20th Century Fox presents

Wall Street (1987)

"You see that building? I bought that building ten years ago. My first real estate deal. Sold it two years later, made an $800,000 profit. It was better than sex. At the time I thought that was all the money in the world. Now it's a day's pay."- Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas)

Stars: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen
Other Stars: Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, Hal Holbrook, and Terence Stamp
Director: Oliver Stone

MPAA Rating: R for Language and Brief Nudity
Run Time: 02h:7m:35s
Release Date: 2000-10-31
Genre: drama

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B+	B	B-	B	A-

 

DVD Review

Throughout the history of motion pictures there have always been films that define a period in time. For the late 50s and early 60s it was The Rat Pack pictures and for the 1980s it was Wall Street. With its strong take on the greed that filled the so called "me" decade, Oliver Stone's award-winning film doesn't hold up as well some thirteen years later. But it still ranks as one of the director's best works.

Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) is a Wall Street stockbroker with a stirring desire to get to the top; calling and soliciting stock advice to would be buyers are Bud's life. In his spare time, he is constantly working on an angle to approach high-powered, extremely successful broker Gordon Gekko (Douglas). After a couple of profitable stock tips for Gekko, Bud is thrust into the world that he always wanted to be in. It isn't long until he finds himself involved in shady business deals that may ultimately bring him down, while Gekko stands idly by, watching.

While the greed factor plays a pivotal role in Wall Street, it is not central to the plot. The film deals more with Bud's illusion of life at the top and how much better it must be than life as a bottom feeder. But as in most films where the hero soon realizes that things are much more honest at the lower end of the scale, Bud must soon fight to get out.

While the overall arc of the story is essentially a David versus Goliath struggle that has been seen time and time before, the director shakes it up a bit. I remember walking out of Stone's latest film Any Given Sunday last December and overhearing a theater patron claim that they "like the way he [Stone] makes movies now". I can't get myself to agree with that statement. Stone was at his best in the late 80s with classics such as Platoon and Wall Street; recently it seems he is more concerned with flashy editing than story telling. That is not to say that Stone isn't still one of the best directors working, but his greatest work lies in films like this one.

As he has shown in projects like The American President, Wonder Boys and The Game, Michael Douglas is one of our best actors. Winning his only Academy Award® for his role as the evil Gordon Gekko, Douglas has never been better. He overacts the part with such ease that it is worth owning this film just for his performance. Charlie Sheen, who had just come off of Platoon, is a bit too innocent to play Bud. While the role is written to be a bit too nice for the type of work he has to do, Sheen makes him too nice and caring. A role like this requires the actor to make a dramatic change in character in the course of the film's 120 minutes and Sheen can't seem to pull it off. Daryl Hannah was well-deserving of her Golden Raspberry award that she received for worst performance by an actress in a motion picture for the year of 1987. Martin Sheen, John C. McGinely, and Terrence Stamp each give good supporting performances.

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.85:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: Presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with the help of anamorphic enhancement, Wall Street could have looked a lot better. Sharpness is off the mark by a long shot, creating a soft look that drags the transfer down quite a bit. Pixelation is noticeable halfway through the film and again at the end, and grain and scratches in the print are sometime shown. Colors are for the most part done well, and the black levels are about average. But for a nearly thirteen-year-old film, the transfer could have been worse.



Image Transfer Grade: B-
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Mono	French	yes
DS 2.0	English	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: Much like the video transfer, the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is a bit less than what it could have been. Providing a predominantly three-speaker mix, the surround speakers are only used for music for the most part. Dialogue is clear and understandable, and there is goo separation between the front speakers. Nearly no activity is present from the .1 LFE channel. Both a French mono and English 2.0 track are also offered.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 20 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English and Spanish
2 Original Trailer(s)
1 Documentaries
1 Feature/Episode commentary by Director Oliver Stone
Packaging: Alpha
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: RSDL

Extras Review: A commentary track by director Oliver Stone is the highlight of the extras on this RSDL disc. Stone is very informative and has a nice way of speaking through the track. Stone focuses on not only what it was like to make the film, but also the influence of his late father, who was a stockbroker, to how he worked with the actors. There are very few pauses during the track, and Stone never becomes repetitive or dull. This is a very good track.

A 47-minute making of documentary is the second extra on the disc. While this documentary isn't as informative as most it is still worth a look. Consisting of mainly interviews with the cast and crew it is a nice bookend to the commentary given by Stone. Two theatrical trailers round out the disc.

Extras Grade: A-
 

Final Comments

Wall Street is often viewed by some as a modern masterpiece. While I do not share that opinion, there is no denying that this is a good film. The transfer is better than most thirteen-year-old films, and the commentary by Stone deserves high marks. Recommended for fans of the film, but because of the high price tag this is a rental for most others.

Kevin Clemons 2000-11-29