Wall Street [Special Edition] [1988] [DVD]

The definitive sales movie. Before Glengarry Glen Ross and Boiler Room, there was Wall Street. Set in that behemoth of the New York Stock Exchange and the trading floors down town and providing it is a grim look at the society that inhabit them.

Telling the tale of Budd Fox (Charlie Sheen), a young upstart, heavily in debt with stars in his eyes, the story starts off smoothly. Desperate to get in with the big hitters, he soon finds himself getting into highly dodgey business with Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas).

Charlie Sheen turns in the finest performance of his career and really brings out the pathos in the naive and young Budd Fox, trapped in the dark business that is sales. Before he knows it, he has become exactly what he set out to be, with all the baggage attatched. Douglas is also fantastic as the inspirational and ultimately repulsive Gekko, and the list of lackies and struggling salesmen as the scum and losers of this morality tale deliver with panache. How far would you go? How much is too much?

Oliver Stone has earned his reputation as a controversial film maker; from the violence of war in Platoon to spurious conspiracy claims in JFK, and Wall Street is no exception. Some call it anti capitalist or plain Marxist, I don't. For me, I look at the ending and see the consequences of dishonesty. Stone brings about a negative twist to the world which I have seen with my own eyes. No one ever said it was perfect, and those who say it is all bad are just plain wrong. And no film ever showed that better than Wall Street.

Budd Fox (Charlie Sheen) is an energetic young man who wants to be a big man on Wall Street, he thinks he can sell and deal stocks like the best of them, so he wants the best teacher, Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas), a guy who's made millions out of the system, and annoyed many people on his route. So Budd learns, as Gecko teaches him the tricks, skills and how to make big money, but is he looking into the abyss and seeing who he really is, as suggested by his boss Lou (Hal Holbrook) or is he just a whipper snapper trying to make a living?

This is a great movie, and well captured by Stone, who himself had a father who was in the business and wanted to make a "business movie", to look at the bad guys of the system, and how people's simple needs often outweigh what they feel is right. There's a great cameo from John C McGinley (Dr Cox from Scrubs) - his role as Budd's friend is good, and shows he was already a rising star of the Hollywood system. I also liked the fact that this was an all-star cast: Michael Douglas shining as the charismatic Gecko, not taking prisoners and emotionally detached from his work. Also not forgetting Martin Sheen, as Budd's father, not just in the film, but in real life, so when he cries in the hospital, you know he really means it, and those are gold moments.

This blu-ray is decent, but not spellbinding - the MPEG 4 video is good, but is a bit grainy, given the fact it's probably the style of film used, it's probably the best they can do with the medium available. The colours are sharp though, and the BD-50 full transfer making this the best release of Wall Street so far. The audio is dynamic, but I did notice I had to turn up the volume on it, as the dialogue wasn't that loud. The master-HD audio is a must hear though, and is top quality otherwise.

There are SD extras here, including "Greed Is Good", a look at the movie from Oliver Stone's point of view, a full hour of discussion and a look at the system in which he worked in, and how the movie evolved. There's also the making of, which has some interesting insights. The commentary by Stone is very concise too and should wet the appetites of any budding director.

All in all - worth a look, a definite classic.
Film: 4/5, transfer: 3/5, extras: 3/5

An excellent film with a wonderful performance by Michael Douglas, and something pretty special from Charelie Sheen too. The film is a real monument to the eighties in a global city like New York. However, it is let down by a pretty shoddy film quality. Whether it is the original film quality, or whether it is just a poor print that has been transferred, it's difficult to imagine that this Blu Ray looks any better than the DVD release. Why not save some cash and buy that instead?