Rating: Summary: Oliver Shows Quentin How to do IT! Review: This, along with Q. Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'once again lit the blue touch paper in the 'Violence in the Movies' debate. Is this film worth all the hype? - YES it is, but not for it's violence but for the sheer audacious movie making that Oliver Stone had once again shown. Out has gone a lot of Quentin's snappy and witty dialogue, although the QT trademark is there, but the showmanship of OS is at the forefront. This is what Q. Tarantino would and could not have acheived - a mad, bad and altogether out of body movie which debates that society and the media should be more accountable for their actions in the depiction of violence that is all around us. This is a complete cop out and should be ignored at the outset. Take this movie with a large pinch of salt and sit back and marvel at the splicing of different filmstocks 35mm Super 8 and also the fusing of cartoons in some areas. Plot, there is no plot, Mickey & Malory Knox ( Woody Harrelson / Juliette Lewis) kill and they enjoy it they have no morals, scruples and no compunction in doing what they do! Superb performances from all concerned above and also Robert Downey Jnr., Tommy Lee Jones and Tom Sizemore. This disc is nothing short of brilliant as it has superb missing/deleted scenes, alternative ending and one of the best audio commentaries fom Mr. Stone himself into the sights and insights of the film. Good / Bad? You decide, although it's not easy watching... you have been warned.
Rating: Summary: Wow! Review: Oliver Stone tries to capture one thing: he wants to show how America reacts to violence. Although he, himself, violently took the script away from Quentin Tarantino and changed almost everything except for the names, did a good job, I recommend this film to many Olvier Stone fans.And if you pay attention, you don't see as much violence as you think. Oliver always has a way of doing that. If you liked this, I recommend Reservoir Dogs, Silence of the Lambs and for Oliver Stone fans, Platoon, which if you are a fan, you should of already seen it!
Rating: Summary: awful. Review: you will never see a film like "natural born killers" ever. this is not nessescarily a compliment. this film is pure drivel, an exercise in drug-induced hallucinations and unashamed overacting. oliver stone will gladly say that the reason so many people hated this movie is because it contained radical political ideals that people cannot accept. ha. let's examine a few of the film's flaws now. the editing bears an unnatural resemblence to the works of ed wood (yes friends, when oliver stone does it the world proclaims him genius). the acting cannot be described as acting, as everyone here, (who are intended to be people that may just really exist), speak in unintelligible diolauge that no real person would succumb to saying, and act as if they have narcolepsy. the most delicous irony of this comes when, in the deleted scenes area, when oliver stone says that he deleted the hun brothers sequence because they were "overacting". it turns out that the hun brothers act the most humane of any of the actors. there are a series of pointless interludes that only serve to the film's incompetence, including one in which woody harrelson and juliette lewis visit an indian shaman and we get nothing out of the sequence other than some racial sterotypes and some irrelevant stock footage. and i'm not even going to touch "i love mallory". the violence is way, way over-the-top, the prison riot sequence is horribly photographed, and the so-called "media satire" is nothing but a bunch of awful diolauge (including the ever-so-predictable "i'm purer than you" line) and really stupid symbolisim (the media-man dressed as the devil. come on). to some point you may want to see this film, with all the controversy surrounding it. but there's no other reason to see it. perhaps maybe it should've been banned in the states. maybe 90s cinema wouldn't have been so pitiful then.
Rating: Summary: Stone attempts to justify this wild ride Review: I'm not really going to review Natural Born Killers because whether or not you like this movie is completely different from one person to the next. Since it is such a wild film, I would like to look at Oliver Stone's first commentary on this film. The commentary on this DVD is very well done. Stone simply states the reason Tarantino's script intriqued him and why he decided to make it. He talks about the media and violence, and his use of several images and soundtracks to convey certain points about Mickey and Mallory. With this insight, I was able to appreciate the film on a whole other level. If you like the film or hate, just give Stone a chance to explain himself to you in this commentary.
Rating: Summary: Natural Born Killers is Naturally Trash Review: I saw Natural Born Killers a few years ago and it was one of the most dumbest movies I have ever seen. What I hate most about the movie is that it tries (and fails) at being artistic. This is evident in the use of camera angles and use of colors. The main characters are the type of people you see in movies that you want to either be killed or arrested. There is no way that I could feel any passion for either one of them, just hatred. Watching the movie brought out the worst in me. I wanted Harrelson and Lewis stopped, I wanted them to suffer like I suffered after watching this piece of garbage. Oliver Stone has just lost "it". He doesn't have "it" anymore. By "it" I mean fresh ideas and some talent. If you have any self-respect for yourself and for others, stay away from this bomb of a movie and get something worth your time.
Rating: Summary: Stone and his satirical films... Review: Media vs. murderers. Who is the demon and who is the angel? Well, Oliver Stone makes the case that there is that fine line and sometimes we step over that line into that other side. The real demons in our world are portrayed in a kind of super-hero fashion. The more evil, the more you want to be closer to the action. So, what Stone does here works very well, and it paints a vivid and unholy picture of human nature in general. Watching this movie leaves you with a numb feeling - and I would guess that's the way Stone wants it.
Rating: Summary: Bonnie & Caligula Review: Oliver Stone manfully endeavors to violently critique [ab]use of artificial blood, a trend to which his own arts &/or entertainment produce has contributed substantially over the years. Was Stone always so OBVIOUS? Maybe? The movie is hamfistedly hip/pretentious/cute/surreal, attempted satire, but wishes aren’t horses? Stone projects his usual manic energy, has been operating commercially for decades by romanticizing alienation. The Director’s Cut features a brazen & self-serving explication. Introducing a film that can only be defended as a swipe at professional use/creation of violence as popular amusement stuff (sufficiently effective to twist/.../influence human animals), Stone blithely insists that his own popular amusement stuff is QUITE different, merely reflects us as we are... is NOT aimed squarely at a prevailing taste, perhaps media-assisted, that he claims to abhor. Trust Ollie? It’s ART?...
Rating: Summary: The Id exposed Review: Natural Born Killers opens with a shot of a snake, then cut to one of a wolf, before introducing the humans that have no human consciousness. The stars Mickey and Mallory hunt prey and enjoy the kill like a feline who hunts to survive, or a reptile that attacks anyone nearby, only they do not need to kill to survive. The film exposes the dark side, or Id, of human nature, the side that has been buried and at odds with society and morals. Oliver Stone says the snake represent wisdom. Is this the wisdom of the subconscious or Id, inside humanity? All the characters in the film, save Mallory's little brother, and the Indian who tries to purge Mickey of his inner demons and who knows that the pair are no more human than the snake in his hovel, are using violence in some way. The media, the jail, the inmates, and the stars of the film, are without morals. It is the role of the artist to raise questions, break on through to the other side, to expose the underside or dark side. Society, with all its veneer of contentment via the canned laughter sitcoms and abusive childrearing practices that created the cold blooded human reptiles Mickey and Mallory, has failed to address the dark, hidden, antisocial side of the human psyche. Stone has brought this into human awareness and raised questions about our humanity by exposing what is inside all of us. We can shoot the messenger, or we can choose to recognize what is evil and dark and deal with it head on. Once all animals were natural born killers. Now humanity no longer kills to survive. It is counterproductive. How evolved is humanity? To examine these issues boldly and stop hiding beneath the veneer of sitcom contentment and lies is what Stone has begun. Forging a path into the darkness of the human psyche takes guts. We are all formed by the media, the society, the culture, and by the old brain, mammalian brain and human brain that all co-exist inside the psyche. To become fully human mean examining all these forces inside us and within our social structure. I commend Stone and Tarantino for bringing some of these issues to light of day.
Rating: Summary: Good Surrealist Effort for the 90's Review: Natural Born Killers is worth some appreciation for Stone's effort to bring classic surrealism back to the screen while still maintaining accessibility and mainstream appeal. As a work of art, Natural Born Killers ultimately wins, but unfortunately, the film is too choppy to provide Stone's message in a coherent form at times. Sometimes they're obvious, and other times they're contradicted. Stone has created some excellent characters regardless, and it's surprising that the show stealer here is none other than Robert Downey Jr. (this is excluding Tommy Lee Jones's performance, as should be noted). This DVD is more or less the same collector's edition that was released on VHS. The commentary is definitely worth the extra bucks to get the DVD version, however, as Stone presents his ideas in a more understandable manner here. Also, for haters of the film's artistic quality, his commentary also aids in the understanding of the near-dead genre of surrealism in filmmaking.
Rating: Summary: A shocking film, but my God, is it ever amazing Review: I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting much from this movie. I haven't really enjoyed any of Oliver Stone's films, and the only reason I wanted to see NBK was because it's based on a story by Quentin Tarantino, one of my favourite filmmakers. Well, all I have to say is, Oliver Stone is king! This movie is simply incredible, and it is definitely one of my all time favourites. Woody Harrellson and Juliette Lewis give great performances as Mickey and Mallory, two serial killers who go on a reign of terror in Texas. But the best performances in the film are by Tom Sizemore, Tommy Lee Jones, and Robert Downey Jr. Sizemore plays an insane detective who's goal in life is to catch Mickey and Mallory. Jones plays warden Dwight McClusky, who is in charge at the prison where M & M are kept when they are caught. His performance is probably the best in the film, but Downey Jr. also gives a great performance as Wayne Gale, a reporter who is obsessed with the murderous pair. There are some scenes in the film that are just disturbing: the prison riot, and Sizemore's killing of a prostitute come to mind. So this movie is not for the faint of heart. But for everyone else, it is a must-see satire of the American justice system and how the media glorifies violence. Overall, a haunting, yet IMMENSELY satisfying movie.
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