10 Movie Remakes Better Than The Original

9. Scarface

scarface tony montana
Universal Pictures

A reason 1983's Scarface is demonstrably better than the 1932 original? You probably didn't know there WAS an original.

Thankfully, though Howard Hawks' adaptation of the 1929 novel is still surprisingly recommendable thanks to great cinematography and a solid leading performance from Paul Muni, it's nothing on the enrapturing, support-cast dominating presence of Al Pacino as Tony Montana.

Relocating the setting to Miami and swapping out traditional Italian mob extortion and gun-running for the cocaine-fuelled delights of The Magic City's underbelly, the star of the show is of course, Pacino.

Playing Montana as a big dreamer with a ferocious edge, the movie's hefty runtime lets us see him go from quick-witted Cuban refugee to hard-working everyman, only to get completely lost in a twisted version of the American Dream.

By movie's end you've seen not only one of the West's quintessential tales of chasing your dreams no matter the cost, but one of the finest acting performances in Hollywood history.

[Scott Tailford]

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