Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street Hitting 4K In Time For The Film's Eighth Anniversary
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Martin Scorsese's 2013 biopic "The Wolf of Wall Street" may be the greatest embodiment of William Blake's quote, "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom... You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough." Nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and raking in $392 million at the worldwide box office, the film is arguably late-period Scorsese at his finest, and is now poised for an 8th anniversary 4K release via Paramount Home Entertainment.
Originally released on December 13, 2013, Paramount announced in a press release that "Wolf of Wall Street" will arrive in all its 4K Ultra HD debauched glory for the first time ever on December 14, 2021. For physical media freaks like yours truly, that means you'll get the crystal clear new transfer on 4K disc as well as a digital copy, along with all previous special features in HD including "The Wolf Pack," "Running Wild," and "The Wolf of Wall Street Round Table."
The Palace of Wisdom
Based on the memoir of the same name by disgraced Wall Street shark Jordan Belfort, the film charts the meteoric rise of stockbroker Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio at his manic best) as his firm Stratton Oakmont implements illegal pump-and-dump stock fraud schemes to amass a fortune for him and his slimy cohorts, including his right-hand goon Donnie played by Jonah Hill. Both actors got well-earned Oscar nods for their roles.
Of course, like "Goodfellas" and "Casino" before it, "The Wolf of Wall Street" follows a similar trajectory of the first half of the film being all, "Hey, isn't crime and excess fun!" before the big crash of the second act where you not only realize the protagonist is pure parasitic scum, but you feel complicit for enjoying his ride. And what a ride it is, with Belfort and co. indulging in all manner of cocaine-and-hooker-fueled ego tripping, complete with office marching bands, strippers, a wrecked yacht, and those likely-expired quaaludes.
Many of the same viewers who look to movie characters like Tony Montana and Gordon Gekko as aspirational figures found a new misguided spirit animal in DiCaprio's portrayal of Belfort after the film was released. Perhaps the most uncomfortable aspect of this biopic is that we realize by the end that not only did Belfort face minimal consequences for all the lives he ruined with his schemes, but he also profited from the film itself. In the end we see the FBI agent played by Kyle Chandler riding the NYC subway and recall Belfort's dismissive insult: "Good luck on that subway ride home to your miserable, ugly f**king wives." This is an amoral universe, the movie is saying to us, and in the end we have to decide if we're more comfortable taking that subway ... or that sweet Lamborghini.
You can pre-order "The Wolf of Wall Street" on 4K by clicking here!