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Officially Licensed Scarface Movie Merchandise
Scarface Tony with an M16 & Logo Small Incense Burner
Scarface held its premiere on December 1st, 1983 in New York City where it was initially greeted with mixed reaction. Among those in attendance were the film's two stars, Al Pacino and Steven Bauer, as well as Burt and Diane Lane, Melanie Griffith, Raquel Welch, Joan Collins; her then-boyfriend Peter Holm and Eddie Murphy among others.
According to AMC's "DVD TV: Much More Movie" airing: Cher loved it, Lucille Ball, who came with her family, hated it because of the graphic violence and language, and Dustin Hoffman was said to have fallen asleep.
Writers Kurt Vonnegut and John Irving were among those who allegedly walked out in disgust after the notorious "chainsaw" scene. At the middle of the film, Martin Scorsese turned behind to Steven Bauer and told him "You guys are great - but be prepared, because they're going to hate it in Hollywood. . . because it's about them".
Scarface, upon its first release, drew controversy regarding the violence and graphic language in the film, and received many negative reviews from movie critics. Despite this, the film grossed $65 million worldwide. Today, if that gross were adjusted for inflation, it would probably be around $180 million and has since gathered a large following.
On the 2-Disc Special Edition, the film's producer, Martin Bregman said that the film was well received by only one notable critic, Vincent Canby of The New York Times.
However, Roger Ebert rated it four stars out of four in his 1983 review and he later added it to his "great movies" list.
