History Film / WallStreet

''Wall Street'' is a 1987 movie directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring MichaelDouglas and CharlieSheen.

!!Tropes included in the original film:

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** [[Film/AllThePresidentsMen Deep Throat]] continues to dispense advice about the money.
** [[Series/{{Scrubs}} Perry Cox]] is one of Bud Fox's co-workers in the movie.
** [[BostonLegal Alan Shore]] is one of Bud's friends, and [[HilariousInHindsight funnily enough]] a Lawyer as well.

* SnicketWarningLabel: Inverted in ''Money Never Sleeps''. If you turn off the film about five minutes before the end credits roll, it's a DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Gordon Gekko reminds us all why he's a quintessential MagnificentBastard by winning the Financial Crisis of 2008, and everyone else gets screwed over, whether they deserve to or not]]. Keep watching the last five minutes, however, and for no adequately explained reason everything resolves itself into a perfectly happy ending for everyone involved. [[hottip:*:that's why it's on this page rather than the main one]]

* NotableCommercialCampaigns: During the original airing of the pilot of ''ShitMyDadSays'' (Written as "$#*! My Dad Says"), special ads for ''Money Never Sleeps'' - which would open the next day - were headlined "$#*! Gordon Gekko Says".

* VillainProtagonist: Gordon
** Maybe not an outright protagonist, but certainly what most people remember about the movie.
*** Nor even, perhaps, an outright ''villain.''

* SequelGap
* ShallowLoveInterest: Darien Taylor. The role earned [[{{Creator/DarylHannah}} Daryl Hannah]] that year's GoldenRaspberryAward, thus making this the only film to ever win both an [[{{AcademyAward}} Oscar]] and a Razzie.

* ShallowLoveInterest: Darien Taylor. The role earned Daryl Hannah that year's GoldenRaspberryAward.

* ShoutOut: The subplot with the Cracker Jack ring references ''[[BreakfastAtTiffanys Breakfast At Tiffany's]]''.

* OneSceneWonder: Charlee Sheen's cameo as Bud Fox. Also, Eli Wallach as "Julie", the [[strike:nonagenarian]] centennial banker.

* OneSceneWonder: Terrence Stamp as the British financial mogul. Although he technically appears in two scenes.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: There's a gag when Gordon, leaving prison, is given his old brick-sized cell phone back.

** Actually, WordOfGod states that the film is neither pro- nor anti- Wall Street. It was made to paint a picture of that world (the director's father was a stock broker himself), and leave viewers to form their own opinions. Given the many, many different views of the film, he's succeeded. There is probably a very high correlation between one's opinion of the film and one's economic views.

** Oliver Stone even said he considered trading her with Sean Young, who plays Gekko's wife.
* SmugSnake: Subverted. Gordon Gekko is clearly in love with himself, but also remembers to PetTheDog.

* EnemyMine: Gordon Gekko and Jake Moore team up against Bretton James, a [[CompleteMonster thoroughly despicable]] stock gambler who has wronged them both.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: All of the characters wear suits in morally ambiguous shades of grey. The villain, Bretton James, wears a demonic red suit.

''Wall Street'' is a 1987 movie directed by OliverStone and starring MichaelDouglas and CharlieSheen.

->''Greed, [[BeamMeUpScotty for lack of a better word,]] is good.''

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Due to taking place a couple years before it was filmed, some of the supposed crimes that Gekko committed during the movie were not illegal when the movie takes place, but were illegal when the movie was filmed.
** A character makes reference to the 1986 Challenger disaster, despite the movie being set in '85.

* ActorAllusion: Jake's cellphone ringtone is the theme from TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly, which starred in a prominent role....Eli Wallach. Guess who plays Julie in this movie.

* YouFailEconomicsForever: Apparently, Gordon's entire motivation stems from a childhood experience where he watches his mother cut up a pie into slices and he is told he has to get ahold of as much of the pie as he could. This not only falls under the "wealth is zero-sum" fallacy, but it conflicts with the fact that Gekko is a corporate raider and his ''entire business model'' is based on the premise that more efficient use of resources ''increases'' wealth. The infamous "Greed is Good" speech is about how more efficient use of resources increases wealth.
** [[FridgeBrilliance The pie-cutting was his inspiration, but he got into corporate raiding as a means to an end- if you grow the pie, people won't care that you take a big slice for yourself, as long as what's left is bigger than what they had before.]]
*** RealLife: There's a reason there was a depression - and history proves that every 30 years or so, businessmen think they can "game" the system.

A sequel, ''Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'' (also directed by Stone) starring Douglas and {{Shia LaBeouf}} was released on September 24, 2010.

** [[spoiler:Subverted. The sequel reveals that Bud ''did'' serve prison time but after he served, he was released and then took over the airline. Through his leadership, the company became one of the wealthiest airlines in America. He then sold it and now he spends his days as a retired millionaire]].

* DealWithTheDevil: Bud

** [[{{Scrubs}} Perry Cox]] is one of Bud Fox's co-workers in the movie.
** [[{{BostonLegal}} Alan Shore]] is one of Bud's friends, and [[{{HilariousInHindsight}} funnily enough]] a Lawyer as well.

* RealitySubtext: Charlie said his inspiration on the hospital scene was remembering how he felt when Martin had a heart attack during ''ApocalypseNow''.

* ActorAllusion: Jake's cellphone ringtone is the theme from {{The Good The Bad and The Ugly}}, which starred in a prominent role....Eli Wallach. Guess who plays Julie in this movie.

* DyeingForYourArt: Josh Brolin lost 30 pounds of weight for his role, and {{Shia LaBeouf}} did a lot of research on stock trading and even got a broker's license.

* NotableCommercialCampaigns: During the original airing of the pilot of ''ShitMyDadSays'' (Written as "$#*! My Dad Says"), special ads for ''Money Never Sleeps'' - which would open the next day - were headlined "$#*! Gordon Gekko Says".

* StealthPun: Before Jake tries to get revenge against Bretton James for destroying Zabel's company, his friend Robby comments that "It's a dish you stick to [[BestServedCold cold]], pal." Jake responds that "I'm about to serve it up hot, Robby." However, his initial efforts achieve only paltry success. Much later, though, he finally manages to get true revenge against Bretton -- with the help of a website called ''Frozen'' Truth.

* ForTheEvulz: For some viewers, half of Gordon Gekko's motivation. Another interpretation is that he simply holds 'the game' up as a moral imperative. See TrueNeutral above.

* SmugSnake: Gordon Gekko is clearly in love with himself, but also remembers to PetTheDog.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: No one with the last name [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent Gekko]] is likely to be an upstanding guy.