Customer Reviews

Barbarians at the Gate (Widescreen)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

This is a great movie, particularly for someone interested in true stories of corporate behavior. Several of my finance professors when I was pursing my MBA recommended this movie. I was not disappointed.

Due to a high volume of profanity, this movie is not appropriate for young children.

The book this movie is made from is a masterpiece of business literature. It is impossible to make that wonderful book into anything less than an extended documentary or a several part mini-series. That being admitted and set aside, this is a very good and very funny movie. Amazingly, it tells a lot of the actual story as you can cram into a standard movie format.

It is bitingly funny and like all satire that truly bites, it is funny because it is based on truth. This movie condenses the RJR - KKR competition into something like a farce (as it seemed in the papers at the time). Some may object to making such a huge deal into something of a joke, but c'mon, this whole deal had a large dose of the absurd about it. How else could they have played this story in two hours?

And it is has the additional benefit of being educational for business students. You will see how managers misuse shareholder money by treating it as if it were their own (agency costs). You will see planeloads of money poured into bad projects (NPV). You will see naked greed, inept investment advice, and broken trust (corporate ethics). You know, late 20th century American business! It is funny, dramatic, and a bit touching, for example, as they fly the sick pooch home on his own private corporate jet. (Which some deny every happening, but it has entered the realm of legend - so whether it happened or not it has become something like a kind of truth.)

James Garner is terrific (he almost always is) as is the whole cast. It really is a delightful movie and that is almost miraculous given how deadly boring this topic could have become.

But don't forget to read the book!

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.

The book was a great read but unfortunately the movie was a disappointment. I have expected the movie to be at the same lines as the book in the manners of suspense and thrill that were major driving elements in this masterpiece. Instead a caricature adaptation that spoiled the drama, adventure and more importantly the Reality which were felt through-out the book. I'd rather give NO stars but to be fair the style of acting deserves some respect therefore I rated it with two stars.

This especially witty satire is one of the best movies about modern corporate attitudes ever made. It's based on the true story of the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco in the 1980s. While the filmmakers have naturally taken some artistic license, I think they capture the spirit of the event. In big business, they assert, given the choice between being greedy and doing the right thing, being greedy usually wins. This was especially true in this case because the bidding war that broke out drove the purchase price into the stratosphere. The company's stock, which had been trading in the $40 range was driven up to over $100. A whole lot of rich people got a whole lot richer.

There are many things to enjoy about "Barbarians at the Gate", not the least of which is James Garner as F. Ross Johnson, the man who ran RJR. He is completely believable as a natural born salesman who rose to run one of the world's biggest corporations. His greed may be a turnoff, but his zest for living is infectious and charming. You can't help liking the guy. His nemesis in this high stakes game in the financier, Henry Kravis, played by Jonathon Pryce. It's a deliciously villainous role, and Pryce makes the most of it. Also of note is the great character actor Peter Riegert as Peter Cohen, Johnson's right-hand man in the deal.

I especially liked the movie's tone. It looks upon the goings on with an eye as jaundiced as the players themselves. It views them as overgrown boys fighting over a very big toy, but it does so with an amused, almost affection, flavor. The result is an enormously entertaining and very funny movie.

This film can be seen as the story telling on the origin of mergers and acquisitions in the history of human which dominates the financial markets activities nowaday.

Want to know what does "Take Over" means ???? Buy it and know it. Perfect for MBA's students.

James Garner is at his best in Barbarians at the Gate, This is a video that should been seen by all. One can't quite believe that this is a true story. You question if the excess' in the movie were exaggerated, I assure you thery weren't. It is a ture faxt that when the RJR Nabisco head left Atlanta, for a Golf Match in Palm Springs, they all took their own private jets. 23 in all. Watch how Garner tries to buyout Nabisco, and see what happens when he gets some stiff competition. This is a ture story, but it and you will enjoy.

This is the true account (albeit, dramatized), of the RJR-Nabisco Corporate takeover which took place in the mid-80's. James Garner plays Ross Johnson, Candian-born CEO of RJR-Nabisco, Inc. At a Nabisco-sponsored golf outing, Ross gets a suggestion that he should try to buy out the Company himself, and, in turn make big sacks of the green stuff. He then finds himself tangling with leverage buy-out king, Henry Kravis, who doesn't take kindly to Ross trying to do the deal without him. Then, chaos ensues as all parties involved outstep each other, and try to keep up at the same time. There's more to the story than that, but I shall not give it all away. Grab an Oreo and a Cig, sit back and watch. Note: This film was originally produced and shown on HBO. Also starring: Joanna Cassidy, Fred Thompson (now U.S. Senator Thompson), and Peter Riegert.