My Favorite Al Pacino Performances

8.

Bobby, Panic in Needle Park



Pacino made his first serious onscreen impression as this tortured heroine addict.

7.

Lt. Vincent Hanna, Heat



Pacino commanded the screen as a conflicted police officer involved in a dangerous cat and mouse with a career criminal (Robert De Niro).

6.

Carlito, Carlito's Way



Pacino created another memorable screen character here with the aid of his Scarface director Brian De Palma.

5.

Lowell Bergman, The Insider



Pacino gave one of his most underrated performances as the Sixty Minutes producer who is ruthless in getting to the ticking time bomb he has exposed.

4.

Graham, The Local Stigmata



Pacino lit up the screen in this probing psychological drama that no one saw.

Heat is great, i thought Pacino was close to giving a bad performance though i actually think he is the worst part of the film. He's excellent in Serpico.

3.

Tony Montana, Scarface



Some found this performance over the top, but I found it endlessly fascinating, a performance that I discover new things about every time I re-watch the movie. The "Goodnight to the bad guy" scene in the restaurant and the scene in the car with the bomber who doesn't speak English are just brilliant...a master class in screen acting.

Can't stand Scarface or Pacino in it. No doubt an iconic performance though.

2.

Michael Corleone, The Godfather



This performance should have won Pacino his first Oscar and made him an official movie star. I'm pretty sure the only reason he didn't win was because he was in the wrong category. Brando won the Lead Actor Oscar for what was really a supporting role...Pacino was the star of this film and was the best thing about it.

Can't believe I got to # 2 this fast. Anyone who has checked out the entire thread can probably guess what #1 is. There will be honorable mentions as I think I've covered everything I want to cover. And now...my # 1 Al Pacino performance:

1.

Sonny, Dog Day Afternoon



Pacino's powerhouse performance is the anchor of this fact-based 1977 docudrama and I am one of the few people who would have given the Oscar to Pacino over Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Pacino plays a guy who robs a Brooklyn bank on a steamy afternoon in order to pay for his boyfriend's sex change operation. Pacino hits all the right notes with this rich and consistently fascinating performance...I fell in love with this character the second he clumsily pulled that machine gun out of the flower box. Another movie I never tire of watching and a performance I never tire of studying.




Hope you enjoyed the list.

Dog Day Afternoon would also be my #1 . The Godfather would be my #3, even though i prefer the first film i think Pacino is slightly better in Part II.

Wow, we actually agree on something...can't believe it.

Not sure why that is surprising i've agreed with you on loads of stuff. You must be focusing on our disagreements too much

It's the reason I saw Harry and Tonto - I couldn't imagine a better performance than Al Pacino,.. until I saw Harry and Tonto

Couldn't agree more. I absolutely love the final courtroom scene in the movie and Pacino's speech. But for me, that's the entire movie. The rest of it is just mediocre. It's like a throw-away movie that is saved by the last 10 minutes.

Couldn't agree more. Pacino is great but after hearing that it is one of his finest performances i thought the film would be good to... and no it was OK but that was it.

Im not surprised its not on the list but I always liked Al in Any Given Sunday.

Any Given Sunday was OK, but if the truth be told, the best performance in that film came from Jamie Foxx...I did like Al's "inches" speech though.

I've never actually sat down to watch Heat and got all the way through, which is annoying. What's always interested me about it is the subplot of the romance between De Niro and his girlfriend and a few weeks ago I saw the bit where they meet, which I liked very much. I agree completely about Al Pacino being close to what could be called scenery-chewing, and his story in the film doesn't seem as interesting.

I think my favourite of his performances is in The Godfather, especially at the end because I think how Michael has changed is there in his eyes and it's scary as hell.

Great read as usual, Gid.

Good god, his performance in the Insider when he's yelling at Crowe to get up and answer the door gave me goosebumps.