Undeniably one of Hollywood’s most decorated and enduring stars, Al Pacino has been a constant presence on the silver screen for over 50 years, having memorably skyrocketed to international fame after starring as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster masterpiece The Godfather in 1972. The charismatic actor followed up his Oscar-nominated performance in the Coppola classic with another iconic character that captivated moviegoers all across the world: the foul-mouthed and volatile Cuban drug lord Tony Montana in the universally acclaimed crime drama Scarface. Both of these groundbreaking pictures helped establish Pacino as one of the industry’s most exciting and passionate leading men.

Over his illustrious cinema career, Pacino would demonstrate his impressive acting prowess in popular films like Dog Day Afternoon, Dick Tracy, Carlito’s Way, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Heat (among countless other certified hits). The recipient of an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmys, and two Tony Awards, Pacino has demonstrated to both fans and critics that he can masterfully tackle any role and truly make it his own, never shying away from a performance challenge. Yet, like any fellow actor in Tinseltown, not every project is a knockout with audiences, and some movies fare better than others.

In 1985, hot off his fiery and unforgettable portrayal of the aforementioned Tony Montana, Pacino decided to tackle the historical drama genre with Revolution, in which he would appear as fur trapper Tom Dobb who begrudgingly participates in the American Revolutionary War. Despite seeming like a straightforward and harmless endeavor, the film would prove to be very detrimental to Pacino and caused him to take a four-year break from filmmaking due to the negative blowback.

Revolution (1985) 4.5/5 Release Date December 25, 1985 Cast Al Pacino , Donald Sutherland , Nastassja Kinski , Dexter Fletcher , Sid Owen , Joan Plowright , Dave King , Steven Berkoff , Annie Lennox , Graham Greene , Robbie Coltrane Runtime 2h 4m Writers Robert Dillon Expand

Production Woes Strike Early On

Revolution was produced on a budget of $28 million, which during the 1980s was considered quite a hefty price tag, and Pacino was joined on screen by fellow acting great Donald Sutherland, Nastassja Kinski, and Dexter Fletcher to bring the thrilling war story to life. Filmed in the English port town of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, Pacino and the production of the drama were immediately plagued by complications as the actor developed pneumonia due to the terrible and soggy filming conditions.

While Pacino rallied during the first two months of the shoot and attempted to fight off the debilitating illness, extras for the picture were not as devoted and ended up walking off in protest of the awful on-set circumstances. Director Hugh Hudson said in 2009:

“Pacino was sick for the first half of the shoot and I felt bad about that. I wanted the film to be wet and muddy, to show how tough it was for the soldiers, how squalid a beginning America had.”

A Mutually Miserable Filming Experience
It seemed as though no one enjoyed the grueling process of making Revolution, as both the cast and crew struggled with the wet and cold environment, while producers didn’t know if they were making a sweeping historical epic or a poignant drama reflecting the emptiness of war. Pacino’s co-star Nastassa Kinski, who portrayed the rebellious aristocrat Daisy McConnahay, allegedly had such an unpleasant experience working on Revolution that it caused her to become so disillusioned with the craft that she returned to Europe and took a break from Hollywood.

Producer Irwin Winkler seemed to confirm the unfortunate filming conditions in his memoir A Life In Movies: Stories From 50 Years in Hollywood, writing:

“In King’s Lynn, there were no good restaurants, bars, or first-class hotels to escape to at the end of a long day. Usually on a location like this there is quite a lot of flirting and some passionate love affairs and some drunken fights. We had the heavy drinking and a couple of fights but not much love.”

A Brutal Box Office Performance & Negative Reception

After the chaotic and tumultuous production was finally complete, Pacino was extremely disappointed in how the picture was put together for the finished product, feeling as though it was a rushed production and not ready for the big screen. Many believe that the drama was given a quicker release than it should have been in order to be considered for the 1986 Academy Awards, a laughable notion in retrospect as it instead garnered four Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Actor for Pacino. Revolution made its theatrical debut on December 25, 1985, and proved to be both a critical and commercial failure, grossing just $358,574 against its $28 million budget and getting ripped to shreds by critics.

Related Every Al Pacino Movie of the 1980s, Ranked While Al Pacino has had a prolific career, let’s look at his lesser-known work and a particularly iconic role from the ’80s.

Pacino Steps Back from Hollywood
U.K. critics were unimpressed with Pacino’s bizarre accent and many felt that the actor was terribly miscast as the lead character, Tom Dobb, and others condemned the messy storytelling, lackluster screenplay, and overall uninspiring characters. Variety wrote in their negative review of the drama, “Watching Revolution is a little like visiting a museum — it looks good without really being alive.”

The overwhelmingly unfavorable response to Revolution was a huge gut punch for Pacino, who had at one point optimistically viewed the picture as a loving tribute to the South Bronx, the neighborhood he had grown up in. Instead, its disastrous performance caused him to step back from filmmaking and reflect on his career and life’s goals. Pacino would say years later:

”
Revolution
was one of those things that happen in a career, where you learn so much from it because it was such a disorienting experience. I expected they would have worked on that film, but they just let it go. They put half a film out. I was appalled and shocked by that. I didn’t know what to do. It was that single film that took the rug out from under me. I lost interest for a while.”

Pacino Rediscovers His Passion

After the heartbreaking performance of Revolution, Pacino took a four-year hiatus from Hollywood and he shifted his focus to his former love: the theater. The actor appeared in stage productions of Julius Caesar, National Anthems, and Crystal Clear, and remained largely absent from the cinema until he made his highly-anticipated return in 1989 when he starred in the neo-noir thriller Sea of Love, which proved to be a critical and box office success. Fans were thoroughly impressed by Pacino’s commanding performance in the taut flick, with many viewing it as the actor’s triumphant return to Hollywood and a much-needed career reset for the Academy Award-winner.

A Spectacular Career Revival
Though Revolution will go down in cinema history as a notorious box office blunder, Pacino didn’t stay down for long and dominated the 1990s with a slew of raved-about roles and lauded films. He subsequently starred in memorable projects like Carlito’s Way, Heat, Donnie Brasco, and The Devil’s Advocate, and he took home the Academy Award for Best Actor for his brilliant performance in the 1992 drama Scent of a Woman. Pacino hasn’t slowed down a bit and has continued showcasing his dazzling skills in front of the camera, recently appearing in movies including Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, The Irishman, and Knox Goes Away as well as Aldo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s biographical crime drama House of Gucci.

Related Al Pacino’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes An examination of what the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes ranks the iconic actor Al Pacino’s movies.

In the nearly 40 years since the debut of Revolution, Pacino seems just as appreciative of his career setbacks as he does his triumphs, believing that the work he did in the ’80s disaster still featured a dedicated performance. He has retrospectively applauded director Hugh Hudson for challenging him as a performer and for strengthening his skills as an actor, and for the film’s 35th-anniversary special screening, Pacino said of his character Tom Dobb: “He was an insular man, not prone to talking much. He was a wonderful character to play.”

In an interview with The Independent in 2015, Pacino sagely said of his enduring career:

“I don’t regret anything. I feel like I’ve made what I would call mistakes. I picked the wrong movie, or I didn’t pursue a character, but everything you do is part of you and you get something from it. Having the idea and excitement of being in these situation and places, they are more than just memories, they inform your life.”

Rent/Buy Revolution on Prime Video.