Revolution (1985) - Tom Dobb

Revolution (1985) is an American historical film which was produced by Irwin Winkler and Goldcrest film (a British studio), directed by Hugh Hudson, and written by Robert Dillon. The film distributed by Warner Bros Pictures.

Al Pacino perform New York fur trapper Tom Dobb who has lost his entire family except one young son, Ned Dobb. Tom becomes a participant in the American Revolutionary War in attempts to find and protect Ned, after he is drafted into the Army by Sergeant Major Peasy. His unwilling participation in war in order to protect his son eventually force him to take a stand and fight for the freedom of the Colonies.

Revolution starring Al Pacino as Tom Dobb, Donald Sutherland as Sergeant Major Peasy, Nastassja Kinski as Daisy McConnahay, Dexter Fletcher as Tom Dobb's son Ned Dobb, and Steven Berkoff as Sgt. Jones.

Revolution was another Al Pacino's movie flop after Bobby Deerfield (1977). The film costing $28 million, to make only $346,761 domestic gross revenue. Even worst, the film brought down Pacino's career to four years hiatus, until he finally got his next job in Sea of Love (1989).

However, if you love American history as well as movies dedicated to the subject (specifically, the Revolutionary War segment), Revolution is worth watching. In 2009 the film released in DVD, called Revolution Revisited, with additional narration by Al Pacino, and a conversation with Al Pacino and director Hugh Hudson discussing any issues relating to making and releasing the film.

Revolution Revisited DVD:



Cast:

Al Pacino ... Tom Dobb
Donald Sutherland ... Sgt. Maj. Peasy
Nastassja Kinski ... Daisy McConnahay
Steven Berkoff ... Sgt. Jones
Dave King ... Mr. McConnahay
Joan Plowright ... Mrs. McConnahay
Annie Lennox ... Liberty Woman
Dexter Fletcher ... Ned Dobb
Richard O'Brien ... Lord Hampton

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Cruising (1980) - Steve Burns

Cruising is a thriller/horror film about New York City serial killer targeting gay men in the 1970s. The film directed by William Friedkin, based on New York Times reporter Gerald Walker's novel of the same name. The story based on the real series of murders of homosexual men that took place between 1962 and 1979 in New York City.

Cruising portray a series of gruesome killings, who the killer specifically targeting, slays, and dismembers several gay men through B&D (Bondage and Dominance) and S&M (Sadism and Masochism) scene, and dispose their body parts in Hudson River.

Steve Burns (Al Pacino), an NYPD officer, is recruited by Captain Edelson of the NYPD Homicide Unit to go undercover in search of the killer by mascarade as gay, because his body profile is fit the victims' profiles. He was sent to gay S&M leather bars in the Meatpacking District of the West Village.

The MPAA originally gave Cruising an X rating, and finally re-rated to R after 40 minutes deletion of footage from the original cut. The deleted footage consisted of graphic homosexuality that had no effect on the story or the characterizations.

Actual gay bars for men were used in the film that existed in New York City in an effort to make the scenes as real as possible. Movie extras were actual gay patrons of the bar recruited for the scenes a few days before filming began. They were instructed to act as they would normally act, but to tone down sexually-oriented activities. However, some obscured homosexual scenes remains visible in the film as released.

During filming, members of New York's gay community protested the production of Cruising, and one thousand protesters marched through the East Village demanding the city withdraw support for the film. But since the 1990s Cruising has generated some positive criticism and has been a cult movie among some gay audiences fans. Raymond Murray, editor of gay and lesbian films Images in The Dark writes that "the film is now part of queer history and a testament to how a frightened Hollywood treated a disenfranchised minority."

Along with Pacino, Cruising stars Paul Sorvino as Capt. Edelson, Karen Allen as Nancy, and Joe Spinell (Willi Cicci in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II) as patrolman DiSimone.


Cast:

Al Pacino ... Steve Burns
Paul Sorvino ... Capt. Edelson
Karen Allen ... Nancy
Richard Cox ... Stuart Richards
Joe Spinell ... Patrolman DiSimone
Don Scardino ... Ted Bailey
Jay Acovone ... Skip Lee
Barton Heyman ... Dr. Rifkin

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Author! Author! (1982) - Ivan Travalian

In Author! Author! Al Pacino plays Ivan Travalian, an Armenian-American Broadway playwright in his struggles to write an original play entitled, English with Tears. Throughout his struggle, Travalian facing any stressful troubles: his wife leaving him, deals with a hopeless second act, and must take care of four children of his wife from her 3 different marriages.

Author! Author! directed by Arthur Hiller, and written by Israel Horovitz. This film was Horovitz's second work with Pacino after their first worked in the mid-1960s, The Indian Wants the Bronx. Alongside Pacino, the film stars Dyan Cannon, Tuesday Weld, and Alan King.

Author! Author!, however, was unsuccessful both commercially and artistically. The film's gross revenue was only $10,576,604 in USA, while received negative reviews from critics. Jack Kroll from Newsweek, for example, wrote that "there's nothing sadder than a movie that tries to be adorable and isn't. Author! Author! tries so hard that the screen seems to sweat".

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Sea of Love (1989) - Detective Frank Keller

Sea of Love is a thriller about New York detective Frank Keller investigating a case of a serial killer who finds the victims through the lonely hearts column in newspapers. The first case was a man in Manhattan who shot dead in his bed while listening to a recording of the song "Sea of Love".

Keller's clues are a perfect set of fingerprints, a lipstick-smeared cigarette, and a single column ad the dead man placed in a newspaper. The second victim was a man dies in the same manner in Queens. He also had put rhyming ads in the paper. The third victims, Raymond Brown, also turns up dead in the same manner as the other two murder victims. So Keller has an idea to place a rhyming ad in the newspaper, take any women who respond to a restaurant, take the prints from their drinking glasses, in hope to catch the killer.

Sea of Love is directed by Harold Becker and stars Al Pacino as detective Frank Keller, Ellen Barkin as Helen Cruger, a suspected murderer who later Cruger begin a serious relationship with Keller, and John Goodman as Detective Sherman Touhey. The screenplay for the film was written by Richard Price. He originally wrote the screenplay for Dustin Hoffman, but Hoffman wanted too many rewrites so Al Pacino took over the role.

Sea of Love is Pacino's first movie in 4 years after the big flop Revolution (1985). It also credited as movie that redeem Pacino's career after failures that occupied much of his 1980s movies.


Cast:

Al Pacino ... Det. Frank Keller
Ellen Barkin ... Helen Cruger
John Goodman ... Det. Sherman
Michael Rooker ... Terry
Richard Jenkins ... Gruber
William Hickey ... Frank Keller Sr.
Paul Calderon ... Serafino

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Scarface (1983) - Antonio "Tony" Montana

A film that give Pacino one of his iconic characters as Tony Montana, Cuban immigrant who became notorious drug lord, Scarface directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone. Alongside with Al Pacino, the film starring Steven Bauer as Manolo "Manny" Ribera, Michelle Pfeiffer as Elvira Hancock, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Tony's sister, Gina Montana.

Brian De Palma's 1983 Scarface is based on Howard Hawks' 1932 film of the same name (but took place in Chicago). The film chronicles Tony Montana's rise from a poor Cuban refugee who comes to Florida to the top of Miami's narcotics underworld and his subsequent downfall, killed by a shotgun blast from behind by "The Skull", Alejandro Sosa's gunmen.

Pacino's appearance as Tony Montana in Scarface has become a cultural icon, inspiring many posters, merchandise, and clothing. Even Al Pacino himself reportedly stated that Tony Montana was one of his favorites of all the characters he's played. Scarface theatrical release poster is a popular decoration and is still in production. Scarface also has been an influence on hip-hop culture and rap music since the late 1980s. Many rappers claim Scarface is their favorite film. Rapper Brad Jordan even took the name of this film as his stage name.

The movie was originally given an X rating three times by MPAA for its extreme violence, excessive strong language and hard drug usage depiction. The 20 members of the ratings board finally give the third cut an "R" (Restricted) rating after Brian De Palma pulled in a panel of experts, who stated that Scarface was an accurate portrayal of the real-life drug underworld and should be widely seen.

The film gaining mixed reaction among critics and general audience. Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #8 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films". Roger Ebert rated Scarface four stars out of four for what he decribe in his review "one of the fascinations of the movie is that we aren't watching crime-movie clichés, we're watching people who are criminals". In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its polling over 1,500 people from the creative community, rated Scarface as the tenth best in the gangster film genre.

Tony Montana's famous line "Say hello to my lil' friend!" took 61st place on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list.

Cast:

Al Pacino ... Tony Montana
Steven Bauer ... Manny Ribera
Michelle Pfeiffer ... Elvira Hancock
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio ... Gina Montana
Harris Yulin ... Mel Bernstein
F. Murray Abraham ... Omar Suarez
Robert Loggia ... Frank Lopez
Paul Shenar ... Alejandro Sosa
Miriam Colon ... Mama Montana
Al Israel ... Hector The Toad
Ángel Salazar ... Chi Chi
Arnaldo Santana ... Ernie
Dennis Holahan ... Jerry The Banker

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