Rating: 
Summary: 'Gekko the Great'
Review: Real-life bigtime investment banker Jeff Beck not only advised Oliver Stone when he made 'Wallstreet' but also stars in this film for a few minutes playing himself at a climactic meeting of topdog-lawyers and bankers. He delivers one of the many exhilirating monologues in this Epic tale of greed, pride and innocense lost. "Now your boss will really start thinking he's Gekko the Great!" He shouts at Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) who plays a struggling young stockbroker who's desperately trying to get on the fast-track to becoming a "player".Michael Douglas who plays 'Gordon Gekko' (not 'Gecko' as the Amazon review suggests, the name can be seen in the scene where Charlie Sheen turns on his computer in the morning and finds out it's "Gekko's Birthday") puts on such a mindblowing performance he really can be dubbed 'Gekko the Great'. The character is right up there with Don Vito Corleone, Tony Montana, Popeye Doyle and some other members of that elite group of high-octane male movie-characters that will long outlive the actors that created them. Gordon Gekko is a high profile corporate raider that was probably modeled after Ivan Boesky (the biggest corporate raider of the 80's who eventually went behind bars for insider-trading), Michael Milken (creator and unchallenged 80's king of the high yield or junk-bond) and John Guttfreund (CEO of Salomon Brothers in the 80's who'se extravert and bizarre behaviour is documented in the classic books "Liar's Poker" (Michael Lewis) and "Barbarians at the Gate" (John Helyar). Michael Douglas seems to have been born to play this part and from the moment he is introduced ("Lunch? whaddaya kiddin' me, lunch is for wimps!") to the moment we viewers have to part from his hypnotic character ("I gave you Darian, I gave you everything!") he reduces any leaps of faith that his character may present us with to tiny hops due to his powerhouse presence. In fact, whenever I see Michael Douglas in another movie I have the strange feeling that Gordon Gekko is trapped inside and might burst out at any time to hose us down with sardonic one-liners. ("Love is just an old lie created to keep people from jumping out of windows.") Gekko is truly the "mother of all high-rollers", and his performance alone more than warrants the purchase of this film. Charles Sheen plays a believable 'Bud Fox' but one wonders what a late 80's Tom Cruise or Kiefer Sutherland might have done with the part. Charlie never really creates the electricity that Douglas shocks the audience with. I won't get into the details of the story here but will post some comments on the general themes in the movie. There's the theme that Stone had already explored in 'Platoon' of two fathers fighting for the soul of their son. In Platoon it was Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe battling for custody of Charlie Sheen's spirit. In Wallstreet it's Douglas and Martin Sheen representing the 'exciting but evil' and 'wholesome but tedious' ways to go for Charlie Sheen's character. This theme introduces some good tension in the storytelling. The other theme that Stone put into this narrative is the bleeding heart "Capitalism is bad and unfair" jingle. "I don't produce anything...I own..." Gekko confesses at one point. "How many boats to waterski behind do you need? When is it enough?!" cries a shocked Bud Fox. The moral comments on succesful capitalists come accros somewhat naive and in my opinion don't really work. I won't go into the details but most people I've met who've seen the movie don't even remember what it was about Gordon Gekko that was so wrong. All they remember is the classic "Greed is Good" speech and ironically most of them agree with Gekko on the issue. The fact that Oliver Stone lets Gekko initiate industrial espionage is the reason I gave the movie only four stars instead of five. I personnaly think this was a real blooper. A man in Gekko's position doesn't need the aggravation of blatantly breakin the law. There's a good plot-line concerning a fictive company 'Bluestar Airlines' that Gekko has his own plans with to make himself rich and get scores of hard working people fired that adds enough suspense to the tale. It seems as though Stone was so set on painting a negative picture of egoistical an a-moral Wallstreeters that he went one bridge too far. Fact is that, if anything, this movie is like a recruiting video for Investment Banking. What "Top Gun" did for Naval Aviation "Wall Street" has done for Investment Banking. Big corporate banks have never had to complain about the amount of interested well educated young hopefulls but nowadays there's probably not one person sitting in any dealing room anywhere in the world who has not seen Wall Street. I am currently a trader in Amsterdam and I am convinced that if it wasn't for the scenes that have the camera following runners and stressed out yuppies yelling "How about those september 40's!" I wouldn't have been in this racket. The dealing room-scenes are some of the most exhilirating scenes in the history of cinematography. Spielberg sucked in audiences with his scenes of Normandy's beaches in '44. Stone creates the same spellbinding grip on the audience without getting anybody shot or brutally maimed. That alone is a great achievement for any director in Hollywood. More so for the man who made a career in gory cinematic violence with 'Scarface', 'Platoon' and 'Natural Born Killers'. Al Hail Gekko the Great! See this movie again and again. It's full of catchy one-liners that will make you not only the toast of any party but might provide you with more of an energy boost than any Tony Robbins video ever will. "Life all comes down to a few moments...this is one of them."
Rating: 
Summary: Oliver Stone's best film
Review: Bud Fox ( Charlie Sheen)is a young broker who is intelligent, ambitious, and hard working. He has many ideas on how to make it big. The only problem is that he is stuck in a job that consists of cold calling investors over the phone. Wanting something more, he seeks out the highly successful financial wiz Gordon Gecko ( Michael Douglas). Gecko sees a younger version of himself with Bud, and takes him under his wing. However, the road to success, is not always paved with honesty. Bud is immediately lured by Gordon, into the world of corporate epsionage and insider trading. Bud starts to make more money than he ever dreamed was possible. But he soon learns that the pursuit of overnight riches comes at a price that is too high to pay. Wall Street takes us into the world of the stock market and insider trading. It is definately Oliver Stone's best film, and one of the best that I have ever seen overall. No matter how many times you see this movie, it never gets boring, or seems any less amazing. Michael Douglas offers one of the most memorable lines of all time with "Greed is good". This is the driving force for the film. This perhaps, is the film's best feature because the story is so authentic. Stone manages to fully capture all of the glory that Wall Street can bring, and the misery that it can cause. Of course, you need talented actors to make it convincing. Michael Douglas gives the best role of his career as Gordon Gecko. In fact, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. It is that good. Gordon is a man that is ruled by greed, and is completely ruthless. That is why Charlie Sheen's portrayal of Bud Fox plays so well off of Douglas. Sheen is young, ambitious, and also extremely naive. He is the puppet, and Gecko is the puppeteer. Martin Sheen delivers an extremely solid role as Bud's father Carl. I loved the fact that Martin Sheen got the role, because only a real father could bring such a realistic portrayal of love. There are other great actors as well in this film, and they include Hal Halbrook, John C McGinley, Daryl Hannah, and Terrance Stamp. Wall Street is a classic story dealing with ambition, greed, and betrayal. The story is extremely authentic, all of the acting is superb, and the suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat. The DVD extras are nice too. The making of documentary is great, and so is the commentary from Oliver Stone.
Rating:
Summary: Like The Play, Julius Caesar only with the stock market
Review: Have you ever wanted to make millons just playing the stock market. Well that is a dream of Buddy(Charlie Sheen).He is stock broker that helps his clients get rich but doesn't himself, he tried to get there by Phoning Geckko(Micheal Douglas)'s office and one day he gets in and Gekko takes him under his wing and shows him how he got his vast fourtune. Geckko tells Buddy to get some info and Buddy doesn't want to do it.When Geckoo tries to disband his dad's(Martin Sheen) airline, Buddy says that tears it and makes a plan that leads to Geckoo's down fall Micheal Douglas was brillant, He certainly deserved that oscar and I loved him in this, He is one of my favorite actors. Charlie Sheen did his best work in this and I thought he was beliveable as a stock broker Oliver stone is a cool director, His camera angles are wicked cool and they make the film good to look at The dvd is okay, just a bunch of stuff you always see on a dvd like this. I thought it was brillant, It is funny though, this movie was before the biggest recession since the 70's
Rating: 
Summary: Are We Waching the Same Movie?
Review: When people think of "Wall Street" they think about the classic line "Greed, for lack of better word... is good," and they remember a pretty good movie. I'm here to tell you that it wasn't. Instead of making am movie about the exciting and dramatic Wall Street world in the 80's, Oliver Stone shamelessly makes a flat movie about a criminal. The only reason why I give this movie two stars it contains some of the great "all time" movie lines including: "Money's only something you need in case you don't die tomorrow." "You're walking around blind without a cane, pal. A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place." But as a whole, I find the movie to be a cheap attack on capitalism. The truth of the matter is that the real life stories of M&A and corporate takeovers were exciting enough. Stone had no reason to louse up a good concept with a convoluted plot about that includes every financial headline of the 1980's (insider trading, offshore banking, junk bonds, and corporate takeovers). If you are interested an exciting and engaging account of Wall Street in the 80's, read Michael Lewis classic LIAR'S POKER.
Rating:
Summary: The Lure of Power, Greed and Financial Wizardry
Review: Oliver Stone captures Wall Street in the 1980s in this film. Looking back from the perch of 2002, Gordon Gekko's "greed is good" speech is a precursor of today's accounting scandals. Not that Wall Street has changed. The sales manager in this film is perfect. He personifies the "what have you done for me lately" attitude that pervades transaction-based finance. This great film transcends time.
Rating:
Summary: Greed, for lack of a better word...is good
Review: The above is part of the long speech that actor Michael Douglas gives as Wall Street power-player Gordon Gekko. Contrary to Amazon's reviewer, this role was NOT tailor-made for Douglas, who in fact came out of a long string of TV-and-movie roles as the somewhat light and romantic type. He initially struggled in the role that would ultimately win him the Oscar. Charlie Sheen plays Bud Fox, an aspiring power-player wannbee, who eventually gets to work for Gekko. Ultimately it leads to the take-over and subsequent downfall of the company that Bud's father, played by Martin Sheen, works for. It all comes crashing down around Bud, but he is determined to take Gekko down with him. Does he succeed? Financially, yes, but legally or morally, it is ambiguous. Other notables include Darryl Hannah, Terence Stamp, Hal Holbrook, John C. McGinley, and James Spader. As in all Stone films, there is a lot of power and depth. The DVD has a good "making of" documentary, and Oliver Stone's commentary about the film and his own father's real life occupation as a Wall Street broker. I say...buy!
Rating:
Summary: Greed, corruption, selling your soul...all in a day's work.
Review: While the subject of the stock market and trading on Wall Street doesn't interest me in the least, I loved how Oliver Stone made it interesting is "Wall Street". It stands as one of his most intellegent and accomplished films, with a smart (if overly-technical) script and superb acting. Charlie Sheen, the quintessential 80's heartthrob, takes on a new role as Bud Fox, an ambitious young stock trader. He works his days selling stocks, all the while hoping to be a player in the same league as the big guys. One such big guy is Gordon Gekko (Michaek Douglas, in a standout performance), a millionaire tycoon who makes his living buying out companies and liquidating them for profit. He takes Fox under his wing, gives him a taste of the wealth and power, and Fox becomes insatiable. So much that he makes some wrong decisions, not realizing that this new power and wealth comes at a higher cost, one that he cannot afford. The 80's was characterized by hotshot young executives looking for the quick and easy buck, and Oliver Stones portrayed that very well here. Gordon Gekko is the benchmark corporate villian, someone who one see's the world only in shades of green. The acting in this movie is first rate, especially from Michael Douglas. The long lines of dialogue, the speeches, and the emotional undertones are a challenge for any actor, and all involved here did an excellent job. I often watch "Wall Street" just for the acting. The DVD is not a full-blown Special Edition, but it's a quality release nonetheless. Oliver Stone's commentary is insightful and articulate, even though he rambles and speaks in an annoying deep voice. The "Making Of" documentary is a real treat. Simply titled "Money Never Sleeps", it is over 1 hour of new interviews with the cast and crew, discussing all major points of the movie and the stories behind the scenes. It is one of the better DVD-exclusive documentaries I have seen. Whether or not you find the subject interesting, "Wall Street" is a great movie in almost every way. While the script wanders off into technical stock jargon, it is one of the best scripts I have ever seen put to film. The acting is top notch, and Oliver Stone directs with panache and style. A must have.
Rating:
Summary: STONE TRIED TO DISS CAPITALISM, GLORIFIED IT INSTEAD
Review: In 1987 OLIVER STONE again starred Charlie Sheen, this time as Bud Fox, along with Martin Sheen and Michael Douglas, in "Wall Street". Stone, like Coppola's "Patton", tapped into a part of America he really wanted to discredit, but instead glorified. Based on the go-go stock markets of the Reagan '80s, it is loosely based on inside arbitrageurs and junk bond kings like Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken. Fox/Sheen is an idealistic, ambitious young stockbroker, his father is his conscience, and Douglas as Gordon Gekko is pure tantalizing temptation. Fox must violate SEC laws and get inside information in order to do business with the "big elephant" Gekko. Gekko's star fades when a big deal-gone-bad has personal ramifications, and Fox turns a dime on him. The film is supposed to show that America is a greedy place that "produces nothing" in a "zero sum game" in which the rich only make money on the backs of the poor. Gekko's (Stone's) statements about economics are pure, unadulterated economic lies shown to be lies simply by...observing factual things. Where Stone may have had second thoughts was the reaction the film got. As the years went by, he and others were approached countless times by Young Republicans and Wall Street execs who told him the depiction of the exciting world of finance led them into that very career, which they thanked him for! Stone had hoped to create an egalitarian class. Instead, he created a decade full of Gordon Gekkos. They in turn fueled the dot-com boom. It was not unlike the Democrats who hoped to expose Oliver North and the Republicans in the Iran-Contra "scandal," only to discover that millions thought Ollie and his White House pals were doing God's work in fighting Communism.
Res ipsa loquiter. STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM
Rating:
Summary: The Disease of Accumulation
Review: WALL STREET is Stone's best film. Better than PLATOON. Better than JFK. Better than NATURAL BORN KILLERS. I can't believe how little praise it gets. WALL STREET is more than just an indictment of the 80's. It's a treatise on wealth and how quickly it makes you rationalize behavior you didn't think you were capable of. Obviously, this is a relevant lesson in any era. Plenty of other film have attempted to preach this same message. Most of them have failed. And even the good ones don't contain anything that can compare to the scene where Sheen gets busted. Or Gordon's famous "Greed is good" speech (sounds a lot like what we're hearing about globalization, doesn't it?). Anyway, WALL STREET is a film that muckrakes as it entertains. How many movies can you say that about?
Rating:
Summary: Are We Waching the Same Movie?
Review: When people think of "Wall Street" they think about the classic line "Greed, for lack of better word... is good," and they remember a pretty good movie. I'm here to tell you that it wasn't. Instead of making am movie about the exciting and dramatic Wall Street world in the 80's, Oliver Stone shamelessly makes a flat movie about a criminal. The only reason why I give this movie two stars it contains some of the great "all time" movie lines including: "Money's only something you need in case you don't die tomorrow." "You're walking around blind without a cane, pal. A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place." But as a whole, I find the movie to be a cheap attack on capitalism. The truth of the matter is that the real life stories of M&A and corporate takeovers were exciting enough. Stone had no reason to louse up a good concept with a convoluted plot about that includes every financial headline of the 1980's (insider trading, offshore banking, junk bonds, and corporate takeovers). If you are interested an exciting and engaging account of Wall Street in the 80's, read Michael Lewis classic LIAR'S POKER.
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