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Released by: Fox
Released on: September 18, 2012.
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah
Year: 1987
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The Movie:
Greed is good. Actually it can be pretty fucking harmful as anyone paying attention to world economics and modern day Wall Street criminality can tell you, but in the world of the film that Oliver Stone has delivered here, cash is king and only profit matters. Or so it seems.
Charlie Sheen plays Bud Fox, an up and coming Wall Street stockbroker who looks like he's got the drive, ambition and greed to make his way to the top of the heap. He's made it from his lower middle class upbringing to where he is today all on his own. Fox gets a day job working at a typical NYC stock exchange firm but busily spends his nights and weekends trying to figure out the best way to approach Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) - the most notorious of the 'go getter' types who lives by the motto of "Greed is Good.' He's a bit of a rock star in the trading world, the Jedi to Fox's Padawan learner.
Gekko takes Fox under his wing and trains him in the way of big business hi-jinks. Fox soon makes a lasting impression on Gekko and the two work closely until Fox finds out that Gekko intends to buy and dismantle Blue Star Airlines, where his father is employed. This throws Fox's entire value system into disarray and all of a sudden the yuppies and loose women he's been cavorting with lately don't look so appealing as they once did.
Few films epitomize the greed culture of the eighties as well as Wall Street does. The fast times and glamorous lifestyles that were all over the TV during the later part of that decade are shown here in a slightly less polished life - corruption reigns supreme and money is the only thing that matters. Stone's typical anti establishment tone rings through loud and clear in the last half of the movie, and while aspects of it are slightly dated now, the movie still holds up well thanks for decent performances from Charlie Sheen and his father, Martin Sheen (who, oddly enough, plays Fox Sr.). Michael Douglas is way over the top in his role as the power hungry Gekko but he somehow makes it work, even if at times he borders on camp. The film is well paced and well shot and considerably tenser than you might expect it to be. If it's a bit on the flat side as far as its style is concerned, that just helps to keep the substance up front and center where it belongs. Stone has made better films before and since and the picture is typically heavy handed, but it still makes for fairly riveting viewing - part character study, part drama and part cautionary tale done in his own inimitable way.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Wall Street arrives on Blu-ray for a second time in an AVC encoded 1080p director approved transfer framed at 1.85.1 widescreen and generally it looks pretty good. There is some softness here and there typical of the late eighties style that is employed but texture is fine, skin looks nice and natural and colors are well reproduced. Black levels are nice and there aren't any issues with heavy noise reduction or other transfer related anomalies.
Audio chores are handled by an English language 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that keeps most of the dialogue up front where you'd expect it to be but which is fairly effective in occasionally spreading out the score and the effects work. Levels are well balanced and the performers are always easy to understand here. No problems with hiss or distortion to note. Dubbed options are available in Spanish and French Mono and an English 4.0 Dolby Digital track is also included here. Subtitles are offered up in English SDH and Spanish.
Wall Street does well in the extras department, though there's not a lot here we haven't seen before - all of the extras are carried over from the previous special edition DVD release from a few years back. Regardless, things kick off with a commentary from Stone that discusses his inspiration and the reasons behind making this movie, his casting choices and his thoughts on the film and the subjects that it tackles. Stone's commentary tracks are always interesting, this one is no exception.
Also carried over here is the making of documentary entitled Money Never Sleeps (47:38) that features interviews with most of the 'name' cast members. Some deleted scenes (22:39) with optional commentary from Stone are interesting to see, as is the other featurettes, Greed Is Good (56:37), which covers much of the same ground as the commentary and first featurettes but has enough exclusive information in it that diehard Stone fans will want to check it out. A few trailers, some animated menus and chapter selection round out the extras and inside the keepcase alongside the disc is a nice little insert booklet including some biographies for Stone, Douglas and Sheen in addition to some other facts about the film.
The Final Word:
Wall Street isn't a perfect film nor is it Stone's best film but it remains a pretty interesting watch more than twenty years after it was made. Douglas is still great in the lead role and while Sheen may have fallen pretty hard over the last few years into bizarre world and self parody, this film reminds us that once upon a time he was a box office star for a reason. The film's themes are probably just as important now as they ever were, if not more so, and this disc comes recommended.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
