Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005) (V)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Robert Greenwald

Release Date:

4 November 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

It will change the way you think, feel - and shop...

Plot:

A look at the impact of the retail giant on local communities.

Plot Keywords:

Big Business | Retail Trade | Consumerism | Protest | Corporation

Cast

Lee Scott	...	Himself - President & CEO of Wal-Mart (archive footage)
Don Hunter	...	Himself - H&H Hardware Owner
Jon Hunter	...	Himself - Son of Don Hunter
Jeremy Hunter	...	Himself - Son of Jon Hunter
Matt Hunter	...	Himself - Son of Jon Hunter
Johnny Faenza	...	Himself - H&H Hardware Employee
Frank Mormino	...	Himself - Owner of Middlefield Tire
Dr. John Bruening	...	Himself - Owner of Geauga Vision
Tom Glassburner	...	Himself - H&H Hardware Employee
Weldon Nicholson	...	Himself - Wal-Mart Store Manager Trainer
Al Norman	...	Himself - Founder of Sprawl-Busters
Grace Thibodeaux	...	Herself - Hearne, Texas Resident
Diane DeVoy	...	Herself - Wal-Mart Employee
Cathy Nemchik	...	Herself - Wal-Mart Employee
Stan Fortune	...	Himself - Wal-Mart District Loss Prevention Manager

Runtime:

USA:98 min | 20 min (shortened version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Ireland:PG | UK:PG | Australia:G | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Brave New Films

Trivia:

The parodies of Wal-Mart ads that appear in the film, and were used as trailers, which appear to have been shot in Wal-Mart stores are actually greenscreen shots in which the performer has been composited.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: At the start of the section where a market trader in London, England is leading a campaign against a new ASDA store, the map has has both Wales and England labelled as 'England' -- the 'Eng' is written over Wales. Wales and England (and Scotland) are part of Great Britain; Great Britain, Wales (and Scotland) are not part of England.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Daily Show" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Rainy Night

for those who aren't afraid to look

if you have concerns about the corporate structure and its inherently psychopathic nature (profit at any cost), this movie should pretty well confirm your suspicions and make us all realize that if this system plays itself out to its logical end, it is not going to be a pretty picture....unless, of course, your name is Walton and you have your own personal underground nuclear shelter/compound. Either the corporate world will beat us all into submission or the next great revolution will take place against it... it will of course be up to us all to decide which. A nice compliment to this movie would be the Corporation, which really delves further into the issues of the nature of corporations and how they have become the exact opposite of what they were intended to do in the first place, which was to serve the PUBLIC good.