The Ultimate Oliver Stone Collection (Salvador / Platoon / Wall Street / Talk Radio / Born on the Fourth of July / JFK Director's Cut / The Doors / Heaven and Earth / Natural Born Killers / Nixon / U-

Rating:
Summary: Money Saver
Review: $116 for 12 movies is a gift. You shouldn't complain about second discs being excluded, because the special features are just a marketing tool. They're meant to dissuade people from downloading movies, and it doesn't stop them. No one questions that Oliver Stone is more of the best directors of our time. He's right up there with Martin Scorcese, Ron Howard and Robert Zemeckis. If you're familiar at all with Oliver Stone movies, then that should be what makes your decision. His films are meant to make a message to society. Heaven and Earth is an underrated movie that is very, very hard to find. As a matter of fact, I never saw it individually sold in any store. I wanted to see it for a long time, and was glad when I did finally see it. Talk Radio was more than a little bit disturbing, but it was brilliant at the same time. Natural Born Killers has been one of my favorites for years, as has Nixon, not so much JFK or Salvador but you're paying an average of $9.67 for each DVD, and that's a bargain.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing "Ultimate" About This
Review: No one really doubts that Stone is one of the best working directors. The actual films are great, but this set is a bad marketing ploy produced to tie-in to Alexander. It's 14 discs, the 12 movies and 2 documentary discs. Each of the 12 films gets one disc, and they are the exact same DVDs that you would get if you buy the discs separate. The difference is, some of these are 2-disc sets when sold separately, and the second discs are not included in this set (so you're basically only getting disc 1 of JFK, of The Doors, Any Given Sunday, and Nixon). The extras from those weren't transferred over.. The set was produced sloppy, and fast. The packaging is horrible.

It's good to have all the films together like this, but why are they slighting the customers here? Give us the full package!

Rating:
Summary: HARD AS STONE AND TWICE AS REVEALING BOX SET!
Review: The Oliver Stone Collection (Redux) is the second time out that Warner has trundled this great director's wares on DVD. The first collection was limited to titles that Warner held the rights to. This time we get a comprehensive collection of the master's work; 14 films in all, representing Stone's brilliant work from virtually every studio in Hollywood - save Paramount. The set contains Stone's most prolific masterpieces (Platoon, Natural Born Killers, Born On The Fourth of July, Any Given Sunday), his most ridiculed and underrated set pieces (JFK, Nixon, Wall Street, The Doors) and his largely forgotten precursors to greatness (Salvador, Talk Radio) which, in hindsight, are great masterworks in their own right.

Synopses in brief:
Talk Radio: A hard-edged journey into the spiraling out of control life of a radio shock jock who is on the verge of a crying gag.
Salvador: A burned out freelance photographer's interest in journalism is rekindled amidst the civil unrest in war ravaged El Salvador.
Platoon: A troupe of soldiers enter the hellish nightmare that was Vietnam and lose their souls to the inner struggle that has no heroes or winners.
Wall Street: Martin and Charlie Sheen butt heads after the latter goes to work for unscrupulous corporate raider, Gordon Gecco (Michael Douglas). Heavily dated in its oh, so 80s subject matter.
Born On The Fourth Of July: A no-holds-barred, bare knuckled account of the folly and shame of an ungrateful country that befell returning Vietnam vets.
Natural Born Killers: A seething, scathing attack on the legal justice system and media hype that transforms the terrorizing debauchery of a couple of reprobates - Mickey and Mallory into `Robin Hood-like' vigilantes.
The Doors: The calamitous highs and debilitating lows of rock legend Jim Morrison get the robust treatment in this high octane rock-u-mentory that puts "Rock Star" to shame.
JFK: The stunning conspiracy theory saga that attempts to offer up alternative theories to the Warren Commission's report on President Kennedy's assassination. An eclectic, thrilling roller coaster of a movie with a slam bang finish!
Nixon: A rather straight-forward retelling of Nixon's highs and lows with Sir Anthony Hopkins doing his best to hide the fact that no one is quite like Tricky Dick but the man himself. Paul Sorvino is hauntingly on point as Henry Kissenger and Joan Allen gives a most intelligent read of first lady, Pat.
Any Given Sunday: A hard-edged look at the world of professional sports and how corruption, greed and the competitive spirit collide. Cameron Diaz and Al Pacino stage some rough-house politics to will a ferocious team out of its losing streak. Hot stuff!

This collection gives you a solid batch of transfers; the one disappointment remaining "Born On The Fourth of July" which still has not been anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions. Otherwise, picture quality throughout is superb. Colors are rich and vibrant. "Wall Street" exhibits the most dated picture quality of the lot. Some pixelization is evident on both "Nixon" and "Talk Radio." "Platoon" and "JFK" exhibit a flawless and impeccably balanced transfer quality with very clean, reference quality whites and deep, rich solid blacks. The audio on most films is pristine. Again, the earlier films in the collection (from Salvador to Wall Street) have a more tinny treble and hollow sounding bass, but this is to be expected. Special features vary according to each disc. All come with at least an audio commentary provided by Stone. There's also a host of extra features on Stone himself, his life and life's work, as well as a preview of his latest project, "Alexander." For the price this box set is an absolute must for any collector!