Scarface - 1932

GRADE A

Discourse regarding remakes: When is it okay to remake a film? Never would be a great answer, but at the same time, there’s no one today that can say they appreciated both Scarfaces when they came out. Let’s say you were 17, for the 1st one, that would make you 67 for the 2nd. Sure, that’s still young enough to enjoy it, but at that age, it’s very difficult to stay in touch with the “hip” aspect of society to get really get into the flow of a film. That being said, the remake of “Scarface” really doesn’t add much. That’s the times for you. The relationship between Tony and his sister is carried on much further unnecessarily, and the new one is much more violent. Violence doesn’t really add to the plot. The only thing the new one has to offer is a great performance by Al Pacino. Sure, it may be a bit over the top, but we all love saying, “Say hello to my little friend.” Paul Muni was just as good, if not better though. I don’t know what happened to this guy, and I’ll be damned if I ever learn, but in 1932, he played a great villain, and though, I don’t know where “Scarface” would end up on my favorite movies ever, for now, he's really really good.

Back to the discourse about remakes though. I’m saying 50 years is the perfect amount of time. Life changes about every decade, where you can see drastic differences between who you are now, and who you were then. No one wants to see a classic movie remade in their lifetime. Right now, the worst example we have of this is probably “The Bad News Bears.” A classic, that I’ll dissect later, that they did a few years ago for some unknown reason. “King Kong” may be the perfect example of this, as the original came out in 1933, and it was remade in the late 70s, before the 50 year warranty had expired. That version is useless now that Peter Jackson made what I consider a fantastic remake of the movie, which could only have been good once CGI started. “King Kong” is a movie that absolutely needs special effects and CGI wasn’t around in the 70s, so why? Jeff Bridges is in it though, that’s pretty cool.