Amazon.com essential video: In this crowd-pleasing 1983 comedy of high finance about a homeless con artist who becomes a Wall Street robber baron, Eddie Murphy consolidated the success of his startling debut in the previous year's 48 Hours and polished his slick-winner persona. The turnabout begins with an argument between super-rich siblings, played by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche: Are captains of industry, they wonder, born or made? To settle the issue, the meanies construct a cruel experiment in social Darwinism. Preppie commodities trader Dan Aykroyd (perfectly cast) is stripped of all his worldly goods and expelled from the firm, and Murphy's smelly derelict is appointed to take his place, graduating to tailored suits and a world-class harem in record time. Eventually the two men team up to teach the nasty old manipulators a lesson, cornering the market in frozen orange juice futures in the process. Director John Landis (The Blues Brothers) doesn't have the world's lightest touch, but he hits most of the jokes hard and quite a few of them pay off. Trading Places is also a landmark film for fans of Jamie Lee Curtis. --David Chute
Product Description: Paramount Trading Places: Looking Good, Feeling Good Edition HD-DVD The fun begins when the rich and greedyDuke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) wager a bet over whether born loser Valentine (Eddie Murphy) could become as successful as the priggish Winthorpe (Dan Akroyd) if circumstances were reversed. The Dukes have the money to make this happen,but when Valentine and Winthorpe catch on they arrange for a rich and riotous payback!
And Old Time Best. Gotta have it. This is one of the old time favorites. YOu must have it in your collections of comedies. If you can't buy it, Rent It.
Great Classic Great movie, even better in HD, one of Eddie Murphys best, If you area fan this is going to be a non stop laugh, you cant go wrong, especially with the great supporting cast.
Great DVD Edition I loved this edition of very funny and involved movie. The extras are very nice and very informative. The segment on the trading center was pretty good, although I'd hoped the director should have mentioned the fact that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange was approached for a location shoot, but turned the studio down because it didn't want any disruptions for its daily operation. That is why NYMEX was chosen. Also, there should have been a tribute to Aaron Russo who produced the film.
Details of the rerelease of the Blu-ray edition due out June 3rd, 2008 The Blu-ray "Looking Good, Feeling Good" Edition of Trading Places, which has been unavailable, is being rereleased. It appears to be the very same as before, with the same specs and special features.
The plot of this comedy revolves around a wager between two very rich brothers over nature vs nurture, and specifically whether a rich, successful man and a poor man, if their fortunes were reversed (by "nurture"), would return to their former places because of their nature. To find out, they wreck the career and life of one of the most successful employees in their commodities trading firm (Dan Aykroyd), and take in a street hustler (Eddie Murphy) to train to take his place. (Thus the double meaning of the title.) While this obviously isn't a sociological study, some of the humor and pathos comes from pointing out ways attitudes are shaped by position, and changes in position. It's also a romance, with Jamie Lee Curtis playing the hooker with a heart of gold who falls for the fallen man. And it's a tale of sweet, poetic justice.
Murphy was still fresh in this 1983 film, and Aykroyd and Curtis are also very fun. The script is clever and maintains its logic, in its funny way.
The special features:
-- "Insider Trading: The Making of Trading Places" featurette (18:27) -- "Trading Stories" featurette, interviews with the three main players (7:58) -- "Dressing the Part" featurette (6:30) -- "The Trade in Trading Places" featurette, on how the commodities trading in the movie works (5:24) -- Industry Promotional Piece, which was used to pitch the movie to theaters (4:17) -- trivia pop-ups, a running trivia option -- deleted scene: stealing the crop report, with optional commentary by executive producer George Folsey, Jr. (1:36)
No commentaries.
Specs: 1.85:1 widescreen transfer (1080p), Dolby Digital Plus 5.1, Dolby Digital Mono, subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
The video quality is quite good for a film that wasn't intended to be a visual masterpiece, improved over the standard DVD, with a clean print, fair detail and good color. The surround mix doesn't surround much, but it's clear enough, with good punch for the soundtrack.
I'd give this four and a half stars, but round down for the lack of audio commentaries, which ought to be standard in special editions.
What about Aaron? Amazon has forgotten to mention the great, passed on Aaron Russo who produced this movie. We'll miss you.
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