Al Pacino turns 82: a review of his best movies to watch on streaming

Al Pacino is for several generations of spectators one of the greatest actors of all time. His undisputed splendor in the seventies would have achieved him to maintain that status forever, but after some stumbling blocks in his career he was able to reinvent himself, even more than once. Now, at 82, he is still a respected and beloved star, currently achieving several top-level roles that allow new generations to get to know him.

Pacino is one of the actors who did himself. He worked long before he managed to make a living from acting, from being a film usher to having a moving company, he lived firsthand the difficult path to the top.

Divorced parents, a financially constrained childhood, the loss of his mother and grandfather, his most important relatives, when he was just starting his career: all this taught the actor how difficult the world was. What he learned on the streets and the professions he had, also helped him build many of his characters.

Once he began his work in theater, things started to get on track and it was in 1972 that his role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather would change everything.

Al Pacino would be king in the seventies, along with Robert De Niro, with whom they seemed to have a silent competition over the years. His best titles of that decade include: Panic in the Park (1971), The Godfather (1972), Serpico (1973), The Godfather II (1974), Afternoon of Dogs (1975) and Justice for All (1979). Better impossible.

In the eighties he did some risky projects that failed at the box office or with critics, such as Cruising (1980), Scarface (1983) and Revolution (1984), and although some of them are now cult films, the actor decided to suspend his film career for five years. He returned with a seemingly minor film, Forbidden Obsession (Sea of Love, 1989) and his career returned to the top without problems. Despite his nominations, he had never won an Oscar and it was precisely on that return that he won the prize for his work in a remake, Perfume de mujer (1992).

Also from that time are The Godfather III (1990), Frankie & Johnny (1991), Carlito's Way (1993) and Fire against Fire (1995). Listing all his works would be a lot, because he also discovered, in the era of cable and now in streaming, a new place to show off as an actor, sometimes a protagonist, sometimes secondary. Venerated by new directors and also by veterans, his most recent works include Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2018) by Quentin Tarantino and The Irishman (2019) by Martin Scorsese.

But the best way to celebrate an actor is to watch his work, so here is a selection of the best Al Pacino there is to watch on streaming. Some classics are not always available, others are on several services at once.

HBO Max: Scarface, Dog Afternoon, Any Sunday, The Devil's Advocate. Also three films made for television: Paterno, You Don't Know Jack and Phil Spector.

Netflix: Fire Against Fire, Scarface and The Irishman.

Star Plus: Fire Against Fire, Serpico.

Prime Video: Women's Perfume, The Devil's Advocate, Scarface, Fire Against Fire and the Hunters series.

QubitTV: Revolution.

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