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| Kevin Costner, Joe Pesci, Tommy Lee Jones,
Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek, Michael Rooker, Donald Sutherland |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Jim
Garrison (Kevin Costner): I never realized Kennedy was so dangerous
to the establishment. Is that why?
X (Donald Sutherland): Well that's the real question, isn't it?
Why? The how and the who is just scenery for the public. Oswald, Ruby,
Cuba, the Mafia. Keeps 'em guessing like some kind of parlor game, prevents
'em from asking the most important question, why? Why was Kennedy killed?
Who benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?
The
New Orleans District Attorney opens an independent investigation into
the Kennedy assassination.
 This
semi-epic 'interpretation' of fact and fiction surrounding the Kennedy
assassination and New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison's case against alleged
conspirator Clay Shaw is the kind of huge, pushy movie that is sometimes
brilliant, sometimes annoying but certainly impossible to ignore. From
the 8-minute montage of stock footage, newsreel images, re-staged events
and fictional narrative occurrences, Stone goes about presenting his
case with his now-familiar brand of sledgehammer subtlety and over-blown
dramatics. The film's breakneck pace, with its onslaught of procedural
details, machine gun editiing and sweeping John Williams score, literally
grapbs you by the scruff of the neck and drags you along on a 3-hour
trip whether you want to or not. It leaves you breathless, exhausted,
full of questions, and - more than likely - a little annoyed, which
is probably just what Stone had in mind.
If one takes the movie's inherent pushiness and one-sided storytelling
as a given, the one remaining major flaw is that there aren't really
any characters to get interested in. Costner's rather wooden performance
as Garrison serves as our guide through the vastly complicated plot,
but neither his character nor any of his numerous assistants are interesting
enough to hold the attention outside of the main narrative focus of
the story. The many other characters that show up in the course of the
investigation are often flamboyantly over-the-top, and are rarely convincing
as anything other than cogs in the wheel of Stone's vehement fingerpointing
and conspiracy theorizing. But this lack of human involvement hardly
detracts from the roller-coaster nature of the plot, nor the skill with
which the sometimes rather dubious material is presented. |
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A
'Special Edition' DVD edition was previously available for both Region
1 and Region 2. It contained a non-anamorphic widescreen presentation
of the movie together with 17 minutes of additional footage. This release
was replaced by the 2-disc 'Directors' Cut - Special Edition' set, with
the extra material incorporated into the feature, and another 50 minutes
of deleted sequences as well as several other extras. Identical 2-disc
sets are now available for Region 1 and Region 2, both separately and
as part of an Oliver Stone Collection box set.
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx.
2.35:1. Robert Richardson's contrasty cinematography is crisply rendered
in an excellent transfer, with occasional slight evidence of edge enhancement
and minor cases of compression artifacts.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound mix provides John Williams' memorable score with
a strong soundstage with excellent directionality.
This
remarkable 2-disc set presents an unconventional but very fitting selection
of extra features. Oliver Stone's audio commentary track is as
overwhelming an experience as one would expect: anyone able to withstand
3 hours and 17 minutes of non-stop facts, dates, names and opinions
from one of Hollywood's most articulate, self-satisfied self-acclaimed
genius director in a single sitting has this reviewer's respect. Stone
is as honest and opinionated as ever, and sometimes gets himself stuck
in the somewhat contradictory position of both defending the central
thesis of his film while meanwhile reacting to criticism by repeatedly
stating that it's 'just a fictional film' and they shouldn't make too
much of a deal over the details. It's a remarkable commentary and an
absolute must for conspiracy buffs.
The second disc hold close to 50 minutes of extended and deleted
scenes, which can be viewed with director's commentary or production
audio. The material is pretty rough, as this was never fully processed
for inclusion in the final film, but it provides a great deal of added
insight both into the film's plot and the editing process, especially
when viewed with commentary. Each scene is preceded by an explanatory
title card that must be freeze-framed to be able to read it.
Disc 2 also holds two 'audio-visual essays'. I was expecting
something along the lines of the text-based presentations from The
Abyss, T2: Ultimate Edition and Robocop: Criterion Edition,
but they proved quite different. The first 'essay' consists of ten minutes
of pretty raw interview footage of Fletcher Prowley, a former high-level
Pentagon employee whose ideas formed the basis for the 'Mr. X' character
in the movie. The second 'essay' deals with the findings that resulted
from the laws passed following renewed public interest in the assassination.
It's narrated by the editor and publisher of a small conspiracy theory
periodical, and though some of his points do seem valid, he does come
off sounding just a little flakey.
The theatrical trailer is also included on this disc. Disc
1 features an animated main menu screen, with various JFK-related images
appearing within a film reel frame. The main menu screen is accompanied
by a familiar music cue from the score.
Disc 2 has a single static menu screen similar to that on the first disc.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: updated:
June 23, 2002
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