Customer Reviews
Brilliant lok at the financial excesses of the '80's 
2008-08-08
Barbarians At The Gate focuses more on the personalities and egos that drove the stunning LBO of RJRNabisco. James Garner plays a role you rarely see him in, along with a terrific complement of seasoned actors illustrating the ego clashes and senseless competitiveness that typified the LBO scene of the times. Well paced, with a mix of a dramatic percussion-driven soundtrack with an almost light-hearted unique whistling soundtrack at telling moments, this movie holds your attention from the very beginning. The movie manages to lay out the whole event and cleverly illustrates the insanity without laying on thick judgementalism. You're hard-pressed to find whose greed and whose ego is bigger. A telling scene is where the Chairman of RJR agrees to pay KKR $45 million simply to wait another hour for the board to decide. The book goes into a great deal more history and detail, but the movie captures the mood and atmosphere of the time much better.
So dissapointing....but if you must have low expectations 
2008-07-29
This was my thought process.
1)I love Barbarians at the Gate(the book), I love it so much that I'm going to buy the movie.
2)Wow this movie sucks. I must be maturing because for the first time in my life I can safely say that "the book is so much better than the movie."
3)Whatever I'm just going to watch it all the way through, maybe it'll get good.
4)Damn I'm out 10 bucks, it never got close to good.
Its dirt cheap, and if you must buy it and see how bad it really is. Just make sure your expectations are for something on par with what a highschool film class could put together.
Barbarians and Buffoons rattling at the gates 2007-10-22
Good film : Garner gives a remarkably convincing performance.
Screenplay is well structured and pungently critical of the corporate strategies displayed by all those drawn into the levered buyout game and gamble.
An Entertaining Tool Applicable To Business. 
2007-09-01
This movie, based on a true story, chronicles the sale of RJR Nabisco during an era when Mergers and Acquisitions were at an all time high. James Garner, in a brilliant performance, plays F. Ross Johnson, the CEO of RJR Nabisco who wants to take Nabisco private and be its majority owner.
The movie does a nice job explaining the financial aspects of a LBO(Leveraged Buyout) on such a basic level that anyone can understand. Throughout the film the storyline flows quickly, although at times certain scenes were a little canned and the satire a bit corny.
The backdrop of the movie is loaded with back and forth backstabbing, blatant greed, under the table dealing, and Jonathan Pryce's depiction of Henry Kravis, a Wall Street mover and shaker and corporate raider is outstanding.
Of course by no means this work supersedes the book, but nevertheless you may find the effort quite entertaining.
Over all, I really enjoyed this movie.
Surprisingly good 2007-05-24
I'm a big fan of Garner from way back, ever since he did "Support Your Local Sheriff," a low key but very funny spoof on western films from the early 70s, if I remember right. He seems like a down to earth guy whose big screen stardom never went to his head--much like Sean Connery--who certainly could have let such fame, money and stardom go to his head, too.
This movie chronicles the shenanigans surrounding a leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. You wouldn't think a corporate buyout would be that interesting a subject for a movie, but the movie succeeds on Garner's witty, cynical, repeatedly exasperated, and humorous portrayal of the company's CEO, although the rest of the cast is good too. The movie is also a reminder of the unbridled greed that swept the country in the 80s as hostile takeovers became the rage on Wall St., and it didn't matter how many people lost their jobs or their retirements as long as the takeover sharks got their cut.
As a result of these changes, as my fellow Top 100 reviewer, Jeff Leach, said previously in his much more detailed review, it's a lot harder for the average American to get and hold a job, and make a decent wage. And real wages (which is wages adjusted for inflation) have been declining in the U.S. since the late 60s--another dire trend which is unfortunately likely to continue as a result of competition from India and China, and our increasingly extravagant deficit spending.
Doesn't do Justice to the book 2007-02-14
The 80's... It was a time when everybody was doing the big bucks but f. Ross Johnson CEO of R.J. R. Nabisco has every intention of making a fortune. When Johnson (James Garner) decides to buy out the Nabisco shareholders and take over his company no one is prepared for what hits the fan. Johnson is introduced to the master of the leveraged buyout Henry Kravis (Johnathon Pryce) but afraid of losing the company to this sharp dealer he decides to make his move with Peter Cohen (Peter Riegert). Kravis however is not to be outdone and begins an aggressive campaign of his own. What follows is a down-to-the-wire battle to see who's really king of the Wall Street jungle. They may look like polite well-dressed businessmen but listen hard and you can hear the pounding of BARBARIANS AT THE GATE.Running Time: 107 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 026359083525 Manufacturer No: 90835
A great tell about LBOs 2007-01-12
I really liked this movie. For those who like finance and are aware of the stress that it conveys, Barbarians At The Gate shows the intricacies of LBOs and also how every business has a strong emotional factor that is many times overlooked.
An industry and a time nailed by James Garner 2007-01-09
Though the movie is targteting the US audience I can only recommend this movie for anyone who needs to understand the late 80's and the tobacco business of that time. James Garner does a marvellous performance not only as the CEO of R.J. Reynolds but also as an icon of a time.
Barbaric parody at the Gates 2007-01-09
The screen version of the book is nothing like the book in any manner, except for the characters and the plot. The movie lacks that serious business and glamorous edge that the book brings out. The movie summarises the story and shreds it almost to pieces. The movie rushes through the story in mock-comedy fashion as if the whole shinding was an episode of a comedy series. The book is about the power, greed, bravado and glory that emanated from Wall Street in the roaring '80s and shook the entire financial and business world in that era - globally. The movie misses that point by light years. It's a childish and vindictive parody of a great story. It's also pretends to be a "Dummy's guide to LBO's in the 1980's" when characters explain the salient points of LBO's. I hope another director/producer team will give this another bash and bring to the screen a real powerful and moving story based on this book.
The creator of M*A*S*H wrote this? 2006-10-06
I was surprised to see Larry Gelbart wrote the screenplay of this unfunny movie. I can recall very few laughs in this film. The premise of the film is to highlight the greed of the 1980's, but the lesson is quite dated in the era of Enron and WorldCom. The greed here is apparent and at least honest and upfront, in contrast to the dishonesty and deception of some of the greed of the late 1990's. As for the message, I certainly don't think the shareholders of RJR Reynolds minded being courted so well. If I were a shareholder of a slumping company I'd be mighty grateful to live in a society where people have the freedom to pay whatever crazy price they want for my stock! James Garner is wonderful in this show, and the movie does a nice job of laying out the business concepts in terms your grandmother can understand. I do have to confess, however, to dozing a bit in the middle of this movie, so perhaps I missed the funny parts.
