8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
The story of Jordan Belfort, a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 20 months in prison for refusing to cooperate in a massive 1990s securities-fraud case involving widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including mob infiltration.
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle ChandlerCrime | 100% |
Dark humor | 75% |
Drama | 71% |
Period | 70% |
Biography | 45% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The wolf is known as both a social creature amongst its kind, and particularly within its pack, and the devourer of anything else that gets in its way. It's an attractive but fearsome animal. It's sleek, refined, capable, and very dangerous. It's the perfect metaphor for the man who notoriously rose to power in the 1980s stock brokerage scene, the man who made himself a fortune and guided others to countless millions by choosing the right friends, knowing his enemies, and pouncing on every opportunity with the cunning, smarts, and determination necessary to not crush the competition but to rise to the top of his field, to quite literally become the "king of the world," or at least the world his vast fortune but narrow focus had built. But as these stories tend to reveal, his meteoric ascendancy wasn't built only on sweat, smarts, and lawful business practices. The story of Jordan Belfort is one of a rapid rise in wealth but an equally rapid personal descent into chaos, a life built on towers of cash but tumbled by sex, drugs, and a singleminded focus on wealth creation by any and all means necessary -- no matter how destructive -- that might even make Gordon Gekko stop and consider the ramifications. Director Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street is notoriously vulgar and frank yet beautifully crafted and endlessly captivating in its recreation of a story that validates the dangers in too much of a good thing. Of course, whether anything in Jordan Belfort's life can be considered "good" is the secret little subtext beneath the chaos.
The Wolf.
The Wolf of Wall Street enjoys a rather spectacular high definition presentation from Paramount. The picture features all of the usual elements in good working order and yields a high-end cinema quality presentation that should satisfy all viewers. The image appears slightly warm at times, resulting in mildly red flesh tones, but altogether offers a bright, consistent coloring that flourishes outdoors but still delivers precision hues under any lighting condition. The palette appears very diverse but naturally so, handling everything from green vegetation to somewhat louder clothing colors with ease. Fine details impress. Suit fabrics show the most intimate lines in suitably close-in shots, while more generalized facial textures and basic shapes around the screen enjoy accurate, nuanced presentations. Black levels are enjoyably deep and true. The image suffers from no troublesome flaws, either inherent to the source or introduced in the transfer to Blu-ray process. Altogether, a wonderful presentation from Paramount.
The Wolf of Wall Street's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack impresses at every turn. The film offers a variety of songs that frequently blast through the listening area and do so with precision clarity, faultless spacing, and strong supportive bass. Equally impressive are a number of high intensity party scenes, particularly those within the office space, that lavish the listener with a wide variety of well defined and immersive sonic chaos, the likes of which are also on display during "normal" office operations, i.e. a storm of ringing phones, screaming salesmen, and all variety of business day chaos. The track doesn't do much else in terms of hugely aggressive sounds; it's most prominent moment, though, comes in chapter twenty when a large yacht becomes caught in a storm at sea. Crashing waves, shifting objects, gusting winds, and all manner of chaos splash into the soundstage with frightening precision and placement. Dialogue, the track's keystone element, flows effortlessly from the front-center portion of the stage and yields excellent clarity from start to finish. This is a strong, dynamic, engaging listen from front to back.
Much like Nebraska, another recently released multi-Oscar-nominated film on Blu-ray from Paramount, The Wolf of Wall Street contains only one supplement. The Wolf Pack (HD, 17:01) features an examination of Martin Scorsese's take on the story, Jordan Belfort's life, and character portrayals and improvisations. Also included is a DVD copy and UV/iTunes digital copies. Also note that the much-discussed extended cut of the film is not included; this is the film's theatrical cut.
The Wolf of Wall Street takes viewers on a fascinating journey from nothing to something to everything and from everything to excess to the end of the run in the life of a man who thrives on his overpowering ego and his endless drive to score the next high, bed the next woman, and pad the bank account. The film decries none of these things, but it does decry them, and anything, really, in excess, and in particular the excess displayed inside the corrupted halls of Stratton Oakmont. The picture thrives on balance, even as it plays up Jordan's excesses almost to a breaking point. The film zooms well past the point of no return early on and will certainly offend many viewers with its unabashed depiction of wealth-induced narcotic, sexual, and verbal indulgence, but within that chaos is a purpose that trumps all of the visual and aural mayhem. It's easily one of the year's finest pictures and a must-see for audiences that can compartmentalize the film's structure and purpose and find the beautiful interconnect between them. Paramount's Blu-ray release of The Wolf of Wall Street disappointingly comes with a single supplement. Video and audio qualities, however, are expectedly brilliant. Though the release has "double dip" written all over it, fans won't want to wait to experience the movie again or for the first time. Highly recommended.
Limited Edition
2013
With Bonus Disc
2013
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Limited Edition
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Unrated Director's Cut
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