10 Movies That Changed The Genre They Were Made In
8. Scarface
The original Scarface is much more exciting than most people realize. For one, the movie was made two years after sound was introduced to movies and somehow still feels almost hyper modern. This is because it has been a near constant influence on legendary film directors like Martin Scorsese (who claims it is the reason he wanted to direct in the first place), Brian DePalma and Francis Ford Coppola.
Howard Hawks was the kind of director who jumped from genre to genre, revolutionizing the filmmaking process as he did. Scarface is one of the earliest examples of his brand of genius in action.
The film introduced unprecedented levels of violence to movies at the time. You can still see how far Hawks pushed the boundary of what could be shown in cinemas at the time by watching the movies it paved the way for. Somehow I have a hard time believing movies like Taxi Driver or The Godfather could be made if not for Scarface opening the door for explicit violence to be used as a storytelling technique instead of a cheap thrill.