Barbarians at the Gate

1993
7.2| 1h47m| R| en| More Info
Released: 20 March 1993 Released
Producted By: HBO Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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A television movie based upon the book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, about the leveraged buyout (LBO) of RJR Nabisco.

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Director

Glenn Jordan

Production Companies

HBO Films

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Barbarians at the Gate Audience Reviews

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
blanche-2 "Barbarians at the Gates" is the insane true story of the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. The stars are James Garner, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Riegert, Joanna Cassidy, Fred Dalton Thompson, Jeffrey DeMunn, Tom Aldredge, and David Rasche.Upset that the stock price for RJR Nabisco isn't rising, and realizing that new item that was to raise it, Premier Cigarettes, taste and smell horrible, F. Ross Johnson (Garner), the CEO, decides to buy the company at $75 a share, which is $4 more than the stock's highest price. He gets the idea after talking to an expert in the LBO field, Henry Kravis (Pryce). When Kravis finds out that he's not involved in this LBO, he becomes upset. Soon, thanks to press releases that come out too soon, and embarrassing information hitting the papers, there are not only many players in the field, but the price being bid has gone up to $112 a share, meaning that the company will be put into billions and billions of dollars in debt.The battle of egos is outrageous and all too believable in this story of what became a gigantic takeover contest. The film compresses some of the incidents, but the characters and behind the scenes happenings make it an intriguing, entertaining, and ultimately depressing story. Outside the New York office, one is shown countless homeless people while inside, people are talking about billions of dollars. A true '80s story of greed.James Garner is fantastic and funny as good old boy, F. Ross Johnson, who gets into a game of oneupmanship with the elegant, quietly intense Kravis - Jonathan Pryce gives a tremendous performance as a man seething underneath while speaking very softly. Peter Riegert, as the man trying to put together the deal for Shearson Lehman is wonderful, as are two actors I've had the privilege of seeing on stage, Tom Aldredge as the head of the board of RJR Nabisco, and David Rasche, as a banker trying to get in on the deal. Fred Dalton Thompson and Joanna Cassidy are a married couple - she's the publicist for the LBO, and he's the CEO of American Express.After seeing the documentary about Enron, I really thought nothing could top it. This does. If you want to be appalled by corporate behavior, don't miss it.
elshikh4 I read once, in James Garner's Biography, that he did roles in quality TV like (Barbarians at the Gate). Now whoever wrote this lie will burn in hell forever, because this movie isn't quality TV, unless TV stands for Tormenting Vanity ! It's natural that too much of something is bad enough. Here you are a movie to know that better. The dialog is just TOO DAMN MUCH to unbearable degree. It could destroy the movie and us.The first 20 minutes are a headache. The characters speak with tons of elegant gibberish. The dialog has too many very deep information, and most of all it goes on non-stop too. Plus, it couldn't make any tie-in between us and the main character. I couldn't make any initial viewpoint towards him. They were busy making him talk, talk, and talk for all the time without presenting him appropriately. So, it was exactly like a stock market program, running annoyingly on-screen, without any drama but the tragic one in my brain !After that…the stock market channel breaks loose. There are more stiff characters in suits (too many, with no true presentation, so with the unbroken mentioning of their names I couldn't tell who's who ?!). And the case is that we have them talking in great energy, with more of the same – fully detailed – gibberish, without funny comedy, clear drama, something to understand, or a MOMENT OF SILENCE ! The scriptwriter of this movie is one rare person. He proved for someone like me, who watched countless good and bad American movies before, that America has real windbag scripts! That lethal flaw I saw in many not American movies. But who said that anyone or anything is perfect. Actually its dialog can fill 3 movies and 4 newspapers I don't buy ! The main event, as I desperately understood, is ironic, satirical, and supposedly hot. But this 1000-words-per-minute dealing made it like a sweeping speech torrent where nothing is distinct or intelligible from start till the very end; why they selected the lower offer ? The lead is portrayed eventually like a defeated knight, so why he's a knight ? Why they wanted to defeat him ? And how they did it ?!! I'll never know…from this movie ! To make the matter worse, (Glenn Jordan)'s directing was dead, literally dead. The image doesn't say a thing. I believe there isn't one in the first place, since none was portrayed by it. All what I saw is people talk while walking across closed rooms, and that's it. Without much concentration, you can notice that (Jordan) intended to wrap it up as fast as he can, even if so many things, if not all the things, died out of heart failure, or we did earlier out of apoplexy. Hence the outcome was the most long, unfunny and humdrum sitcom's episode in history !The sets are all the same. Forget the cinematography. The music is primitive electronic thing; aside from being wearisome, it fits more a kid's show. Save (Jonathan Pryce), all the actors talked the same tone. The good acting was like a fish in deep black water; hard to hunt, and hard to see. The editing made the movie so crowded without a space to breathe. Sometimes I wanted the cast to speak slower, sometimes I wanted a translation's boards, and sometimes I wanted to just scream !So, with no smart writing and no directing this lost its way, being a huge turn-off. Whenever I recall an American movie where its dialog ruined it, this is the first one to remember. I saw theatricals, but flu hallucination, with more vitality and less talks. (Barbarians at the Gate) isn't a comedy about money. It's a nightmare about something I, with considerable struggle, couldn't totally catch on!Uninteresting isn't the right word for it. It's SHUT UP !
soranno HBO Films has done it again. This 1993 release is yet another example of why they are one of the greatest producers of telefilms. In this film, James Garner portrays F. Ross Johnson, a crafty CEO who tests the many theories and predictions of the possible success that RJR Nabisco Corporation can have with a "smokeless cigarette" product. A satrical tale that's based on a true story.
rc223 I was delighted to stumble on this excellent TV movie late one night. Garner is great as the mega-rich company exec who comes unstuck when he tries to buy his own company. The financial shenanigans are well explained and there's genuine tension in the result. Based on a true story. It's like WALL STREET with laughs. [rating 9