Scarface (1983 film) to leave the antihero floating face down in a literal bloodbath." The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes offers a contemporary interpretation of the film's reception, providing an 81% approval rating from 68 critics – an average rating of 7.4/10 – with the following consensus: "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." Metacritic gives it an average score of 65/100. "Scarface" was released theatrically in North America on December 9, 1983. The film earned
Brian De Palma is noteworthy for its use of various experimental techniques to convey its narrative in ultimately unconventional ways. Footage was sped up, rapid cutting was used to distance the audience from the narrative, and it was difficult to discern with whom the audience must ultimately align. "Greetings" ultimately grossed over $1 million at the box office and cemented De Palma's position as a bankable filmmaker. After the success of his 1968 breakthrough, De Palma and his producing partner, Charles Hirsch, were given the opportunity by Sigma 3 to make an unofficial sequel of sorts, initially entitled "Son of Greetings", and subsequently