Explain how Scarface (1983) is good?

[dcampbell007]

.

[MWFV8]

Because you didn't have anything to do with it.

[Dragonforce]

Is there something wrong with you man?

[zykotec]

Watched the first 20 minutes, thought it was way to violent and old, stopped. Will try again later without the girlfriend ANd how many mafia-style movies can a man watch. before he learns how to enjoy popcorn action. Hated teh Godfater triology too

[Peter Barton]

The first 20 minutes is by far the most violent part of that movie. I remember the first time I watched it as well - the whole drug deal gone wrong scene was waaaay too much detail, and much more than I was expecting. If the film had continued like that, I most probably would not have watched it through (and I seem to recall taking a pause at that scene the first time around as well!). But I don't recall there being anything else later in the film that came even close to that scene.

As for whether or not the film is "good", that's up to the viewer. It's in the IMDB top 250, so certainly a lot of people out there like it. I would agree with the voters on this one. I wouldn't agree with everything else in the list though, and there would be plenty who don't like Scarface either. But I don't think it's possible to explain to someone why you think a movie is good if they don't see it. Not everyone likes the same stuff. From memory Godfather 1 & 2 are up near the top of the 250 list - I've never managed to sit through either of them. Tried watching them on TV once, way too long and boring, and I lost interest. Possibly I need to watch the "regular" versions, as I think some massively extended director's cuts were being aired in those showings, which probably didn't help. Kind of like most extended versions - they're great if you already like the movie, but can you imagine sitting through the extended cut of "Aliens" if you'd never seen it before? It would be like more than an hour before you actually hit any of the action. Like Avatar!

[Bad cop]

I liked the film but I thought it was very overrated. I think Brian De Palma's best work is in "Body Double" and "Blow Out".

[zykotec]

The first 20 minutes is by far the most violent part of that movie. I remember the first time I watched it as well - the whole drug deal gone wrong scene was waaaay too much detail, and much more than I was expecting. If the film had continued like that, I most probably would not have watched it through (and I seem to recall taking a pause at that scene the first time around as well!). But I don't recall there being anything else later in the film that came even close to that scene.

As for whether or not the film is "good", that's up to the viewer. It's in the IMDB top 250, so certainly a lot of people out there like it. I would agree with the voters on this one. I wouldn't agree with everything else in the list though, and there would be plenty who don't like Scarface either. But I don't think it's possible to explain to someone why you think a movie is good if they don't see it. Not everyone likes the same stuff. From memory Godfather 1 & 2 are up near the top of the 250 list - I've never managed to sit through either of them. Tried watching them on TV once, way too long and boring, and I lost interest. Possibly I need to watch the "regular" versions, as I think some massively extended director's cuts were being aired in those showings, which probably didn't help. Kind of like most extended versions - they're great if you already like the movie, but can you imagine sitting through the extended cut of "Aliens" if you'd never seen it before? It would be like more than an hour before you actually hit any of the action. Like Avatar!

As I said, I will try again some time And I have almost made the same mistake two other times, Dark Knight and District 9, in both films , after around half an hour I said to my GF, 'this ain't going nowhere, not sure I can watch the rest' and then , after 5 minutes more, I sit there screaming at the screen , rooting for the heroes, completely indulged emotionally in the action and drama Titanic took two tries to understand, and even if I though it was just a romantic drama ( i was a teenager when it came) the first time, when i watched it again as an adult, I suddenly understood it, it's all about two men and their ship, one owner and one designer, who really wants to show what their ship can do, and then fail miserably, killing 1500 people. It's more heartbreaking than whatever Leo goes through in the movie.At elast he didn't have 1500 people's lives on his conscience....

[Peter Barton]

I loved District 9, one of my favourite films of last year. Definitely not a chick movie though. For the first half hour there were complaints about the whole documentary style, and the shaky camera stuff. When they broke out the alien weapons and started disintegrating people, she left...!