Product Details

• Actors: James Garner, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Riegert, Joanna Cassidy, Fred Dalton Thompson
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 25, 2001
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005MHOC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,611 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Barbarians at the Gate" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

WHEN THE CEO OF NABISCO DECIDES TO BUY OUT THE SHAREHOLDERS AND TAKE OVER THE COMPANY, NO ONE IS PREPARED FOR WHAT HITS THE FAN IN THIS COMEDY ABOUT BIG BUSINESS AND BIG BUCKS.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enormously entertaining satire of corporate America, May 4, 2002

By 

Matthew Horner (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barbarians at the Gate (DVD)

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.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barbarians: Fast funny satire, and it's true too!, October 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Barbarians at the Gate [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Who knew you could make a comedy about a Leveraged Buyout (LBO)? James Garner, in a brilliant performance, plays F. Ross Johnson, the CEO of RJR Nabisco who wants to buy out the company. He learns about LBOs from the cool slick Henry Kravis, the then-master of the buyout (played by Jonathan Pryce). When Ross takes Kravis' advice and goes out on his own, Henry gets MAD and fires his own salvo. This was a time when people threw figures like "$25 billion" around and thought nothing of it. The technicals of the deal are explained with enough detail that non-financiers can easily follow what's going on. Nice satirical touches like Ross' wife's manicurist explaining the art of the deal to her. A lot of cussing; after all, this was the ultimate boys' game. Fine fun movie. END

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great entertainment if you like Wall Street, etc., January 14, 2003

By 

Phuoc Le (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Barbarians at the Gate (DVD)

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.