- Awesome, Dear Boy: At the 35th Anniversary Reunion round table chat, Al Pacino stated that after seeing the original film, he was so enamored with Paul Muni's performance and story arc that he wanted to be him, and made it his personal mission to make this remake film a reality, so that he could indulge his fantasy.
- Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Tony Montana says "then you get the woman," not "then you get the women" as quoted in The Simpsons.
- California Doubling: Most of the film was shot in Los Angeles, California instead of Miami, as the Miami Tourist Board refused to allow the film to be shot on location due to the film's subject matter.
- Creator Backlash: Michelle Pfeiffer doesn't have fond memories of the film's production; specifically, of how she starved herself to achieve Elvira's gaunt, emaciated look, which is why she refused to voice her character in the video game adaptation. She also later turned down the role of Ginger in Casino (another drugged-out mob wife), as she had zero interest in repeating the experience. That being said, after she opened an Instagram account, Pfeiffer would share stills of herself from the film, indicating that she seems to have some love for the end result after all, if not for the production of it.
- Creator Breakdown: Oliver Stone wrote the script while struggling with cocaine addiction.
- Creator's Favorite: Al Pacino named Tony Montana as one of his personal favorite roles.
- Darkhorse Casting:
- Michelle Pfeiffer was a relatively unknown player when she was cast as Elvira Hancock, with a few appearances in television and film productions. She also starred in Grease 2, which was a flop upon release.
- Neither Steven Bauer nor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio were well-known when cast.
- Dyeing for Your Art: Michelle Pfeiffer starved herself to achieve Elvira's gaunt, emaciated appearance, which played a big role in her not associating herself with the film for a long time. Hilarious in Hindsight in the scene when Frank tells Elvira he's starving and she responds, "You should try starving."
- Executive Meddling:
- When Brian De Palma submitted the film to the MPAA, they slapped the film with the "X" rating.note His next two cuts also got the "X" rating for unclear reasons. Frustrated, De Palma refused to cut the film any further, and it took a panel of experts arguing in the film's favor for the MPAA to relent and give the third cut the "R" rating. However, De Palma had the last laugh by sneaking the first cut to theaters (see Writer Revolt).
- For the 2003 re-release, the studio wanted De Palma to replace the soundtrack with rap songs the film had inspired. De Palma refused to (he believes most, if not all, of those songs completely miss the point of the movie) and the film kept its original Giorgio Moroder soundtrack.
- Fake Nationality: Steven Bauer (real name Esteban Echevarría) and Ángel Salazar are the only actual Cubans in the cast. As for everyone else, most of the cast is at least of Latin origin:
- Al Pacino and Robert Loggia are Sicilian-American (though Pacino's character is at least half Italian-American).
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is of Italian descent.
- F. Murray Abraham is part-Syrian, part-Italian.
- Míriam Colón is Puerto Rican
- And Paul Shenar and Mark Margolis are both American Jews playing Bolivians.
- Follow the Leader: Taking inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola's transformation of Heart of Darkness into Apocalypse Now, Oliver Stone rewrote Scarface by setting it in then-present-day Miami.
- Hypothetical Casting:
- Al Pacino wanted Glenn Close to play Elvira, but the producers didn't think she was sexy enough.
- John Travolta was briefly suggested for the role of Manny.
- Edward James Olmos was considered for Chi-Chi.
- Olivia Hussey was offered the role of Gina Montana.
- Christopher Walken was considered for the role of Alejandro Sosa before Paul Shenar.
- Robert De Niro was considered for the role of Omar Suárez and the lead if Pacino became unavailable.
- Both Chita Rivera and Jean Simmons were considered for Georgina Montana.
- Apparently, the suits at MCA, Universal Pictures' parent company at the time, wanted a more recognizable star like Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, or Raquel Welch as Elvira Hancock, but Brian De Palma refused the studio's demands.
- In Memoriam: Scarface is dedicated to Ben Hecht and Howard Hawks, who both died in 1964 and 1977 respectively.
- Irony as She Is Cast: Alberto the Shadow is shown to have zero understanding of English, meaning all his dialogue is in Spanish during the film. Mark Margolis is fluent in English due to growing up in Philadelphia, and doesn't speak Spanish as a language very well.
- Life Imitates Art: The international corporation set up by Saddam Hussein to launder money from his various enterprises was called Montana Management.
- Mid-Development Genre Shift: The original script, penned by Brian De Palma and David Rabe, aimed for a straight remake of the original film. It was only when Sidney Lumet became briefly attached to direct that Universal hired Oliver Stone to rewrite the film as a contemporary piece set in Miami, keeping the basic "Rise and Fall" Gangster Arc story of the original intact.
- On-Set Injury: While filming the climax, Al Pacino burned his hand when he placed it on the gun barrel. Even though it was loaded with blanks, the injury was enough to shut down production for a week.
- Pop-Culture Urban Legends: Rumors have been circulating that there exists a more graphic alternate version of Angel's death scene. No evidence of such a scene has ever surfaced.
- Recursive Adaptation: Paul Monette wrote a novelization of Oliver Stone's screenplay, which in turn was a remake of a 1932 film that was based on a book.
- Star-Making Role: Despite what's mentioned above in Creator Backlash, this was also the movie that put Michelle Pfeiffer on the map.
- Throw It In!: During the scene where Tony and Elvira are sitting in the Cadillac at the car dealership, Al Pacino surreptitiously puts on the hat that Michelle Pfeiffer was wearing while she was looking away while combing her hair, which was not scripted. When she turns back and sees him wearing it, her amused reaction was genuine and to her credit, she stayed in character when Pacino ad-libbed the line "Would you kiss me if I wear the hat?" and she ad-libs "No. Playtime is over, OK?" then laughs again. Brian De Palma decided to keep that unscripted exchange in the movie to show Elvira's gradual warming up to Tony.
- Uncredited Role: Brian De Palma regulars Charles Durning and Dennis Franz provided uncredited voiceover dubbing of the Immigration and Naturalization Service officers who interrogate Montana in the opening scene.
- Underage Casting: Míriam Colón, who played Georgina Montana, was only four years older than Al Pacino.
- Vindicated by Cable: The movie was panned by most critics when it was first released. During its preview screening, its violence and strong language inspired walk-outs by several celebrities, including Kurt Vonnegut, himself no stranger to dark fiction. However, there were some positive reviews, like this one
by Roger Ebert. However, it found a new following when it was released on home video, and the film is now considered one of the more iconic crime films made since The Godfather. - What Could Have Been:
- The original idea was to make this film a straight remake of the original 1932 movie, but this proved to be impossible due to budget constraints. So it was given a Setting Update to 1980s Miami.
- Sidney Lumet was the first choice to direct this film but he backed out. It was Lumet's idea to make the characters Cuban and to include the 1980 Mariel harbor boat lift in the story.
- In the film, Tony buys a Porsche to impress Elvira. In the original script, he buys a red Jaguar.
- The original script was to have a proverb at the beginning of the movie before Universal's Vanity Plate that says: "Enjoy yourself, every day above ground is a good day. ANONYMOUS, MIAMI 1981."
- The opening crawl text, which was to be read by a narrator, was scripted as follows:
"In May of 1980, Fidel Castro in an effort to normalize relations with the Carter Administration opened the harbor at Mariel, Cuba with the apparent intention of letting some of his people join their relatives in the United States. Within seventy-two hours, 3,000 U.S. boats were headed for Cuba. In the next few weeks, it became evident that Castro was forcing the boat owners to carry back with them not only their relatives but the dregs of his jail population. By the time the port was closed 125,000 'Marielitos' had landed in Florida. An estimated 25,000 had criminal records. This is the story of that minority those they call 'Los Bandidos'."- In the finished film, the opening crawl text appears on screen, without the use of a narrator:
In May 1980, Fidel Castro opened the harbor at Mariel, Cuba with the apparent intention of letting some of his people join their relatives in the United States. Within seventy-two hours, 3,000 U.S. boats were headed for Cuba. It soon became evident that Castro was forcing the boat owners to carry back with them not only their relatives, but the dregs of his jails. Of the 125,000 refugees that landed in Florida an estimated 25,000 had criminal records.- Karen Allen, Rosanna Arquette, Kim Cattrall, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bo Derek, Susan Dey, Lesley Anne Down, Carrie Fisher, Melanie Griffith, Isabelle Huppert, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, France Joli, Jessica Lange, Jennifer O'Neill, Victoria Principal, Kathleen Quinlan, Theresa Russell, Rene Russo, Jane Seymour, Cybill Shepherd, Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep, Meg Tilly, Debra Winger, and Sean Young were all considered or screen-tested for the role of Elvira Hancock before Michelle Pfeiffer got the part.
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio initially auditioned for the role of Elvira but ultimately felt that Gina was a better fit for her.
- Writer Revolt: After being forced to cut the film to placate the MPAA, De Palma decided to sneak the first cut to theaters anyway, believing that the cuts were minor enough that the executives would not notice. He was right; his deception was only found out when he admitted to it on the home video release.
- Write Who You Know: Oliver Stone, Al Pacino, and Brian De Palma stayed at the Mutiny Hotel in Miami. This hotel was infamous for being a hotspot for drug cartels. The purpose of their visit was to explore the Miami drug scene, which involved interviewing several FBI agents and drug dealers. Stone conducted extensive research into the cocaine trade in South Florida, the Caribbean, and South America. Interestingly, there is also a book titled Hotel Scarface by Roben Farzad, which tells the story of the Miami drug scene of the 1970s and 1980s that inspired the movie.
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