1983 Classic, Originally a Flop, Named Among the Most Influential Movies Ever - How It Became a Cult Favorite
It's hard to understand now, but Al Pacino's classic movie Scarface was a flop when it first came out in 1983. However, the movie would go on to become a cult favorite, and how that happened is interesting.
The movie, starring Al Pacino "as a Cuban drug trafficker in South Florida," was considered a "flop" at first, Mob Museum confirmed. Pacino himself has offered theories about why that was. "The whole film was a blatant indictment of the 1980s, and it went against the status quo - the ‘Just Say No' campaign of Nancy Reagan and the establishment of the time," he wrote in a memoir, according to Mob Museum. "It certainly didn't fit into the Hollywood mold either."
Pacino declared that the film was a "flop - not commercially, but critically. Artistically. Spiritually." However, over the years, that turned around. Today, the movie ranks among the top gangster films of all time. It was a Miami remake of a 1932 Howard Hawks movie that was set in Chicago.
The Hip-Hop Generation & Rappers Helped Turn the Movie Into a Cult Phenomenon
What turned the movie into a cult hit? Hip-hop and rappers. Pacino himself said he believed the movie became a later hit because of "the hip-hop generation," who "related to the mythology of Tony Montana and gave it credibility," reported Mob Museum.
"Rap artists and their fans embraced the movie," Pacino wrote. "They recognized the film as a parable, a story about how you view the world when you're taught that life is cheap and dispensable."
According to the legendary film reviewer Roger Ebert's website, Pacino's performance as Tony Montana has not achieved universal praise. Pacino's Montana "is aggressive, over the top, teeth-gnashing, arm-waving, cocaine-snorting, scenery chewing - and brilliant, some say, while others find it unforgivably flamboyant," Ebert wrote.
However, the character planted the seeds for others. Montana "is one of the seminal characters in modern American movies, a character who has inspired countless others," according to Ebert.
'Scarface' Is Considered an Influential Movie That 'Reached Every Corner of Culture'
The movie's influences stretched beyond film.
Snobhop goes even farther, writing, "Whether you've seen it or not, and whether you like it or not, Scarface has a cultural impact that is only rivaled by the likes ofStar Wars. The quotes, the style, and even the aesthetic of the promo items have reached every corner of culture, from fashion to art and, of course, Hip-hop."
According to The Independent, "Scarface stands as one of the most influential films of its era. TV dramas from Miami Vice to Narcos owe it an obvious debt – as do countless other drug-fueled gangster movies." Gamers embraced the movie as well as rappers, enshrining its status as a cult favorite, The Independent reported.
"Since I am not a big fan of hip-hop, I knew nothing about it until people basically told me about it," director Brian De Palma said in 2015, according to The Independent.
The movie has a 93 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but only 77% from critics. "Director Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino take it to the limit in this stylized, ultra-violent and eminently quotable gangster epic that walks a thin white line between moral drama and celebratory excess," the critics' consensus reads.
But fans love it. "An American masterpiece," wrote one. "'ve seen Scarface at least 50 times and it never gets old. Even the first time I watched it I was blown away. The biggest thing for me is the soundtrack," another fan wrote. "The greatest gangster movie of all time," declared another.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 8:08 PM.