Blu-ray dvd movie review of Trading Places
April 16, 2009
The younger generation haven’t had chance to watch any decent Eddie Murphy comedies like some of the older folks like myself. Besides the Shrek franchise, Meet Dave and Norbit are some of the worst Eddie Murphy films. You really wouldn’t have expected that from an actor who made us laugh with Beverly Hills Cop, 48 Hours, and Coming to America. Trading Places is another comedy gem with Eddie Murphy. Trading Places was one of the first movie to feature the SNL funnyman Eddie Murphy.
The movie is about an experiment/bet placed by two rich Duke Brothers, think of Lehman brothers. They bet that with right environment, anybody can become a rich upper-class person and anybody can become poor. To carry out this bet, they forcibly put Louis Winthorpe III in bad situation and put Billy Ray in his place. Louis, played by Dan Akroyd is rich investment type whereas Billy Ray is low life conman. This sets up classic mistaken identity/role reversal film. Louis is put through some hardship and Billy is pampered in rich lifestyle. One day, Billy overhears the Duke Brothers talking about the bet and decides to take revenge on them along with Louis. So they pool their knowledge. Louis brings the financial market knowledge and Billy brining in the criminal side. Together, they hatch plan to make themselves rich and ruin Duke Brothers.
Simply put, this is one of the funniest Eddie Murphy movie. Along with Dan Akroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis, Eddie Murphy delivers one of his best performances in this film. Released back in 1983, this is one of the funniest films of the 1980s. I might also add that it’s feel good movie where the greedy bastards get their due. And, it’s somewhat ironic that the Lehman’s fate is somewhat similar to that of Duke Brothers. Overall, movie you can appreciate in any time.
What do you think about this movie? Please leave your thoughts below.
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Trading Places
What’s to say? Trading Places in Blu-Ray high def…..it just don’t get any better than this!
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A perfect example of why the ’80s rocked!
forget the stupid and insipid works of this decade or much of the ’90s. This along with ‘Animal House’ and its elk still stand as comic gold to this day. I’ll find it somewhat impossible to find that anything now will hold a candle to what has come out from the past.
Than again, the Black & White ‘His girl Friday’ is truly a classic that still has the side splitting gold to hurt me every time I watch it!
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“You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people.”
Whatever happened to John Landis, the man who is responsible for such gems as Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Thriller (1983), Coming to America (1988)? He is desperately needed now when the situation with the comedies in Hollywood could be described as tragically horrible or horrifyingly tragic. Now when I think of it, even his less successful Spies Like Us (1985) and Three Amigos! (1986) were very funny and enjoyable. Landis has also directed nine episodes of the cult TV show, the first Sex and City, Dream On, and believe me, Dream On was fabulous. Of all mentioned films, Trading Places is one of the best, at least for me. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen this funny and clever comedy. Trading Places tells the story of two men who were far from each other in any possible way as yes and no – one Harvard graduate, a successful snobbish commodity broker, the financial wizard with bright future in front of him, and great present that included a stunning fiancée, membership in a prestigious exclusive club, and even a butler, a true English gentleman. The other – a black street hustler, a small time drug dealer from the wrong site of the town. What could possibly bring them together and even make them partners out for revenge? You may say the fate or you may say, boredom and intrigues of two very rich, very arrogant, very shameless men – Brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche), the founders and owners of Philadelphia commodity stock Exchange who liked to make bets to prove their points about nature versus nurture theory and enjoyed watching how other people’s reputations, happiness and even lives crumbles in front of them. The brothers were curious to find out what is primary, the environment or heredity in forming a human? What would happen if take a successful, well off man, ruin his reputation and throw him on the street and substitute him with a streetwise petty criminal? How would they adjust and what would they do to survive such unexpected turn of fortune? Well, it sounds rather dramatic but the movie is a masterpiece of comedy. It is not just good; it is timeless comedy that does not show a trace of growing outdated. It is based not only on the comic situations but on the changing characters, their communication, getting together and creating the team that would make revenge sweet, smart, and totally satisfying. The acting of two major players, Dan Aycroyd and Eddie Murphy is marvelous. Santa episode is among the funniest yet poignant I’ve seen. Just to think of Aycroyd, hiding behind a dirty Santa beard and growling like an angry animal over the smoked salmon that he stole from the Christmas party at his former company and hid on his chest made me laugh hysterically. There is also Jamie Lee Curtis with the legs growing from her ears, beautiful smile, and heart of gold. And she is topless in one of the scenes, too, which only adds to the movie’s pleasures. There is the craziest New Year Party on the train that involves drunken James Belucci, a melancholic lovelorn gorilla, the coldblooded villain Clarence Beeks (Paul Gleason) who would become the object of unbearable desire of above mentioned gorilla, and two baggage handlers, marveling over how human the “gorilla” appears, and sending two gorillas to Africa in one cell. And there is incredible Denholm Elliott, the loyal butler Coleman to both Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy). To top it all, there is the greatest (I am sure of it) scene of betting on future trading on the commodities trading floor that involves short-selling orange juice futures and turning an enormous profit for some characters and equally enormous loss for the others. For the life of mine, I can’t get the idea but I enjoy the scene tremendously every time I watch this classic. Highly recommended.
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Aaron Russo
Interesting to note that the producer is mentioned not even once in the extras. Perhaps because of his activism in his last years ?
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Great Classic
The Blu-Ray version of this this classic is great. It’s the unedited version with the pop-up fun facts. I’d forgotten how funny this movie is. A terrific cast with a super-funny script and full frontal nudity from a 24 yr old Jamie Lee Curtis doesn’t hurt either. Definitely reccomended.
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You’d expect new CDs to be new…
Well first of all, when I ordered the shipment, I payed for 3 day shipping. 2 weeks later I got the shipment. Amazon was great about it though, and refunded my shipping charge. My only other complaint is how the CD was damaged when I got it. Even though I bought it brand new, it had a tiny scratch in it which made the movie jump frame every few minutes. A bit distracting to say the least.
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everything as expected
nice dvd, as described, packaged well and shipped quickly. no disappointments. i would buy from again.
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Trading Places
This was made when Eddie was funny and hungry, before he started collecting pay checks for phoning it in. Compare him here and in Beverly Hills Cop with some of his recent work. Aykroyd and Curtis are fine here also. The director tries to create comedy out of the “nature vs. nurture” argument, but the cast hijacks the movie and turns it into a romp.
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Still Looking Good, Billy Ray
Sometimes a classic movie is too dated to hold up. Fortunately that’s not the case with Trading Places. Exceedingly enjoyable all over again and it’s refreshing to hear the lines as originally spoken (instead of coming from me, or one of my friends incessantly for the past 25 years; “I’m a karate man. I bruise on the inside.”, “I’m a #@*%ing gorilla, ya clown!”, etc.).
The extras are fun, too. Most interesting was how uncomfortable Don Ameche was about doing his line when Randall falls ill on the floor of the commodities exchange (since his delivery is so outrageous).
The hardest part is deciding what the single best moment from the movie is:
- Dan Aykroyd eating salmon through a dirty Santa beard;
- Eddie Murphy looking straight at the camera after hearing the simplistic description of pork bellies (“…bacon, which you might find in a bacon and lettuce and tomato sandwich.”); or
- Jamie Lee Curtis topless (well, you actually get to see that more than once).
This one is definitely a keeper!
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Better than expected visuals, but a tin ear
I’ve always liked this movie and remember it as a pleasant surprise when I first saw it in theaters. It features a standout performance by Eddie Murphy (before he became a star in Beverly Hills Cop), a surprising career saver by Dan Aykroyd, and with a brief topless scene changed the public perception of Jamie Lee Curtis from scream queen to sex goddess. All this while skewering American classism.
As far as the blu-ray specifics go the video, while not spectacular, features a substantial improvement over the standard DVD. The real problem here appears to be the film itself which, frankly, looks more like it was shot as a TV movie-of-the-week. The print has really been cleaned up, removing all the scratches, dirt and hair that plagued my previous DVD. Thankfully there is no evidence of the rampant DNR or edge enhancement that detract from so many older catalog titles. Overall a solid hi-def upgrade.
On the audio front you get a Dolby Digital 5.1 remaster that sounds both dated and flat. While this is a dialog heavy film, even the classic R&B tunes in the soundtrack sound both tinny and lacking in low-end. Even though it’s 5.1 it sounds just like stereo.
As far as suppliments go, you get an upgrade from the previous DVD (which had almost nothing) to a set that is still pretty bare bones overall.
Trading Places still holds up as one of the better comedies from its time period. Its class battle is still relevant, its got a fun cast, and big laughs come regularly throughout the film. All in all it is a fairly solid Blu-ray reissue. While the video is better than expected, the audio is really lacking.
Normally I’d suggest a rental unless you’re an avid fan of the film. But at $8.88 here on Amazon if you like the movie at all you should just pick it up.
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The Best 1980s Comedy
PLOT
Two bored, ageing millionaires conduct a sadistic social experiment whereby they orchestrate the defrauding and humiliation of one of their company’s top executives and replace him with a homeless man. The experiment backfires as their subjects eventually undertake significant personal growth, befriend each other, and exact a fitting, calculated revenge.
REVIEW
Aside perhaps from the 1982 live recording of Eddie Murphy’s incredible stand-up routine “Delirious”, “Trading Places” is the premier comedy of the 1980s. It’s a cut above other perennial favourites such as “48 Hours” (1982), “Ghostbusters” (1984), “Fletch” (1985), “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (1987) and “Uncle Buck” (1989).
While there is much to commend, the key to the film’s success is the cast of seasoned character actors, including Denholm Elliot, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Paul Gleason and Frank Oz. With the help of these veterans, the young leads (Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis) are able to develop an already brilliant premise into a wealth of hilarious sequences.
ELEPHANT STAMPS (SPECIAL MENTIONS)
Jon Landis for Directing.
Dan Aykroyd for Acting.
Denholm Elliot for Acting.
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Classic movie gets high def release packed with special features
This review is for the Blu-Ray release of the 1983 comedy classic “Trading Places.” If you have not seen this movie yet then you really are missing out and what better way to experience this movie than in 1080p high definition.
I already owned the bare bones DVD release, but did not hesitate to order the Blu-Ray release. The quality is truly incredible with a level of detail that simply blows me awaqy and none of the grain or softness that plagues the inferior DVD version.
Plus we are treated to a wealth of special features to help sweeten the deal. The main special feature is the retrospective featurette “Insider Trading: The Making of Trading Places” which runs at 18:28 and includes on-camera interviews with Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd and Director John Landis. Tne featurette covers the genesis of the story and the preproduction details (Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were originally slated to star) and how the success of “48 Hrs” brought Murphy to the attention of the producing team.
Serving as a counterpoint is the second featurette “Trading Stories” which runs at 7:59. The same people are interviewed on camera as in the first docimentary however in this instance they are all from 1983 as they publicize the movies release.
There is one deleted scene running over a minute with an introduction and optional commentary by Executive Producer George Folsey Jr. It details the theft of the crop report by Clarence Beeks and was essentially dropped for pacing reasons.
Next up is “Dressing the Part” which runs at 6:31 and has as its main contributor Costume Designer Deborah Nadoolman. She says that the outfit she is most proud of is the red hooded sweatshirt worn by Eddie Murphy in his first scene. She had Murphy in the bright red outfit and everyone else in shades of gray so as to ensure that Murphy drew the focus of attention.
Since a large portion of the movie deals with the commodities trade the Blu-Ray also includes “The Trade in Trading Places” which includes discussion on the commodities exchange and how it works and runs at 5:25.
Perhaps the most quirky special feature is an improvised promo piece for the movie that apparently has spent the last 20+ years sitting in John Landis’ garage. It features Aykroyd and Murphy winging it for 4 minutes and it is a riot once they get going.
The one feature this Blu-Ray release is missing is an commentary but the movie does have a Trivia Pop-Up feature. Throughout the movie sometimes interesting, but ultimately useless trivia appears on panels on screen mocked up as (what else) $1 bills.
All in all this is an extremely entertaining way to spend a couple of hours and this Blu-Ray release does the movie proud.
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AWESOME transfer to Blu-ray!!! YAH!
What is there to say about this movie, except that its a CLASSIC! ~ YAH!However, the fact that this movie has been around since the 80’s caused me to be wary about purchasing it on blu-ray. Unfortunately, the clarity of some blu-ray discs aren’t a whole lot better than standard DVD, so I was hoping for a good transfer, but not expecting great quality. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Other than the datedness of the time period the movie was made, the movie itself looks as clear as if it were filmed in HD itself. “LOOKING GOOD BILLY RAY!” and I’m definitely “FEELING GOOD” about my purchase.
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The BEST SNL Alumni movie EVER!!!
There is NO argument! This is THE BEST SNL ALUMNI MOVIE EVER!!! Not only is it FUNNY, but it’s also intelligent. This is one of those movies that you just have to watch every time it’s on tv even though it is cut horribly for tv.
DVD or Blu-ray is THE way to watch this movie in all of it’s glory. In fact, it’s become a ‘Christmas’ movie at out house. I have literally watched this movie and then gone back and watched it again. THAT’S how GREAT this movie is!
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EDDIE MURPHY IS FUNNY!!
I GOT TWO WORDS FUNNY AND CRAZY! OR IS THAT THREE NO TWO?
YOU FIGURE IT OUT LOL!
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