Wall Street (UK)

This is a well-respected, frequently referenced film and although it`s been around for SUCH a long time, watching this newly released DVD was the first time I`d ever seen it myself.

I have to say I was a little disappointed though. It does have a tight script and the performances are certainly above average (Charlie Sheen is possibly under-par in a few scenes), but the archaic tone and the shallow story haven`t aged at all well. It`s an okay movie overall, but it doesn`t really belong on the "classic" pile and If you expect too much then it probably won`t deliver.

The problem for me is that lots of subsequent releases have copied the principal idea and IMO made rather more out of it. These newer films aren`t better written or performed, but because they`re much more current and have the advantage of analysing what DIDN`T work in Stone`s film, they`re infinitely more digestable and credible.

Wall Street`s story lacks depth and an adequate resolution is never provided. I`d been led to believe that it was a kind of moral tale and thought we`d see a big arc of wealth-aquisition/corruption and eventually a big turn-around and all of the consequences. Without spoiling anything, we don`t see this at all and you have to make do with a hasty (slightly implausible) rise to power and a similarly swift (equally implausible) finale. The true after-effects aren`t part of the film and it felt a bit like "Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion" was missing!. Obviously I`m over-stating things a bit, but someone has to redress the balance a touch. Every review I`ve read skims over the flaws and just panders to the genre-classic cliches we always see. It`s a passable flick of course and I wouldn`t argue against that, but it`s the out-moded ideals and wafer-thin story that really stick out in my mind.

The disc is pretty good considering the age of the main feature and the 1.85:1 (anam) picture is very clean. The sound is a re-mastered 5.1 affair and isn`t anything like as effective as most modern surround tracks. I appreciate the effort, but Wall Street is a heavily dialogue-based film and the audio isn`t a primary concern. The extras are a lengthy documentary and a commentary from Stone. Again, considering the age of the movie this is more than generous.

Basically, a surprisingly flat and comparitively uneventful movie. There are some memorable speeches and performances, but the story is uninspiring and the conceptual themes are too familiar and old-fashioned to be interesting today.

A great film that deals with the corrupt men of 1980`s America. I love this film and everytime I watch it Gordon Gekko makes me want to believe that "Greed is good". Faultless performances from Douglas, Sheen and in particular a great perfromance by Martin Sheen. An insigtful documentary and a good commentary from Stone make this a great purchase. Its one of my favourites and I urge you to buy this film too.