MovieChat Forums > Scarface (1983) Discussion > For a drug lord, Tony didn't have much o...

For a drug lord, Tony didn't have much of an army.


It seemed as if he only had about 5 or 6 guys by his side. If he'd had more guys guarding his mansion, he would have had a chance against Sosa's hit squad.

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He still took out suckas like mellaria. Fly like paper get high like planes and

Bang Bang

take ya money

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Well, to be fair...without overthinking the plot...maybe Tony had more armed guards than what was shown. But still, if we (the audience) didn't see the guards, than I guess all hypothetical theories are useless.

I agree though. That's one small detail that has always confused me about the film. Compared to Sosa's army, Tony's army was nothing. But then again, maybe that was the point. Maybe Tony was so crazy, psychotic, and self-reliant, that he didn't feel the need to have an army. Tony didn't seem like the kind of guy who relied on other people to protect him. In fact, on quite the contrary, Tony seemed more interested in up close and personal confrontations...which is what made him the ultimate gangster. For example; he didn't simply hire someone to eliminate Frank. He went and confronted Frank personally. I guess that's the main difference between Tony and Sosa. Tony wanted to 'take care' of problems on his own, while Sosa used his wealth to get other people to do the dirty work for him.

And I do agree, that at the end of the film, Tony's guards didn't stand a chance. They were completely outnumbered and unprepared. But hey...that's a small detail of the film that I'm willing to overlook.

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[deleted]

You’re right that it was Tony’s personal failings that led to his destruction. It was basically the drug lord version of the Peter Principle. He rose, briefly, past the level of his own competence.

Ironically, a true partnership with Frank would have been the best situation for both of them. But the girl got in the way.

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Well, I personally think that it would've been impossible for Tony to have a long lasting partnership with Frank. Tony was beyond power hungry, pretty much the minute he stepped into Miami. Even from the start, I could sense that Tony didn't like Frank. He just hated the fact that Frank referred to himself as 'the boss'. And also hated the fact that Frank had a beautiful wife, and Tony didn't. If you watch the scene right after they leave the Babylon Club; Tony was like "that guy's soft!" Even Manny could see that the communication between Frank and Tony was going to be a problem. It was only a matter of time. Tony couldn't get along with anyone. Not even his sister or his best friend. I mean, after all, he did kill Manny in the end. One could blame his cocaine addiction for his erratic behavior. But even before doing cocaine, Tony was still a cold blooded killer. But the cocaine, along with the immense power, is what drove him over the edge. Tony's lifestyle was just bound to come crashing down. And honestly, I don't even think that Tony was concerned about the long-term perspective of anything. He was willing to go out with a bang, which is why I refer to Tony's rise to power as a suicide mission.

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I guess you could say the same thing about Frank and his gang in terms of it's size. All Tony had to do was take out two of his thugs at the Babylon Club and then go kill him. After that, he was the ultimate kingpin of Miami. You would expect Frank to have more goons that would want to take Tony out in retaliation. Maybe he did, but we never saw them.

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"He rose pass the level of his own competence".

That quote made me laugh just now 😄

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Tony's judgement was going. He'd been breaking rule number one. Never get high no your own supply.

He probably had more in his army but that weren't guarding his house. Sosa just hit him with overwhelming force.

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Agreed.

"Never get high on your own supply."

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I have a feeling Sosa probably didn’t have that big of an army either. I think at least some of the men sent to hit Tony were local gang members or other criminals hired specifically for that job.

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