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Barbarians at the Gate

Barbarians at the Gate

List Price: $9.97
Your Price: $9.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: accurate and fun
Review: Comically captures the 80s zeitgeist while exposing the logistics of MBO's/LBO's better than most business school texts. Highly recommended.



Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well acted!!!!
Review: Garner is good, but Jonathan Pryce was great. Movie explains the financial aspects on such a basic level that anyone outside The Street will understand.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I dislike James Garner, but this is a great movie
Review: Garner is one of the most arrogant, talentless lowlifes in Hollywood, but I have to call a spade a spade-- this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Intriguing, funny at times and suspenseful (in spite of Garner). Well, Garner's character is almost as big a lowlife as he is, so the casting kind of makes sense. Don't miss this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great satire on the 80's and the business world
Review: Great satirical take on an excellent book. James Garner nails Ross Johnson and his desire to takeover his company. Jonathan Pryce makes an excellent Henry Kravis. The supporting characters are very good, too. Funny, sad, sometimes intense. If you haven't read the book yet, the video can help you understand it in a superficial way and will probably make you want to pick it up to get the gory details of how it all came about. Of course, the book is much more straightforward in it's approach.

The video really lampoons the greed of the 1980's and makes the viewer wonder whatever became of the smokeless cigarette.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't Miss This One!
Review: I first saw this movie on HBO when it debuted in 1993 and have watched it over and over ever since. It is hillariously funny yet full of all the drama that the world of corporate buy outs holds - and whether you are familiar with that world or just as ignorant to all of it's inner workings as I was, you will easily follow the story. This movie is very well written (based on actual events that took place at RJR Nabisco)and provides superior performances by both James Garner and Jonathan Pryce. If you enjoy a story that combines comedy and drama geared for those that are beyond those Gen X years - give this a try. You'll love it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: If you read the book, it's a disappointment.
Review: If not, it can be funny even to laymen. Obviously, it's practically impossible to transfer everything from the book to movie. So don't expect too much, Wall Street guys.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: If you read the book, it's a disappointment.
Review: If not, it can be funny even to laymen. Obviously, it's practically impossible to transfer everything from the book to movie. So don't expect too much, Wall Street guys.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Infamous LBO and Characters Interestingly Depicted
Review: In the wild and wooly 1980s, leveraged buyouts (LBOs) -- financed predominantly through the issuance of junk bonds -- reigned supreme. James Garner gives a nice performance as CEO of RJR Nabisco, F. Ross Johnson. After reluctantly meeting with KKR's LBO guru Henry Kravis (portrayed masterfully by Jonathan Pryce), Johnson figures it would be best to go his own route to accomplish the buyout; after all, Johnson wants to retain his autonomy and Pryce would unlikely allow this to happen.

An all-out power war ensues, with Johnson working with Shearson Lehman Brothers pitted against Kravis and the powerhouse Drexel Burnham Lambert (mysteriously downplayed).

The performances are great and the storyline moves fast and holds your interest. Not to be missed if the dynamic world of finance is your thing. A very different movie than Wall Street both cinematically and contextually.

Stars James Garner, Jonathan Pryce (really, really good), and Peter Riegert.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great entertainment if you like Wall Street, etc.
Review: People who complained that this movie doesn't compare to the book should relax a little. Any movie that's based on books cannot do the book justice in less than 2 hours. If you have 3 hours a la Lord of the Rings or 4 hours like the A&E production of Pride & Prejudice, then maybe and I would have adjusted my rating accordingly.

But this movie is under 2 hours and managed to take a very complicated topic in Leveraged Buy-Outs (LBO's) in one of the biggest LBO's of our time in RJR-Nabisco and manages to make the story very entertaining. It flows quickly and I had no trouble following what's going on.

The acting is superb; Jonathan Pryce played Henry Kravis as a cold, calculated and ruthless corporate raider (whether Kravis is like that in real life I don't know) and James Garner did a nice job as F. Ross Johnson. Overall, if you like wall street type movies like Wall Street with Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen, I would highly recommend this movie. In fact, I like this better than Wall Street.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great entertainment if you like Wall Street, etc.
Review: People who complained that this movie doesn't compare to the book should relax a little. Any movie that's based on books cannot do the book justice in less than 2 hours. If you have 3 hours a la Lord of the Rings or 4 hours like the A&E production of Pride & Prejudice, then maybe and I would have adjusted my rating accordingly.

But this movie is under 2 hours and managed to take a very complicated topic in Leveraged Buy-Outs (LBO's) in one of the biggest LBO's of our time in RJR-Nabisco and manages to make the story very entertaining. It flows quickly and I had no trouble following what's going on.

The acting is superb; Jonathan Pryce played Henry Kravis as a cold, calculated and ruthless corporate raider (whether Kravis is like that in real life I don't know) and James Garner did a nice job as F. Ross Johnson. Overall, if you like wall street type movies like Wall Street with Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen, I would highly recommend this movie. In fact, I like this better than Wall Street.


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