- Phoebe Cates (1963- )
Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2014
Acting, Phoebe Cates
- Phoebe Cates (1963- )
Friday, April 2, 2010
Clash of the Titans (2010)
Clash of the Titans (2010)
Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Kevin De La Noy, Lynn Harris
Studio: Legendary Pictures
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s): April 2, 2010
Running time: 118 minutes
Country: United Kingdom, United States
Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name. As with the 1981 film, the story is very loosely based upon the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010. However, it was later announced that the film would be converted to 3D and was finally released on April 2, 2010.
Plot
The film begins with a narration that explains the three Olympians who battled the Titans long ago: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Hades provided their means of defeating the Titans with his creation, the Kraken. After the Titans' defeat, Zeus created humans and ruled them while Poseidon ruled the sea, but Hades, having been deceived by his brother Zeus, was forced to rule the Underworld, learns an alternative way of gaining power from humans different from his brothers receiving theirs from human prayer: through fear.
Millennia later, a fisherman named Spyros finds a coffin adrift in the sea, discovering a baby, Perseus, and his dead mother, Danaë, inside. Spyros decides to raise Perseus as his own. Years later, Perseus and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a statue of Zeus as a declaration of war against the Gods. Hades appears and commands harpies to massacre the soldiers before he himself destroys Perseus' family's fishing boat. Perseus tries to save his family, but to no avail, the surviving soldiers take Perseus back to Argos. During a feast for the returning soldiers, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Argos compare themselves and their daughter, Andromeda, to the Gods much to their daughter's dismay. After convincing his brother to let him loose on humanity to punish Argos for its defiance, Hades appears in the courtroom before killing the remaining soldiers while Perseus is unaffected. Revealing Perseus to be the Demigod son of Zeus, and aging Cassiopeia to death, Hades threatens that if Princess Andromeda is not sacrificed to the Kraken, Argos will be destroyed in 10 days. Hermes, the messenger God, approaches Zeus on Olympus, revealing the location of his son Perseus. While Hermes suggests offering Perseus sanctuary, Zeus declares that he shall be left to his fate, along with the other infidel mortals.
The king seeks the help of Perseus after he is beaten and threatened to be thrown in a fire pit. Perseus initially refuses and gets locked in the dungeon, until he meets Io, a woman who does not age as punishment for refusing to be seduced by the God Ares. Io then reveals her conception was a punishment conducted by Zeus on Acrisius, the former king of Argos who was married to Danaë, for his actions against the Gods.Zeus sneaks in disguised as an eagle. Zeus copulated with Danaë and, as Acrisius came in, escaped. When Acrisius sets Danaë and the baby Perseus adrift in their coffin, an enraged Zeus struck Acrisius with lightning, leaving him hideously disfigured. After learning that killing the Kraken would allow him to have his revenge against Hades, Perseus accepts as he and Argos' finest soldiers embark on a quest to find the Stygian Witches with a pair of Persian monster-hunters named Ixas and Kucuk, and Io following. To counter this turn of events, Hades enlists Acrisius, now called Calibos, to kill off Perseus by imbuing him with superhuman powers.
While in the woods, Perseus and his men discover a sword forged in Olympus that will only display power if it is wielded by Perseus. While separated from the group, Perseus encounters Zeus' sacred herd of flying horses, the Pegasus. However, Perseus refuses both the sword and the pure-black Pegasus that the Gods were offering as assistance, as he does not wish to be a God. Calibos attacks the group and tries to murder Perseus, killing several soldiers in the process, but Calibos is unsuccessful, losing his hand before escaping. However, Calibos's blood forms giant scorpions from the sand that attack Perseus and his group. Though they slay several scorpions, most of the group are slain, and the survivors are surrounded by more of the monsters. They are saved by the Djinn, a band of shamans once human, who have turned themselves into the Demons of Arabian mythology by replacing their earthly flesh with ash and stone; thus making them immortal. The mysterious beings are able to hypnotize the scorpions into submission. Though not trusted prior to healing Perseus's wound, the Djinn leader, Sheikh Suleiman, joins Perseus's group as his kind wish to see the Gods wish for destruction to fail.
The heroes arrive at Garden of Stygia, learning from the Stygian Witches that the head of the Gorgon Medusa could kill the Kraken, but that Perseus and his group will die in the process. After leaving the witches, with the hunters taking their leave, Perseus is visited by Zeus who offers him asylum on Mount Olympus, but he refuses. Zeus gives him instead a golden drachma, which Perseus later learns is a means to bribe Charon for passage into the Underworld. While Io remains outside Medusa's lair, due to a spell that forbids any woman from entering the area, Perseus's remaining soldiers fight hard to stay alive, turning to stone one by one by her gaze. But with Suleiman self-destructing himself and Draco's sacrifice, Perseus manages to behead Medusa. Perseus emerges in time to see Calibos stab Io from behind. Perseus engages Calibos in combat and kills him using the sword from Olympus, turning him back into Acrisius in human form. With his final breath as Hades's power leaving him, Acrisius tells Perseus to never become a God. Perseus stays with the dying Io until she passes on and flies away in gold dust to Olympus. He then rides Pegasus back to Argos with Medusa's head to find some of Argos's citizens have formed a Cult of Hades and are planning to sacrifice Andromeda to the Kraken against the king's wishes. By then, Hades reveals to Zeus the destruction of Argos will give him enough power to overthrow the other Olympians; when Zeus reveals Perseus is still alive in Argos, Hades leaves his powerless brother to ensure his victory.
Perseus returns to Argos, but Hades sends his harpies to stop him. Perseus defeats the creatures sent by Hades and uses the head of Medusa to turn the Kraken into stone as Cepheus is killed by the cult leader, who is then crushed under the shattering Kraken. Hades appears and sneers that Perseus cannot kill him, since he is a God. Perseus retorts that while Hades can live forever, it will not be in the world of men and uses the sword with Zeus' lightning bolt to banish Hades back to the Underworld. After saving Argos from destruction and Andromeda from drowning, Andromeda herself suggests that Perseus will become king and rule Argos at her side, but he declines. On the broken statue of Zeus, the God of Olympus appears before Perseus again and offers to make him a God, but for a second time he refuses. Zeus warns Perseus that Hades will return to rule the world in darkness when he amasses enough fear from mankind. Since Perseus is intent to stay on Earth, Zeus resurrects Io, and the two embrace while Pegasus flies above them.
Cast
Sam Worthington as Perseus main protagonist, and son of Zeus
Liam Neeson as Zeus, the leader of the Gods of Mount Olympus
Ralph Fiennes as Hades, God of the Underworld and the primary villain
Gemma Arterton as Io, a woman cursed with agelessness who guides Perseus in his quest and narrates the Titanomachy at the start of the film
Alexa Davalos as Andromeda, the princess that will be sacrificed to the kraken
Izabella Miko as Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge
Mads Mikkelsen as Draco, leader of the Praetorian Guard
Jason Flemyng as Acrisius/Calibos
Danny Huston as Poseidon, God of the rivers, oceans and seas
David Kennedy as Cepheus's General
Tamer Hassan as Ares, God of war and battle
Pete Postlethwaite as Spyros, foster father of Perseus
Polly Walker as Cassiopeia, Queen of Argos
Vincent Regan as Cepheus, King of Argos
Luke Treadaway as Prokopion
Luke Evans as Apollo, God of the Sun, Poetry, Truth, Art and Healing.
Nathalie Cox as Artemis, Goddess of hunting and animals
Nina Young as Hera, Goddess of women and marriage and a wife of Zeus
Kaya Scodelario as Peshet
Nicholas Hoult as Eusebios
Ian Whyte as Sheikh Sulieman, The Djinn who assisted Perseus and the praetorian guards of Argos
Agyness Deyn as Aphrodite, Goddess of love, sex and beauty
Paul Kynman as Hephaestus, God of fire
Alexander Siddig as Hermes, Messenger of the Gods
Charlotte Comer as Demeter, Goddess of the Earth and agriculture
Jane March as Hestia, Goddess of the hearth
Natalia Vodianova as Medusa, The mortal Gorgon
Hans Matheson as Ixas
Mouloud Achour as Kucuk
Liam Cunningham as Solon
Ross Mullan as Pemphredo
Ashraf Barhom as Ozal
Creatures
Stygian Witches - Three women with gray skin and only one eye they share amongst them. They have a taste for human flesh, as their "knowledge demands payment".
Giant scorpions - Scorpions born from the blood of Acrisius; hypnotized by the Djinn.
Gorgon - Medusa the gorgon appears in the film as a giant, half snake, half human creature. She is beheaded by Perseus, leaving the rest of her body to fall into a lava pit.
Djinn - spirit beings living in the desert with magical powers.
Kraken - an enormous sea monster who defeated the titans and was turned to stone by Medusa's head.
Harpies - Winged demons who come from the body of Hades.
Pegasus - The winged horse that Perseus uses to ride to the confrontation with the Kraken.
Bubo - The mechanical owl from the 1981 film makes a cameo appearance early in the film.
Sequel
It has been stated that a sequel will be developed. Director Louis Leterrier will not come back to direct but will be an executive producer on the project. Clash of the Titans II has a tentative 2012 release date.
Greek mythology in popular culture | English-language films | American epic films | Films based on Greco-Roman mythology | Film remakes | Warner Bros. films | Legendary Pictures films | American fantasy adventure films | 3-D films | D-BOX motion-enhanced films | 2010 films
Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Kevin De La Noy, Lynn Harris
Studio: Legendary Pictures
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s): April 2, 2010
Running time: 118 minutes
Country: United Kingdom, United States
Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name. As with the 1981 film, the story is very loosely based upon the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010. However, it was later announced that the film would be converted to 3D and was finally released on April 2, 2010.
Plot
The film begins with a narration that explains the three Olympians who battled the Titans long ago: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Hades provided their means of defeating the Titans with his creation, the Kraken. After the Titans' defeat, Zeus created humans and ruled them while Poseidon ruled the sea, but Hades, having been deceived by his brother Zeus, was forced to rule the Underworld, learns an alternative way of gaining power from humans different from his brothers receiving theirs from human prayer: through fear.
Millennia later, a fisherman named Spyros finds a coffin adrift in the sea, discovering a baby, Perseus, and his dead mother, Danaë, inside. Spyros decides to raise Perseus as his own. Years later, Perseus and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a statue of Zeus as a declaration of war against the Gods. Hades appears and commands harpies to massacre the soldiers before he himself destroys Perseus' family's fishing boat. Perseus tries to save his family, but to no avail, the surviving soldiers take Perseus back to Argos. During a feast for the returning soldiers, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Argos compare themselves and their daughter, Andromeda, to the Gods much to their daughter's dismay. After convincing his brother to let him loose on humanity to punish Argos for its defiance, Hades appears in the courtroom before killing the remaining soldiers while Perseus is unaffected. Revealing Perseus to be the Demigod son of Zeus, and aging Cassiopeia to death, Hades threatens that if Princess Andromeda is not sacrificed to the Kraken, Argos will be destroyed in 10 days. Hermes, the messenger God, approaches Zeus on Olympus, revealing the location of his son Perseus. While Hermes suggests offering Perseus sanctuary, Zeus declares that he shall be left to his fate, along with the other infidel mortals.
The king seeks the help of Perseus after he is beaten and threatened to be thrown in a fire pit. Perseus initially refuses and gets locked in the dungeon, until he meets Io, a woman who does not age as punishment for refusing to be seduced by the God Ares. Io then reveals her conception was a punishment conducted by Zeus on Acrisius, the former king of Argos who was married to Danaë, for his actions against the Gods.Zeus sneaks in disguised as an eagle. Zeus copulated with Danaë and, as Acrisius came in, escaped. When Acrisius sets Danaë and the baby Perseus adrift in their coffin, an enraged Zeus struck Acrisius with lightning, leaving him hideously disfigured. After learning that killing the Kraken would allow him to have his revenge against Hades, Perseus accepts as he and Argos' finest soldiers embark on a quest to find the Stygian Witches with a pair of Persian monster-hunters named Ixas and Kucuk, and Io following. To counter this turn of events, Hades enlists Acrisius, now called Calibos, to kill off Perseus by imbuing him with superhuman powers.
While in the woods, Perseus and his men discover a sword forged in Olympus that will only display power if it is wielded by Perseus. While separated from the group, Perseus encounters Zeus' sacred herd of flying horses, the Pegasus. However, Perseus refuses both the sword and the pure-black Pegasus that the Gods were offering as assistance, as he does not wish to be a God. Calibos attacks the group and tries to murder Perseus, killing several soldiers in the process, but Calibos is unsuccessful, losing his hand before escaping. However, Calibos's blood forms giant scorpions from the sand that attack Perseus and his group. Though they slay several scorpions, most of the group are slain, and the survivors are surrounded by more of the monsters. They are saved by the Djinn, a band of shamans once human, who have turned themselves into the Demons of Arabian mythology by replacing their earthly flesh with ash and stone; thus making them immortal. The mysterious beings are able to hypnotize the scorpions into submission. Though not trusted prior to healing Perseus's wound, the Djinn leader, Sheikh Suleiman, joins Perseus's group as his kind wish to see the Gods wish for destruction to fail.
The heroes arrive at Garden of Stygia, learning from the Stygian Witches that the head of the Gorgon Medusa could kill the Kraken, but that Perseus and his group will die in the process. After leaving the witches, with the hunters taking their leave, Perseus is visited by Zeus who offers him asylum on Mount Olympus, but he refuses. Zeus gives him instead a golden drachma, which Perseus later learns is a means to bribe Charon for passage into the Underworld. While Io remains outside Medusa's lair, due to a spell that forbids any woman from entering the area, Perseus's remaining soldiers fight hard to stay alive, turning to stone one by one by her gaze. But with Suleiman self-destructing himself and Draco's sacrifice, Perseus manages to behead Medusa. Perseus emerges in time to see Calibos stab Io from behind. Perseus engages Calibos in combat and kills him using the sword from Olympus, turning him back into Acrisius in human form. With his final breath as Hades's power leaving him, Acrisius tells Perseus to never become a God. Perseus stays with the dying Io until she passes on and flies away in gold dust to Olympus. He then rides Pegasus back to Argos with Medusa's head to find some of Argos's citizens have formed a Cult of Hades and are planning to sacrifice Andromeda to the Kraken against the king's wishes. By then, Hades reveals to Zeus the destruction of Argos will give him enough power to overthrow the other Olympians; when Zeus reveals Perseus is still alive in Argos, Hades leaves his powerless brother to ensure his victory.
Perseus returns to Argos, but Hades sends his harpies to stop him. Perseus defeats the creatures sent by Hades and uses the head of Medusa to turn the Kraken into stone as Cepheus is killed by the cult leader, who is then crushed under the shattering Kraken. Hades appears and sneers that Perseus cannot kill him, since he is a God. Perseus retorts that while Hades can live forever, it will not be in the world of men and uses the sword with Zeus' lightning bolt to banish Hades back to the Underworld. After saving Argos from destruction and Andromeda from drowning, Andromeda herself suggests that Perseus will become king and rule Argos at her side, but he declines. On the broken statue of Zeus, the God of Olympus appears before Perseus again and offers to make him a God, but for a second time he refuses. Zeus warns Perseus that Hades will return to rule the world in darkness when he amasses enough fear from mankind. Since Perseus is intent to stay on Earth, Zeus resurrects Io, and the two embrace while Pegasus flies above them.
Cast
Sam Worthington as Perseus main protagonist, and son of Zeus
Liam Neeson as Zeus, the leader of the Gods of Mount Olympus
Ralph Fiennes as Hades, God of the Underworld and the primary villain
Gemma Arterton as Io, a woman cursed with agelessness who guides Perseus in his quest and narrates the Titanomachy at the start of the film
Alexa Davalos as Andromeda, the princess that will be sacrificed to the kraken
Izabella Miko as Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge
Mads Mikkelsen as Draco, leader of the Praetorian Guard
Jason Flemyng as Acrisius/Calibos
Danny Huston as Poseidon, God of the rivers, oceans and seas
David Kennedy as Cepheus's General
Tamer Hassan as Ares, God of war and battle
Pete Postlethwaite as Spyros, foster father of Perseus
Polly Walker as Cassiopeia, Queen of Argos
Vincent Regan as Cepheus, King of Argos
Luke Treadaway as Prokopion
Luke Evans as Apollo, God of the Sun, Poetry, Truth, Art and Healing.
Nathalie Cox as Artemis, Goddess of hunting and animals
Nina Young as Hera, Goddess of women and marriage and a wife of Zeus
Kaya Scodelario as Peshet
Nicholas Hoult as Eusebios
Ian Whyte as Sheikh Sulieman, The Djinn who assisted Perseus and the praetorian guards of Argos
Agyness Deyn as Aphrodite, Goddess of love, sex and beauty
Paul Kynman as Hephaestus, God of fire
Alexander Siddig as Hermes, Messenger of the Gods
Charlotte Comer as Demeter, Goddess of the Earth and agriculture
Jane March as Hestia, Goddess of the hearth
Natalia Vodianova as Medusa, The mortal Gorgon
Hans Matheson as Ixas
Mouloud Achour as Kucuk
Liam Cunningham as Solon
Ross Mullan as Pemphredo
Ashraf Barhom as Ozal
Creatures
Stygian Witches - Three women with gray skin and only one eye they share amongst them. They have a taste for human flesh, as their "knowledge demands payment".
Giant scorpions - Scorpions born from the blood of Acrisius; hypnotized by the Djinn.
Gorgon - Medusa the gorgon appears in the film as a giant, half snake, half human creature. She is beheaded by Perseus, leaving the rest of her body to fall into a lava pit.
Djinn - spirit beings living in the desert with magical powers.
Kraken - an enormous sea monster who defeated the titans and was turned to stone by Medusa's head.
Harpies - Winged demons who come from the body of Hades.
Pegasus - The winged horse that Perseus uses to ride to the confrontation with the Kraken.
Bubo - The mechanical owl from the 1981 film makes a cameo appearance early in the film.
Sequel
It has been stated that a sequel will be developed. Director Louis Leterrier will not come back to direct but will be an executive producer on the project. Clash of the Titans II has a tentative 2012 release date.
Greek mythology in popular culture | English-language films | American epic films | Films based on Greco-Roman mythology | Film remakes | Warner Bros. films | Legendary Pictures films | American fantasy adventure films | 3-D films | D-BOX motion-enhanced films | 2010 films
Friday, October 2, 1998
AntZ (1988)
AntZ (1988)
Alternative Names (異名):
AntZ, 개미
Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson
Studio: DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images
Distributed by: DreamWorks Pictures, Pacific Data Images
MPAA: Rated PG for mild language and menacing action
Release date(s): October 2, 1998
Alternative Names (異名):
AntZ, 개미
Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson
Studio: DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images
Distributed by: DreamWorks Pictures, Pacific Data Images
MPAA: Rated PG for mild language and menacing action
Release date(s): October 2, 1998
Friday, December 11, 1987
Wall Street (1987)
Wall Street (1987)
Wall Street is a 1987 American drama film released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Oliver Stone and stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Daryl Hannah. The screenplay was written by Stanley Weiser and Stone. The film tells the story of Bud Fox (Sheen), a young stockbroker desperate to succeed and becomes involved with his hero, Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a wealthy, unscrupulous corporate raider.
Stone made the film as a tribute to his father, Lou Stone, a stockbroker during the Great Depression. The character of Gekko is said to be a composite of several people, including Owen Morrisey, Dennis Levine, Ivan Boesky, Carl Icahn, Asher Edelman, Michael Ovitz, Michael Milken, and Stone himself. Originally, the studio wanted Warren Beatty to play Gekko but he was not interested and Stone wanted Richard Gere but the actor passed. Stone went with Douglas even though he had been advised by others in Hollywood not to cast him.
The film was well-received among major film critics including Roger Ebert and The New York Times. Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film has come to be seen as the archetypal portrayal of 1980s excess, with Douglas's character advocating that "greed, for lack of a better word, is good". It has also proven influential in inspiring people to work on Wall Street with Sheen, Douglas and Stone commenting over the years how people still approach them and say that they became stockbrokers because of their respective characters in the film.
Stone and Douglas have reunited for a sequel titled Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which will be released on September 24, 2010.
Plot
In 1985, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), a junior stockbroker at Jackson Steinem & Co., is desperate to get to the top. He wants to become involved with his hero, the corporate raider Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a ruthless and legendary Wall Street player whose values could not conflict more with those of Bud's father Carl (Martin Sheen), a blue-collar airline maintenance foreman. Bud visits Gekko on his birthday and, granted a brief interview, pitches him stocks but Gekko is unimpressed. Realizing that Gekko may not do business with him, a desperate Bud provides him with some inside information about Bluestar Airlines, which Bud had learned in a casual conversation the day before from his father. Gekko tells him he will think about it. A dejected Bud returns to his office where Gekko places an order for Bluestar stock, becoming one of Bud's clients.
Gekko gives Bud some capital to manage, but the shares that Bud selects – by honest research – lose money. Instead Gekko takes Bud under his wing, but compels him to unearth new information by any means necessary, including unethical and illegal means. One of his first assignments is to spy on British corporate raider Sir Lawrence Wildman (Terence Stamp) and discern the Brit's next move. Through Bud's spying, Gekko makes big money and Wildman is forced to buy Gekko's shares off him to complete his control of a steel company
Bud becomes wealthy, enjoying Gekko's promised perks, including a penthouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side and a trophy blonde, interior decorator Darien (Daryl Hannah). Still employed by Jackson Steinem, Bud is promoted as a result of the large commission fees which he is bringing in from Gekko's trading, and is given a corner office with a view. He continues to maximize insider information and use friends as straw buyers to get rich.
Bud pitches a new idea to Gekko, to buy Bluestar Airlines and expand the company, with Bud as president, using savings achieved by union concessions. Bud persuades his father, Carl, who dislikes Gekko, to get union support for the plan and push for the deal. Things change when Bud learns that Gekko, in fact, plans to sell off Bluestar's assets, leaving Carl and the entire Bluestar staff unemployed. Although this would leave Bud very rich, he is angered by Gekko's deceit, and racked with the guilt of being an accessory to Bluestar's destruction. Bud chooses his father over his mentor and resolves to disrupt Gekko's plans. He angrily breaks up with Darien, who refuses to plot against Gekko, a former lover and the architect of her career.
Bud creates a plan to manipulate Bluestar's stock value downwards. Gekko, realizing that his stock is plummeting, finally dumps his remaining interest in the company, only to learn on the evening news that the shares have been picked up at a lower price by Sir Lawrence Wildman, who will become the airline's new majority shareholder. Gekko realizes that Bud engineered the entire scheme. Bud triumphantly goes back to work at Jackson Steinem & Co. the following day, where he is confronted by the police and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bud is placed under arrest, handcuffed, and led out of the office in tears.
Sometime later, Bud confronts Gekko in Central Park. Gekko berates him for his role with Bluestar. He then viciously assaults Bud, but not before mentioning several of their illegal business transactions. Following the confrontation, it is revealed that he was wearing a wire to record his encounter with Gekko. He turns the wire tapes over to the federal authorities, who suggest that his sentence will be lightened in exchange for his help. Later on, Bud's parents drive him to the courthouse and Carl tells him he did right in saving the airline, but he'll most likely go to jail. The film ends with Bud going up the steps of the courthouse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_(1987_film)
American films | English-language films | 1987 films | 1980s drama films | American business films | American drama films | Films directed by Oliver Stone | Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award winning performance | Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance | Films set in New York City | Trading films | 20th Century Fox films
| Directed by | Oliver Stone |
| Produced by | Edward R. Pressman |
| Written by | Oliver Stone, Stanley Weiser |
| Starring | Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, Sean Young, John C. McGinley, Hal Holbrook, Terrance Stamp |
| Music by | Stewart Copeland |
| Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
| Editing by | Claire Simpson |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | December 11, 1987 |
| Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $43,848,100 |
| Followed by | Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps |
Wall Street is a 1987 American drama film released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Oliver Stone and stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Daryl Hannah. The screenplay was written by Stanley Weiser and Stone. The film tells the story of Bud Fox (Sheen), a young stockbroker desperate to succeed and becomes involved with his hero, Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a wealthy, unscrupulous corporate raider.
Stone made the film as a tribute to his father, Lou Stone, a stockbroker during the Great Depression. The character of Gekko is said to be a composite of several people, including Owen Morrisey, Dennis Levine, Ivan Boesky, Carl Icahn, Asher Edelman, Michael Ovitz, Michael Milken, and Stone himself. Originally, the studio wanted Warren Beatty to play Gekko but he was not interested and Stone wanted Richard Gere but the actor passed. Stone went with Douglas even though he had been advised by others in Hollywood not to cast him.
The film was well-received among major film critics including Roger Ebert and The New York Times. Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film has come to be seen as the archetypal portrayal of 1980s excess, with Douglas's character advocating that "greed, for lack of a better word, is good". It has also proven influential in inspiring people to work on Wall Street with Sheen, Douglas and Stone commenting over the years how people still approach them and say that they became stockbrokers because of their respective characters in the film.
Stone and Douglas have reunited for a sequel titled Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which will be released on September 24, 2010.
Plot
In 1985, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), a junior stockbroker at Jackson Steinem & Co., is desperate to get to the top. He wants to become involved with his hero, the corporate raider Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a ruthless and legendary Wall Street player whose values could not conflict more with those of Bud's father Carl (Martin Sheen), a blue-collar airline maintenance foreman. Bud visits Gekko on his birthday and, granted a brief interview, pitches him stocks but Gekko is unimpressed. Realizing that Gekko may not do business with him, a desperate Bud provides him with some inside information about Bluestar Airlines, which Bud had learned in a casual conversation the day before from his father. Gekko tells him he will think about it. A dejected Bud returns to his office where Gekko places an order for Bluestar stock, becoming one of Bud's clients.
Gekko gives Bud some capital to manage, but the shares that Bud selects – by honest research – lose money. Instead Gekko takes Bud under his wing, but compels him to unearth new information by any means necessary, including unethical and illegal means. One of his first assignments is to spy on British corporate raider Sir Lawrence Wildman (Terence Stamp) and discern the Brit's next move. Through Bud's spying, Gekko makes big money and Wildman is forced to buy Gekko's shares off him to complete his control of a steel company
Bud becomes wealthy, enjoying Gekko's promised perks, including a penthouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side and a trophy blonde, interior decorator Darien (Daryl Hannah). Still employed by Jackson Steinem, Bud is promoted as a result of the large commission fees which he is bringing in from Gekko's trading, and is given a corner office with a view. He continues to maximize insider information and use friends as straw buyers to get rich.
Bud pitches a new idea to Gekko, to buy Bluestar Airlines and expand the company, with Bud as president, using savings achieved by union concessions. Bud persuades his father, Carl, who dislikes Gekko, to get union support for the plan and push for the deal. Things change when Bud learns that Gekko, in fact, plans to sell off Bluestar's assets, leaving Carl and the entire Bluestar staff unemployed. Although this would leave Bud very rich, he is angered by Gekko's deceit, and racked with the guilt of being an accessory to Bluestar's destruction. Bud chooses his father over his mentor and resolves to disrupt Gekko's plans. He angrily breaks up with Darien, who refuses to plot against Gekko, a former lover and the architect of her career.
Bud creates a plan to manipulate Bluestar's stock value downwards. Gekko, realizing that his stock is plummeting, finally dumps his remaining interest in the company, only to learn on the evening news that the shares have been picked up at a lower price by Sir Lawrence Wildman, who will become the airline's new majority shareholder. Gekko realizes that Bud engineered the entire scheme. Bud triumphantly goes back to work at Jackson Steinem & Co. the following day, where he is confronted by the police and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bud is placed under arrest, handcuffed, and led out of the office in tears.
Sometime later, Bud confronts Gekko in Central Park. Gekko berates him for his role with Bluestar. He then viciously assaults Bud, but not before mentioning several of their illegal business transactions. Following the confrontation, it is revealed that he was wearing a wire to record his encounter with Gekko. He turns the wire tapes over to the federal authorities, who suggest that his sentence will be lightened in exchange for his help. Later on, Bud's parents drive him to the courthouse and Carl tells him he did right in saving the airline, but he'll most likely go to jail. The film ends with Bud going up the steps of the courthouse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_(1987_film)
American films | English-language films | 1987 films | 1980s drama films | American business films | American drama films | Films directed by Oliver Stone | Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award winning performance | Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance | Films set in New York City | Trading films | 20th Century Fox films
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