Merry New Year! With all the Eddie Murphy releases this holiday season in anticipation for Coming to America 2, Paramount's treatment of one of his classics is well worth picking up, especially if you don't already own it.
“The very rich and extremely greedy Duke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) wager a bet over whether “born-loser” Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) could become as successful as the priggish Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) if circumstances were reversed. So begins one of the funniest, most outrageous comedies of the ‘80s, cementing Eddie Murphy’s superstar status. Alongside the street-smarts of Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), Winthorpe and Valentine are a trio ready for a riotous revenge that culminates on the commodities trading floor in New York City. Trading Places is presented here newly remastered from a 4k film transfer, under John Landis.”
This first Eddie Murphy/John Landis collaboration with Trading Places sets the bar extremely high, as it marks one of Landis’ best films. Also teaming up again with Dan Aykroyd since their first film together, The Blues Brothers. In this Prince and the Pauper story, two rich Wall Street titans decide to ruin a man’s life for the fun of it (Aykroyd), by betting he would turn to crime if all his luxuries and advantages he has in life are taken away. In turn, taking that type of man with nothing (Murphy) and giving him all those advantages, betting he would be able to head a company just as well.
In essence, this is two fish-out-of-water stories. We have Louis, who has gone to school at Harvard, respected by his peers and fiancé, with a beautiful New York home and personal butler, who now has all that stripped from him, even his luxurious suits and clothing. With no money, shunned by all thinking he is a criminal and a drug-dealer, Louis must navigate living poor and relying on the kindness of strangers in order to try and figure out who has framed him and ruined his life. Aykroyd plays the snobbish role very well. It’s hard to imagine that a few short years before this he was Elwood Blues under Landis’ direction. Aykroyd definitely doesn’t get enough credit for his skills as an actor. He’s always funny, but credit where credit is due.
On the opposite side you have Billy Ray Valentine, a two-bit criminal we first meet trying to scam people into donating money to him, rolling around on the ground pretending he lost his legs and eyesight in Vietnam. Suddenly, he’s given a house, a butler, a generous checking account, and a job running a company, all the things that were taken from Louis. Perhaps the funnier of the two stories, mainly because of Eddie Murphy’s performance and reactions to the absurdity of his character suddenly becoming wealthy and respected, the total opposite of what he was. Murphy is loud and full of energy, his recipe for all his successful roles, and putting him in the same room with rich, white snobs is a sure way to find a lot of laughs.
In the third act things take a turn as Louis and Billy Ray learn of the bet and work together to get revenge, resulting in one of the funniest sequences I’ve seen: the train sequence, as the two try to steal confidential insider information posing as a myriad of different ethnic characters, with Murphy as an exchange student from Cameroon, Jaime Lee Curtis as an Austrian backpacker who can only do a Swedish accent, Denholm Elliot as a drunk Irish priest, and Dan Aykroyd in horrible black face as a Rastafarian. It was interesting to hear that Paramount executives originally wanted Landis to cut this entire sequence from the film, but thankfully that didn’t happen, as it is by far one of the funniest parts of the film.
Video
Trading Places is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 1.85:1 featuring a brand-new remaster from a 4k film transfer supervised by Landis. The new transfer looks amazing. It has been cleaned up exceptionally well, providing a clear and detailed new look, keeping grain at a manageable level. Colors can really pop at times, especially during some of the Christmas-time outdoor sequences. This remastered print, for me, was definitely worth it to pick up the upgrade even if you own the previous release.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. This track sounds great as well. Dialogue is clear and concise coming from the center channel, with the surrounds well balanced to provide the atmospheric effects and superb soundtrack.
Special Features
This Paramount Presents release comes in the usual packaging with slipcover that opens to reveal the theatrical poster, with the spine signifying the 12th release in their series. As with other releases, this contains a brand new Filmmaker Focus featuring a new interview with John Landis.
Extras on this disc include:
- Filmmaker Focus: Director John Landis on Trading Places HD
- Insider Trading: The Making of Trading Places
- Dressing the Part
- The Trade in Trading Places
- Trading Stories
- Industry Promotional Piece
- Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Executive Producer George Folsey, Jr.
- Deleted Scene
- Isolated Score
- Theatrical Trailer
Trading Places has been given a great treatment by Paramount, worthy of the inclusion in their Paramount Presents collection. The holiday setting of the film gives it, oddly enough, a Christmas feel to it, so it’s the perfect film to pick up this holiday season!
