In the 1980s, a determined criminal-minded Cuban immigrant becomes the biggest drug smuggler in Miami, and is eventually undone by his own drug addiction.
Tony Montana manages to leave Cuba during the Mariel exodus of 1980. He finds himself in a Florida refugee camp but his friend Manny has a way out for them: undertake a contract killing and arrangements will be made to get a green card. He's soon working for drug dealer Frank Lopez and shows his mettle when a deal with Colombian drug dealers goes bad. He also brings a new level of violence to Miami. Tony is protective of his younger sister but his mother knows what he does for a living and disowns him. Tony is impatient and wants it all however, including Frank's empire and his mistress Elvira Hancock. Once at the top however, Tony's outrageous actions make him a target and everything comes crumbling down.—garykmcd
Starving for a hearty slice of the exciting American Dream, the Cuban refugee and ex-convict, Tony "Scarface" Montana, winds up in the sun-drenched boulevards of President Jimmy Carter's Miami, after Fidel Castro's massive expulsion of Marielitos. There, a blood-soaked drug deal will pave the way for Tony's meteoric rise in the city's violent but lucrative cocaine scene, rapidly transforming him from a voracious dreamer into an all-powerful mega-drug lord. Now, anyone who dares to stand in the way of the cocaine king gets a lethal response from his blood-thirsty Colt AR-15. Will Tony's cocaine-fuelled paranoia mark the beginning of his downfall?—Nick Riganas
After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana (Pacino) stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fuelled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.
When Fidel Castro opens the harbor at Mariel, Cuba, he sends 125,000 Cuban refugees to reunite with their relatives in the United States. Among all the refugees, there is one who wants it all, his name is Tony Montana. Tony and his friend Manny arrive in the United States and start in small time jobs. Soon, they are hired by Omar Suarez to pay money to a group of Colombians. When the deal goes wrong, Tony and Manny leave with the money and succeed in their job. Soon Tony meets with drug kingpin Frank Lopez and falls for his boss's girl, Elvira. Pretty soon Tony will know that those who want it all, do not last forever; that is the price of power.—Emphinix
In May 1980, Cuban refugee and ex-convict Tony Montana (Al Pacino) arrives in Miami, Florida, as part of the Mariel boat-lift, where he is sent to a refugee camp with friends Manny Ray (Steven Bauer), Angel (Pepe Serna) and Chi Chi (Angel Salazar). The four are released and given green cards in exchange for murdering a former Cuban general at the request of Miami drug lord Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia). They become dishwashers at an eatery, but a disgusted Tony proclaims that he is meant for bigger things.
Frank's right-hand man, Omar (F. Murray Abraham), sends the four to purchase cocaine from Colombian dealers (Tony tries to demand more money from Omar for a marijuana pick-up so Omar is angry and sends him to the Columbian deal where things are known to go bad in the past), but the deal goes bad. Angel is dismembered with a chainsaw, while Manny and Chi Chi rescue Tony and kill the Colombians.
Suspecting that Omar set them up, Tony and Manny insist on personally delivering the recovered drugs and money to Frank. During their meeting, Tony is attracted to Frank's trophy wife, Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer). Frank hires Tony and Manny. Tony reunites with his mother and younger sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), of whom he is overprotective. Disgusted by his life of crime, his mother throws him out of the house. Manny is attracted to Gina, but Tony tells him to stay away from her.
Frank sends Tony and Omar to Cochabamba, Bolivia to meet with cocaine kingpin Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar). Tony negotiates a deal to lift 150 Kgs a month without Frank's approval, angering Omar. He also negotiates that Sosa will deliver the product till Panama and from there Tony will pick up and take it into the USA. Sosa claims that Omar is a police informant, and that Frank has poor judgment; Tony witnesses a beaten Omar hanged from a helicopter. Tony vouches for Frank's organization, and Sosa, taking a liking to Tony, agrees to the deal, but not before warning Tony never to betray him.
Back in Miami, Frank is infuriated by Omar's demise and the unauthorized deal struck by Tony, while Tony starts his own independent cocaine operation (Frank had ordered Tony to stall the deal with Sosa, but Tony disregarded it and went out on his own). At a nightclub, Bernstein (Harris Yulin), a crooked cop on Frank's payroll, attempts to extort money from Tony in return for police protection. In the club, Tony spots Gina fraternizing with her boyfriend and beats them both. Hitmen then attempt to assassinate Tony as he sits in the club, but he escapes. Tony, certain that Bernstein and the hit-men were sent by Frank, confronts him. At gunpoint, Frank confesses to the attempted hit and begs for his life, but he and Bernstein are killed by Manny and Tony, respectively. Tony marries Elvira and becomes the distributor of Sosa's product. He builds a multi-million-dollar empire, living in a vast, heavily guarded estate. Meanwhile Gina starts dating Manny and has dreams of marrying him.
By 1983, a sting by federal agents results in Tony being charged with tax evasion, with an inevitable prison sentence. Sosa offers to use his government connections to keep Tony out of prison, but only if Tony assassinates a journalist intending to expose Sosa's drug operations. During a public dinner, Tony accuses Manny of causing his arrest and Elvira of being an infertile junkie, causing Elvira to leave him.
Tony travels to New York City to carry out the assassination with Sosa's henchman, Shadow (Mark Margolis), who plants a radio-controlled bomb under the journalist's car. However, the journalist is unexpectedly accompanied by his wife and children.
This revelation causes Tony to call off the hit, but as Shadow continues, Tony kills him before he can detonate the bomb. Tony returns to Miami, where an enraged Sosa calls Tony to promise retribution after the journalist exposes his drug operations. Tony, at his mother's behest, tracks down Gina and finds her with Manny; in a fit of rage, Tony shoots Manny dead, after which Gina tearfully tells Tony that they were married the day before. A distraught Tony returns to his estate with Gina and begins a massive cocaine binge in his office.
While dozens of Sosa's men begin their infiltration of the estate, Gina accuses Tony of wanting her for himself while shooting at him, but she is slain by one of Sosa's men, who is in turn killed by Tony. All of Tony's men are killed. With assassins outside his office, Tony turns a grenade launcher-equipped rifle on them, mowing down many. Tony is repeatedly shot by the remaining attackers but continues to taunt them until he is fatally shot from behind by The Skull. Tony's corpse falls into a fountain below, in front of a statue with the inscription "The World is Yours".
