Credit: Universal Pictures

The Netflix arrival arc is screaming classics this September, and the only one that demands a revisit this week is the Al Pacino crime drama Scarface.

Having hit Netflix shelves on September 1st, alongside a whole bunch of old and new Hollywood movies, Brian De Palma’s epic crime thriller, loosely based on Armitage Trail’s 1930 novel, is undoubtedly one of the eye-grabbing additions of the month.

Serving as a remake of the 1932 film directed by Howard Hawks, Scarface follows notoriously ambitious Cuban refugee Tony Montana, who arrives in Miami, Florida, with his friend Manny during the Mariel boatlift, earning their green cards by murdering a former Cuban official.

While they start working for local drug lord Frank Lopez, driven by his grit, determination, and wit, Tony soon bypasses Frank to collaborate directly with the cartel kingpin, ultimately removing Frank from the scene and giving birth to a massive, ruthless cocaine empire before his brutal downfall.

Clocking in at nearly three hours long, De Palma’s crime drama is loud, vibrant, and relentlessly iconic for more reasons than one. From Giorgio Moroder’s synth-heavy score to the pastel-soaked Miami backdrop, every aesthetic dials up the thrills, making it a visually distinct piece of 1980s cinema.

But more than anything else, it is Pacino’s performance as Tony Montana that has remained etched in every cinephile’s mind. Witnessing Tony’s evolution in Scarface, from an impoverished immigrant to a ruthless drug lord and subsequently a paranoid, isolated kingpin, is a textbook study in character-driven portrayals – a showcase completely consumed by his own ambition.

Although it isn’t unlikely for Netflix to catch subscribers off guard with such blasts from the past, revisiting Scarface on streaming has its upside, as it allows the movie to be observed away from the pop-culture noise, reminding viewers of its darker, genuinely tragic undercurrents involving the fragmentation and corruption of the American dream.

Regardless of whether you last saw it a year ago or laid eyes on the clips doing the rounds on the internet, Scarface undoubtedly remains a larger-than-life piece of cinematic history. While you may not have been lucky enough to see it on the big screen, thanks to Netflix, you can always turn to a makeshift theatre with a streaming subscription, a big TV or perhaps a projector.

So, if you’re in the mood for classics this week, thank us later for the suggestion and get to streaming Scarface already!