from just the quotes in gangsta rap lyrics, not to mention the rest of popular culture that has paid homage to this classic.);
Editing-Too Long: -1 (Off the top of my head, how about fewer music montages with bad '80's songs... and, maybe less time filmed in the nightclub... maybe one or two less murders... or, a little less cocaine use... Well, now I'm just being crazy...);
Cultural Significance: +1;
Total RealReview Rating: 7