Trading Places (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Buy This Item Trading Places (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray] by Paramount  Available from Amazon  $19.95  on 11-27-2008     Paramount Trading Places: Looking Good, Feeling Good Edition (Blu-ray) The fun begins when the rich and greedy Duke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) wager a bet over whether born loser Valentine (Eddie Murphy) could become as successful as the priggish Winthorpe (Dan Akroyd) if circumstances were reversed. The Dukes have the money to make this happen, but when Valentine and Winthorpe catch on they arrange for a rich and riotous payback! Reader Reviews The Blu-ray "Looking Good, Feeling Good" Edition of Trading Places, which has been unavailable, is being rereleased. It appears to be the very same as before, with the same specs and special features. The plot of this comedy revolves around a wager between two very rich brothers over nature vs nurture, and specifically whether a rich, successful man and a poor man, if their fortunes were reversed (by "nurture"), would return to their former places because of their nature. To find out, they wreck the career and life of one of the most successful employees in their commodities trading firm (Dan Aykroyd), and take in a street hustler (Eddie Murphy) to train to take his place. (Thus the double meaning of the title.) While this obviously isn't a sociological study, some of the humor and pathos comes from pointing out ways attitudes are shaped by position, and changes in position. It's also a romance, with Jamie Lee Curtis playing the hooker with a heart of gold who falls for the fallen man. And it's a tale of sweet, poetic justice. Murphy was still fresh in this 1983 film, and Aykroyd and Curtis are also very fun. The script is clever and maintains its logic, in its funny way. The special features: -- "Insider Trading: The Making of Trading Places" featurette (18:27) -- "Trading Stories" featurette, interviews with the three main players (7:58) -- "Dressing the Part" featurette (6:30) -- "The Trade in Trading Places" featurette, on how the commodities trading in the movie works (5:24) -- Industry Promotional Piece, which was used to pitch the movie to theaters (4:17) -- trivia pop-ups, a running trivia option -- deleted scene: stealing the crop report, with optional commentary by executive producer George Folsey, Jr. (1:36) No commentaries. Specs: 1.85:1 widescreen transfer (1080p), Dolby Digital Plus 5.1, Dolby Digital Mono, subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. The video quality is quite good for a film that wasn't intended to be a visual masterpiece, improved over the standard DVD, with a clean print, fair detail and good color. The surround mix doesn't surround much, but it's clear enough, with good punch for the soundtrack. I'd give this four and a half stars, but round down for the lack of audio commentaries, which ought to be standard in special editions.

Trading Places (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray] Available from Amazon Price: $19.95 Updated on 11-27-2008.

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