Money Talks - Warner Archive Collection

The '90s were a different time. It's difficult to believe that was thirty-some years ago, but action movies were in a big transition from those hot-steamy one-liner action vehicles with muscles into more comedy-infused buddy flicks like 48 Hrs. and Lethal Weapon. A big contributing director was Brett Ratner. He took the world by storm in the late '90s and early 2000s only to be labeled persona non-grata in Hollywood so hard, that the man packed his bags, immigrated to Israel, and hasn't produced or made a movie in about a decade. But before Ratner's unsavory conduct, he gave the world the Rush Hour franchise cementing the polarity of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan here in the States. But before Rush Hour entered the hearts and minds of audiences around the world, Ratner made his first film, Money Talks starring two actors who would go on to reach peak fame in Hollywood - Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen.

How this film was not a big-budget blockbuster is beyond comprehension by today's standards. Perhaps the masses weren't ready for this type of movie yet, or Rush Hour was more accessible and likable with Jackie Chan rather than Charlie Sheen. Either way, Money Talks is a blast to watch with its comedic riffs from Tucker and action beats from Ratner. The co-writers of Pixar's Toy Story wrote the script and the cinematographer from James Cameron's True Lies shot this film for Ratner on a $25 million budget. Only a few years later, Sheen and Tucker would be in every conversation and everywhere on television. But this style of action-comedy took root in Money Talks and some 27 years later, still manages to be as funny as ever showcasing the extreme likability and talent of Tucker and the wonderful dry comedy of Sheen in his prime.

Money Talks employs The Odd Couple narrative where Franklin (Tucker) is a fast-talking ticket scalper who gets arrested and put in jail. During his transfer on the prison bus, some bad motor scooters successfully break another prisoner out of the bus and the media and onlookers believe Franklin is to blame. On the run in a big city, he crosses paths with James Russell (Sheen), an uptight news reporter who soon begins to believe Franklin and help him clear his name. It's not so easy as the police officers, villains, and James' fiance's father (Paul Sorvino) sabotage their efforts at every pass. This unlikely duo makes way for some amazing comedic bits of dialogue and physical comedy with tons of great action beats including shootouts, car chases, and a stash of diamonds.

It is with Money Talks that Ratner and Tucker understood their professional relationship and helped them create the incredibly successful Rush Hour franchise. Sheen is witty, and dry, and delivers perfect comedic dialogue as the straight man. But it's with Tucker in one of his earliest roles where he utilizes the manic comedy of someone like Jim Carrey and his own brand of humor to concoct the amazing recipe of laugh-out-loud jokes that everyone grew to love in later movies. This 1997 comedy is where that all started - and it holds up. One thing is for sure though, Tucker and Sheen should get back together and make another film because their chemistry was hilarious, and it would be wonderful to see them come back to their roots. 4.5/5

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Money Talks laughs its way to Blu-ray via the Warner Archive. The one disc is housed inside a hard, blue plastic case. There is no cardboard sleeve and no insert for a digital code. The cover art features the original poster from the film. 

NOTE: There was an error on the disc during the initial release wave and with review copies that had the wrong audio format. Disc Replacement details are in the audio review.

Money Talks comes with a 1080p HD transfer from the Warner Archive. And would anyone believe, that this movie has not been released on Blu-ray before? There was a DVD version and a Laserdisc, but never a Blu-ray out of all these years. And with the success of the two main stairs, it's a crime this never saw the light of day.

But sadly, this doesn't have the best video presentation. It's certainly an upgrade from the DVD release from more than 20 years ago, but there are still some issues. The color palette is very natural for its time. The clear blue skies look blue and the surrounding trees in the city have great greens. The interiors of James' apartment have a cooler look to them, while his future-father-in-law's mansion has a much warmer look with earthier colors. The entire image has a warm glow to it like most of the action films in the '90s and this is no different. Black levels are somewhat inky and the skin tones are natural.

The detail is sharper than in the previous releases with good closeups of individual hairs, makeup applications, and more, however, some of the wider shots and action sequences have a softer palette for detail.  There are some issues with banding, aliasing, and some heavy noise at times as well. It just would make sense that this great '90s action comedy would have gotten the great treatment that it deserves. Still, this is a good uptick from those standard definition releases.

The initial pressing of Money Talks was sent out with the wrong audio mix. The disc should have included a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix, instead, it came with a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. A Disc Replacement Program is in the works. We have not yet received the corrected disc, but when we do we'll update ASAP. Here are the details:

Send these details to: [email protected]

Serving only USA and Canadian residents
Complete title (including season or series)
Format: DVD, Blu-Ray, or 4K
The entire UPC CODE including the far left # and far right # EX: 883929810561 Do not separate or space numbers.
Your First and Last name.
Your complete Physical Address. NO PO BOX
Phone number.
Clear photos of the case front and back only. (2 ONLY)
Picture of Receipt.

Just a trailer? Really? Warner, you're better than this.

• Trailer - (HD, 2 Mins.) - Trailer for the film.

Money Talks kickstarted that fun transformation of comedy and action in the '90s that stormed its way into the new millennium. It rocked the careers of Tucker and Sheen at the time and started their paths to becoming the biggest names in Hollywood shortly after. The movie still holds up with its comedy and action but should have been given a proper release. The 1080p HD transfer looks decent enough but the wrong audio track is not helping anyone here - thankfully WB is correcting the issue so hopefully the A/V experience will improve. The only extra is a trailer and that's a shame. Corrected discs should be hitting the marketplace soon (if not already). When we get our own corrected disc we'll update the review. If you happen to get a disc with the wrong audio, follow the replacement details in the audio section.