Scarface – “Push It To The Limit”
Say hello to my little friend!
What better way to advance the plot of this sloppy gangster film than with a sloppy montage? In only three minutes and twenty-eight seconds, we see Tony Montana consolidating his power, marrying the pfeisty Michelle Pfieffer, and- for unknown reasons- purchasing a used tiger. The background track is pulsing power-rock, complete with snarling filth-guitar and every cliché ever set to music: “Walk along the razor’s edge… past the point of no return… throttle wide open like a bat out of hell!”
What better way to advance the plot of this sloppy gangster film than with a sloppy montage? In only three minutes and twenty-eight seconds, we see Tony Montana consolidating his power, marrying the pfeisty Michelle Pfieffer, and- for unknown reasons- purchasing a used tiger. The background track is pulsing power-rock, complete with snarling filth-guitar and every cliché ever set to music: “Walk along the razor’s edge… past the point of no return… throttle wide open like a bat out of hell!”
This clip- also known as “Cocaine Power”- features briefcase telephones, sacks of cash, and enough white blazers to make Don Johnson blush. (Is there nothing more badass than an electric cash-counter?) Pacino lusts after his sister and smokes a big stogie, but none of it changes the fact that he is a short, short man. In spite of its flaws the sequence is exciting enough to give you a contact high for those days when your dealer is out of town. The world may be yours, but what the hell are you going to do with a tiger in your backyard?
National Lampoon’s European Vacation – “New Looks”
“Scuzzed out” and in need of a new wardrobe, the Griswold family embarks on a Eurotrash spending-spree that would make Boy George vomit in his tea cup. Clark and the kids hit the boutiques and sample outrageous fashions to the syrup-throated warbling of Dr. John.
Watch Fat Audrey don a giant leather jacket while dreaming of pork sausage… laugh as block-headed Rusty insures his virginity for at least another decade by dressing as a psychotic duke. (Nothing says high fashion like Velcro.) Even sweet Bev D’Angelo looks d’isgusting in her four-foot fascinator. But it’s ultimately Clark’s interplanetary zoot-suit that sums up this sequence, and provides grounds for justifiable homicide. It’s a long way down the Holiday Road…
Teen Wolf – “Way To Go”
(Jump to 3:00 for the montage)
This pretty much represents my high school experience: Becoming a werewolf to earn a spot on the basketball team, surfing on the roof of a moving car while hanging with my best friends Stiles and Boof.
Michael J. Fox takes a break from howling “Doc!” to play an ordinary teenager who becomes an ordinary werewolf, and what better way to show him finding his groove than with this spectacular montage! It’s all here: high fives and walkmen, spontaneous schoolhouse breakdancing and signing autographs for his toddler fan club. (The scenes of Teen Wolf satisfying his bloodlust by devouring babies and stray dogs were omitted due to time constraints.)
The fantastic Mr. Fox is only seventeen inches tall, but luckily the wolf costume disguises his basketball double so the three-pointers look seamless. This is not just a montage… this is Cinema. You gotta go with the flow, Joe…
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wow 2 of my favorite movies 2 excellent 80s montages, I think there might also be a good one in Ghostbusters and Revenge of the Nerds.
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