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| Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert
Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Sizemore |
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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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Mickey:
It's fate, you know. Nobody can stop fate, nobody can.
Two
lovers go on a killing spree down route 66 and quickly become a media
sensation.
 Anybody
who sees Natural Born Killers for the first time is likely to
be completely overwhelmed: it's an all-out assault on the senses and
unless you're ready for it, you probably won't like it much. Rapid cuts,
a wide variety of different film stocks, a barrage of subliminal visual
messages, cartoons, rear projection, overlapping dialogue, everything
is used repeatedly (and often simultaneously) throughout the movie and
in some cases to great effect. All the actors get the chance to take
a stereotype and run them into the ground: Robert Downey Jr. manages
to hit just the right note as an utter media scumbag, while Tommy Lee
Jones once again goes way too far over the top as a demented prison
warden. Woody Harrelson shows charisma and humor as evil incarnate.
As for Juliette Lewis, I always had the feeling in her other roles she
wasn't quite 'there' so this role is perfect for her. But all of these
fine actors are reduced to window dressing in Stone's visual cacophony
that leaves precious little room for any of them to build a performance.
Downey's TV host is the only character both outrageous and true enough
to be left standing in this messy onslaught of visual thrills.
The biggest problem with Natural Born Killers is its hollow moral
center. This being a serious attempt by Oliver Stone to deliver a critique
of violence in American society, the way it is glorified by the media
and the unquestioning acceptance of this into our culture, makes it
essential that the viewer is presented with some valid counterpoint
throughout the barrage of visual information. But Stone seems unable
or unwilling to do so. Never a subtle filmmaker, his attempt to do satire
is like a psychiatric patient running into a shopping mall with a polo
mallet and smashing everything in sight while screaming 'THIS IS ALL
VERY WRONG AND YOU HAVE YOURSELVES TO BLAME!!!' But there are still
enough interesting and occasionally brilliant scenes that make the movie
worthwile in the long run (the fake sitcom episode 'I love Mallory'
with its absurd laugh track is deeply unsettling). Many have likened
the movie to some sort of MTV video but that's hardly fair. Stone has
a way with quick cuts and is very sophisticated in editing styles, while
the cinematography alone provides several memorable sequences. Essential
viewing, but be prepared. |
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Similar
versions are currently available for both Region 1 and Region 2, both
in the Oliver Stone collection series and containing the theatricul
cut. A previous directors cut was released for Region 1 on Trimark,
it contains some 3 minutes of additional footage and has the same extras.
It's not anamorphic though. The Region 2 version of the Director's Cut
does have an anamorphic transfer and is available in the Netherlands
from Bridge's modestly priced Silver Collection line. Warner's Oliver
Stone Collection release served as a basis for this review.
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
Despite the numerous cuts and stocks used this is a faultless transfer
with no sign of compression artifacts or distracting edge enhancement.
Colors are very strong and blacks are solid. Detail is ecellent throughout,
even during the pandemonium in the prison.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 track is mostly active across the front channels and
surrounds are used to emphasize effects. The .1 LFE channel is in use
during all action scenes and is nicely integrated. Dialogue is easy
to follow. The
eclectic soundtrack is justly celebrated by the way (being mostly compiled
by Nine Inch Nails honcho Trent Reznor, who also added his own songs)
as it adds greatly to the scenes.
The
main extra is Stone's running commentary and it's slightly dissapointing.
I had hopes for some deeper explanation of why the film was made this
way and the underlying thoughts to the story (Stone is known to go off
on a tangent during his commentaries). Instead, Stone sticks to explaining
what's already on screen, dissecting scenes and pointing out musical
cues. He comments on how things were filmed and the techniques used
but very rarely provides anything that makes the movie easier to understand.
He does explain that the whole plot of the movie is absurd and never
was meant to be logical.
The 12-minute interview featurette is excerpted from a longer
Charlie Rose interview but doesn't add much, although Stone does give
a bit more background here. The 26 minute documentary Chaos Rising
involves all the major players from the movie but it lacks a different
point of view making it more a pat on the back than a critical look
at the movie. The actors do explain some of the working methods they
had to endure and the twinkle in Robert Downey's eyes suggests he had
a lot of fun doing it.
The deleted scenes are all prefaced by a short introduction from
Stone and a couple of scenes are quite funny and disturbing (the courtroom
scene). Denis Leary has a nice rant that was cut from the movie for
pacing. The alternate ending seems more true to the spirit of
the film and would certainly have fitted the overall story better. A
theatrical trailer is also available.  A
static menu with a rather unimaginative layout has music playing underneath
it. Nothing special but easy to navigate.
Gerard
Castelein
Reviewed: 2001,
updated: June 23, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Natural
Born Killers.
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