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Barbarians at the Gate

Play trailer Poster for Barbarians at the Gate R 1993 1h 46m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Based on a true story, this humor-tinged docudrama follows F. Ross Johnson (James Garner), the CEO and president of the massive food and tobacco corporation RJR Nabisco, as he attempts to buy the company. Before long, other major players become involved, most notably ruthless executive Henry Kravis (Jonathan Pryce), which leads to clashes with Johnson. As the bids roll in, and Kravis makes his savvy moves, can Johnson win out in this battle of aggressive business tactics?

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Tony Scott Variety As a telefilm, Barbarians fascinates; as social commentary, it excels. Making an intricate business exercise both entertaining and engrossing takes lots of doing; it's handily accomplished here. Mar 3, 2019 Full Review Rob Thomas Capital Times (Madison, WI) Makes the greedy rich who buy and sell ordinary folks' futures seem almost lovable. Rated: 3/5 Sep 6, 2006 Full Review Tony Medley tonymedley.com Rubbish with Garner whitewashing a real life villain Rated: 1/5 Oct 23, 2005 Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily Rated: 4/5 Jul 29, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jul 7, 2005 Full Review Steve Crum Kansas City Kansan Highly effective TV-movie with memorable Garner performance. Rated: 5/5 Oct 30, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (37) audience reviews
Ed M Fun look at RJR Nabisco buyout of late '80's. Great cast led by the legendary James Garner. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/24/21 Full Review Audience Member The dialogue is very good. Some of the plot points could be a little hard to understand if you don't know much about business. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member It's not unusual to be loved by anyone... Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a great film made at a time when "made for TV" wasn't a foreboding stamp. The real marvel in this movie is James Garner's performance - he makes the worst of our society extremely likeable. I highly recommend this little known classic. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member If ever there was a sublime comedy to make you gag about the rich, this is it. Satire based on true story of a corporate takeover in the 80's. James Garner won't disappoint his fans, he comes right out the Rockford Files only wealthy. The main criticism of this film for me is the premise. Though based on a true story, it's not a human interest story. It is about corporate America and greed. A business comedy I do not need. On this one, decide for yourself. Two thumbs up by Siskel and Ebert, btw. [img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT9ufsVd7Zc-3QIk3FBUD_z0YuemVFNb_aka469r5z5pBsmcCSb[/img] SEE the entire film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPhF_YwWvoM [img]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/iPhF_YwWvoM/hqdefault.jpg[/img] Deals made in the restroom by adversaries REVIEWS by those like us: 100% Very well rounded story and quite funny. Worth the watch. 80% I guess part of the ratings are swayed by "expectations". I didn't expect a whole lot of entertainment from this movie, but I actually laughed in sev... [img]http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4f28232aeab8ea2834000003-1200/every-penny-you-think-im-pissing-away-here-comes-back-to-us-dressed-up-like-a-nickel.jpg[/img] NOTES: 1 Larry Gelbart, writer of the film, wrote M.A.S.H. television comedy series as well as other films like Tootsie. 2 Barbarians at the Gate is a television movie based upon the book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, about the leveraged buyout (LBO) of RJR Nabisco. [img]http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1988/1101881205_400.jpg[/img] Distributed by Home Box Office Directed by Glenn Jordan Produced by Ray Stark Based on Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough John Helyar Music by Richard Gibbs Editing by Patrick Kennedy Country United States Language English Release date March 20, 1993 Running time 107 minutes [img]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/c_scWCeDlWw/hqdefault.jpg[/img] Cast[edit] Tom Aldredge as Charles Hugel Graham Beckel as Don Kelly Joanna Cassidy as Linda Robinson Matt Clark as Edward A. Horrigan, Jr. Jeffrey DeMunn as H. John Greeniaus Peter Dvorsky as George R. Roberts James Garner as F. Ross Johnson Mark Harelik as Peter Atkins Joseph Kell as Nick Forstmann Jonathan Pryce as Henry Kravis David Rasche as Ted Forstmann Peter Riegert as Peter Cohen Leilani Sarelle as Laurie Johnson Fred Dalton Thompson as Jim Robinson Rita Wilson as Carolyne Roehm-Kravis [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/95/BarbariansAtTheGateDVDCover.jpg/250px-BarbariansAtTheGateDVDCover.jpg[/img] Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member I had higher expectations for the film. It looked funnier based upon a clip I had seen before on the film on YouTube but for myself the film proved to be not as good of a film besides the one scene where they are looking at a healthier cigaret that has more side-effects compared to the benefits. I did like the intro showing what James Garner was like as a boy in 1940 & a teenager and I like text at the begging that said "A long time ago Billions of Dollars ago". Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Barbarians at the Gate

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Movie Info

Synopsis Based on a true story, this humor-tinged docudrama follows F. Ross Johnson (James Garner), the CEO and president of the massive food and tobacco corporation RJR Nabisco, as he attempts to buy the company. Before long, other major players become involved, most notably ruthless executive Henry Kravis (Jonathan Pryce), which leads to clashes with Johnson. As the bids roll in, and Kravis makes his savvy moves, can Johnson win out in this battle of aggressive business tactics?
Director
Glenn Jordan
Producer
Ray Stark
Rating
R, TV-14
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Jul 27, 2004
Runtime
1h 46m