Synopsis:

Greed, …is good. Those immortal words spoken by the one and only, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) really sum up the whole of the film. Bud Fox, (Charlie Sheen) is an up and coming stockbroker whose sole desire is to "bag the Elephant", namely-Gordon Gekko. To get his business is the key to certain financial success, or so he thinks. Gekko, is a multimillionaire/billionaire raider. He looks for companies in relatively poor fiscal shape, buys them only to build them up and plunder their resources by breaking the company up piece-by-piece and selling it off to the highest bidder. In order to achieve his goals he uses less than legal means to procure sensitive corporate information. Enter Bud. Bud is so eager to get Gekko in his stable; he's willing to do anything to live the high life Gekko lives. Including selling his soul. However, big fish like Gekko got to where they are because of whom they stepped on, not friends they made. In this business, the only friend for a man like Gekko is cold hard currency. Wall Street is an incredible journey into the seedier side of big business. A journey that bears a closer look. A story very well told in Oliver Stone's Wall Street.

Audio/Video:

Wall Street is one of my favorite films and I was expecting a five star presentation from Fox studios given their incredible work on DVD thus far…i.e.ID4, Fight Club and the Abyss. Sadly, The effort from Fox is less than expected. The audio has precious few moments when there is any aural effect to speak of. This is primarily a dialogue driven feature however; there are definitely moments when the score/soundtrack could have used a bit more punch. The best portion of the audio segment is the Director's Commentary by Oliver Stone. In listening to Stone explain the point and thrust of his film, you can't help but feel that Wall Street is a labor of love. Dedicated to his father, Louis Stone, Stone meticulously guides you through scenes requiring special takes, his personal attachment to scenes that mirrored his own life and the incredible effect his father's influence has on him even till today. As commentary tracks go, Oliver Stone's commentary for Wall Street is definitely one of the best. Not high on "techie" speak, it deals more with his appreciation of the art form of film and the way in which it can mirror our own individual realities.

The Video was not as sharp as I would have liked to have seen it. There are a fair amount of moments when the film is soft in its presentation and pixelation does find it's way into the film's transfer. Prior to this, I was unaware of a widescreen transfer for the film and am very happy to see that one existed. The film is entirely watchable and wholly enjoyable. The transfer errors present on Wall Street however were unexpected. I would have preferred better treatment for a film of this caliber.

Extras:

The extras included on the disc are the commentary track, two trailers for the film and a 47-minute newly filmed documentary on the making of Wall Street with Oliver Stone! The new feature boasts new interviews with Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas primarily with other cast members dropping in a line or two. Additionally, there are behind the scenes shots that go to making this "making of" one of the better productions available on disc.

Overall:

This is one of my favorite films. Gordon Gekko was once my hero, or so I thought! Wall Street is an incredible story that has a first class cast and a story that's very hard to beat! Given the lackluster treatment for the disc's audio and video segments, I am hesitant to highly recommend this title. However, with Michael Douglas in the role that defined a decade, you can't really go wrong with the movie. Highly Recommended!