Oliver Stone opened fire on the greed decade of the 1980s with this morality tale set on Wall Street. It stars Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox, an ambitious rookie stockbroker from a blue-collar background who is mesmerized by Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a Mephistophelean superbroker who specializes in corporate takeovers. Despite his initial resistance to Bud's entreaties, Gekko finally takes on the eager beaver as his protégé, schooling him in the kind of slash-and-burn maneuvers that have taken Gekko to the top. This style is far more attractive to Fox than the more prosaic but principled approach to investing preached by veteran Lou Mannheim (Hal Holbrook). And, at first, it's impossible to dispute his preference; as Bud's life moves into the fast lane, he quickly acquires an upscale apartment and a girlfriend to match, interior designer Darien (Darryl Hannah). But when Gekko demands that Bud not only break the law but directly undermine his union-leader father, Carl (Martin Sheen), and jeopardize the jobs and lives of his friends and family, he realizes that the cost of success might be more than he's willing to pay. WALL STREET is a riveting, testosterone-fueled tour of the Street's upper echelons, featuring standout performances by Michael Douglas and Martin Sheen.
Set during the height of the late 1980s insider-trading scandals, WALL STREET stars Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox, an ambitious young broker who falls under the spell of superbroker Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). Initially awed by the glitz and wealth of the older man, Bud is all too eager follow his commands, especially after enjoying their results. But he soon realizes that he too is merely a pawn in Gekko's game, as he labors frantically to disentangle his loved ones from the consequences of his own ambition.
The film began shooting April 24, 1987; completed shooting July 4, 1987. Released in the USA December 11, 1987. Shown at the Berlin Film Festival February 1988. Released on video July 7, 1988.
Filmed in New York City and Utah.
Estimated budget: $16 million.
Stone dedicated the film to his stockbroker father.
Shown at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival in a tribute to Edward Pressman.
For maximum authenticity, director Oliver Stone made sure that Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen spent time with numerous brokers and arbitrage experts who were hired as consultants. Sheen also met with a former Wall Street employee who had pleaded guilty to insider trading.
Excerpt: "Greed is good."--Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas)
"The richest one percent of the country own half our country's wealth: five trillion dollars."--Gordon Gekko
DVD Features:
2-Disc Set
Full Frame - 1.33
Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 4.0 - English
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Mono - French, Spanish
Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional
Disc 1: WALL STREET - Theatrical Presentation
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary:
1. Oliver Stone - Director (Old Commentary)
2. Oliver Stone - Director (NewCommentary)
Disc 2: WALL STREET - Supplemental Material
Additional Release Material:
Featurette: "Greed Is Good"
Behind the Scenes: "Money Never Sleeps- The Making of WALL STREET"
Alternate Scenes: Deleted Scenes (w/Optional Commentary)
Introduction: Oliver Stone - Director
Associate Producer
Michael Flynn: Associate Producer
Director of Photography
Robert Richardson: Director of Photography, CASINO (1995)
Production Designer
Stephen Hendrickson: Production Designer
Review 1:
"...Douglas puts his character's ideas across with such seductive self-assurance that conservatives could easily ignore the irony..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
pp.68-9 05/17/1996
Review 2:
"...[WALL STREET] is as good a contemporary story as there is today..."
Source: Variety
12/09/1987
Review 3:
"...It's a wizardly turn by Douglas..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.C1 12/11/1987
Review 4:
"...A richly cast sex-and-power melodrama..."
Source: USA Today
p.13E 11/17/2000
Review 5:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he film remains relevant and gripping....The script is endlessly quotable..."
Source: Ultimate DVD
p.79 05/01/2008
Review 6:
"[T]he 'greed is good' speech that Gekko delivers before an audience of corporate stockholders is a show-stopper."
Source: Premiere
p.68 04/01/2004