Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone Collection

Amazon.com essential video

Oliver Stone would like to have the last word on America's media culture of voyeurism and violence, but whatever he's trying to say in this grisly, unconventional movie comes across terribly garbled. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis play traveling serial killers who become television celebrities when a Geraldo-like personality (Robert Downey Jr.) turns their madness into the biggest story in the country. Stone extensively rewrote an original script by Quentin Tarantino, and he employs a mosaic of different film stocks, video, and pop pastiches to create a sense of blurred lines between visual phenomena. (The background on Lewis's character's life as an abused child, for instance, is presented as a sitcom starring Rodney Dangerfield.) But the result of these experiments is a pompous, even amateurish effort at grasping the reins of a real-life national debate. One almost wants to tell Stone to sit down and raise his hand next time if he thinks he has something to say. The controversial director would like Natural Born Killers to be nothing less than a monumental achievement, but it's one of the emptier entries in his filmography. --Tom Keogh

Description

The story of a husband and wife who are serial killers involved in a cross country killing spree that elevates them from fugitives into media celebrities.

DVD Features:
Alternate endings:(4:42)
Audio Commentary:Director's Commentary
Deleted Scenes:(22:44)
Other:"Chaos Rising" (36:36)

Customer Reviews:

Love this contraversial film.......2007-09-13

I love this contraversial film, it was a real headline runner when it came out. The mixed message from Stone of dream, soap opera, media cirkus is probably more valid today then when it first came out.

The MTV generation has found its film.......2007-09-04

A crazy, zany movie that looks as if it only got made after the inmates took over the asylum. Quentin Tarantion penned a script that Stone and his associates bought and remade into what we now know as Natural Born Killers. A crazy film that needs to be seen multiple times to understand. Once is definitely not enought.

The movie's point is hidden behind the violence and gore but it's very effective in its message. It's a movie that needs no explaining. The title itself makes it one to watch. The scenes, the angles, the characters, you will not forget this movie if you see it.

The DVD features a commentary from Oliver Stone, a few deleted scnes, including a shocking one with Ashley Judd that'll leave you in awe, and a feturette.

The bad thing is, it's non-anamorphic. This is the only Director's Cut that I know of and it sucks that it's not anamorphic.

However, I still recommend this movie.

Got myth?.......2007-08-28

This film's theme is a common one. Catcher in the Rye, Clockwork Orange, Dubliners, Fahrenheit 451, Idiocracy, Waiting for Godot - the list goes on. The theme is what happens when a society no longer has a myth. If you miss this point you miss the film's point. People who pan this film typically aren't getting the point; instead, they're seeing it through a sociological lens. Oliver Stone - long-time disciple of mythologist Joseph Campbell - presents another depiction of this postmodern theme. The death of mythology is old news: Giambattista Vico predicted this four centuries ago, author James Joyce attempted to refecundate myth though his works Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, and Joseph Campbell observed we're currently waiting for the new myth to arrive. The NeoCon establishment - disciples of Leo Strauss - have attempted to build a new myth of "public presumption" of endless war of Good against Evil. But because it's a lie it won't last long. Or it will destroy us. Which brings us back to Natural Born Killers.

In a world without myth we create our own. Natural Born Killers depicts with considerable black humor how people living in a cultural vacuum of dead mythologies violently struggle to create their own living mythology. The killers, Mickey and Mallory, are psychotic, schizophrenic - (who knows?) - but schizophrenia is at root an inability to derive meaning from symbols. The pair run amok in an awful symbolic void, latching onto a smorgasbord of comic heroes, game shows, sitcoms, childhood memories, and courtship rituals. What's happening to them is exactly what happens to primitive societies exposed to "white man's culture": They collapse, succumb to vice, and disintegrate. Meantime, Mickey and Mallory struggle to establish a meaningful personal mythology of their own throughout the film: Marriage vows on a bridge, the "communion with angels" scene, reverence for any small kindness done them, the ritual act of mercy at each killing.

The film raises hairs on the neck - and it's meant to - because Stone depicts what we've become and where we're headed. Beneath tawdry commercialism, career mania, suburban flight, vapid FOX news, political correctness, endless war and all we've come to accept as "normal" there is a very real and disturbing primal chaos that finds no living symbols or mythology to focus and balance its energies. This is an unprecedented development in the history of mankind and so what we face is unprecedented.

Shocking, violent, finely directed with a fine soundtrack. A powerful film of the chaos of being human in a dehumanized world.

A frenzied, bent out of shape film..........2007-08-25

The NYTimes said this film was the "most radical film released by a major studio since A Clockwork Orange", and they were right. This one is actually more radical, especially in the way the story is told. While A Clockwork Orange is brilliant (and better than this film), its story was told in a rather straightforward manner. Here Oliver Stone goes crazy with 35mm, 16mm, video, and even animation to comment on America's love of violence, and the media's obsession of it. The film has some of the most intense editing ever, and it becomes completely surreal in the final third where it stops making logical sense and becomes something you can only experience (there was a guy who said "what the f***" very loudly in the theater during this last third). The film is rather ugly (it was based on a script by Tarantino), but Stone makes the most of it, making it much more interesting (the sitcom parody with Rodney Dangerfield is a brilliant bit of casting) and memorable than if Quentin had done it. There are some really stupid scenes (when Mickie and Mallory feel sad after killing a Native American, but feel no remorse towards any of the other killings), and there are times Stone overindulges himself, but it's definitely worth watching for the great performances (Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Rodney Dangerfield (my favorite standup by the way), Robert Downey Jr. as an Aussie tabloid reporter, and Tommy Lee Jones) and the hallucinatory frenzy of it all...

Not What the Title Implies.......2007-05-18

THIS IS NOT THE DIRECTORS CUT.

I give the Directors Cut 5 stars, and ordinarily I would give even the edited version at least 4, but when I purchased "The Oliver Stone Collection" edition of this movie, I assumed the movie contained therein would be the Directors Cut. IT IS NOT.

The deleted scenes are great to have, but those scenes were also contained in the old beat-up VHS of NBK I owned years and years ago and lost. Attempting to replace it (my DIRECTORS CUT version), I bought this one on DVD. I was extremely disappointed that this is not the version I had come to love.

Very little of the movie is deleted, but purists seeking to obtain the TRUE version of this movie should stay away. Remember when Robert Downey Jr. gets a hole shot in his hand? Gone (or at least cut away far faster than it's supposed to). Remember when Tommy Lee Jones gets his head mounted on a stick? Gone. These are just two examples.

For those of you specifically seeking the Directors Cut, this is not it. I love this movie to death, but I was looking for something specific and did not get it. Very misleading labeling, if you ask me.

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-Turn / Any Given Sunday Director's Cut)

Average customer rating:

One of my favorite director's; far from ultimate box set
COLLECTION ALMOST PERFECT
1600 MINUTES OF GREAT MOVIES !!!!!!!!
Not a Good Deal!
One technical quibble

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-Turn / Any Given Sunday Director's Cut)
Starring: Val Kilmer , and Woody Harrellson
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( U ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0002ZSKMS
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Amazon.com

This 14-disc set is at least the third massive DVD collection with the Oliver Stone moniker. New to this set are two documentaries that aired on HBO: Looking for Fidel (2004), Stone's second film shadowing the Cuban leader, focusing on the regime's iron-fisted defector policy. Persona Non Grata (2003) is an examination of Palestinian conflict. Both of the films have a constantly moving camera, giving us a you-are-there feel to the subjects including Stone, who is seen often. His warts and all interviews are certainly a different type than the usual newsmagazines and are especially interesting in Non Grata since we've seen too many cut-and-dried interviews with these players over the years.

The main theatrical films on single discs have been released before although several of them have been released previously with more content and bonus discs, creating a debate on how "ultimate" this collection is. Otherwise, all his films are here, from his Vietnam trilogy (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Heaven & Earth), his iconic pop culture films (The Doors, Wall Street, Any Given Sunday), experimental films (Natural Born Killers, U-Turn, Talk Radio), and political operas (JFK, Nixon, Salvador), plus the documentary Oliver Stone's America. --Doug Thomas

Description

The Ultimate Oliver Stone Collection includes twelve of this legendary filmmaker's best films. This collection contains 14 discs filled with hours of commentary and bonus features. Also included is a bonus disc made exclusively for this collection. The collection contains: Born on the 4th of July, The Doors, JFK (Director's Cut), Platoon, Salvador, Talk Radio, Wall Street, Any Given Sunday (Director's Cut), Heaven and Earth, Natural Born Killers, Nixon, Oliver Stone's America, U-Turn, AND the Ultimate Oliver Stone Bonus Disc.

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorite director's; far from ultimate box set.......2007-08-11

I'll keep this short and sweet, as most of you have already touched on this before me. None of the 2 disc sets include their second disc. That means collectors like me basically had to repurchase the DVDs if they wanted any supplemental material included with their fave flicks. I found this to be a bit of a money waster, and basically an expensive way to purchase the Stone documentaries, that as far as I know, can only be found here. I'd have rather just paid 20 bucks for them on a seperate DVD, however.

I do have a question for owners of this set:

Have any of you ever experienced small purple and green bars on both sides of the image during the entire playback of JFK? I'm trying to find out if it's just my disc, or if this is a common issue with the set.

COLLECTION ALMOST PERFECT.......2006-10-26

This filmmaking collection is almost perfect, but not quite superior to, the previous Oliver Stone collection that was released. All of his directorial efforts starting with Salvador are included, and they are packaged similar to the way television series dvd sets are packaged (like Grey's Anatomy and Lost), with two overlapping discs per side of the package. Platoon is the special edition that was released by MGM/UA many years back, it is not the most recent special edition. Salvador, Wall Street, and Talk Radio are all the single disc special editions that are available separately. Born On The Fourth of July is the remastered version that was released not too long ago (picture is vastly improved with more natural hues and tones). The Doors, JFK, Nixon, and Any Given Sunday are separately available as two-disc editions and only the first discs of each (basically only the movie) are available in this set. Heaven and Earth and U-Turn are the same as what is available separately, and finally Natural Born Killers is the RATED version of the film, not the Unrated released by Trimark. The picture is much better than the Trimark Unrated release of the film but it is missing up to three minutes of footage needed to achieve an R rating. The NBK disc does include deleted scenes, commentary, and a theatrical trailer. I'm not sure why Warner Bros doesn't release the Unrated version since it does with all of its other films (except for Eyes Wide Shut, I suppose) but whatever. The extra disc on this set includes Stone's recent documentaries Persona Non Grata and Looking For Fidel. It does not included Comandante which is still not available in this country (you can get a Region 2 copy on Amazon.co.uk but you'll need a region free player to play it). There is also a little blurb about Alexander included. Oh, and the documentary Oliver Stone's America is also included including the full version of his student film Last Year In Vietnam. So, all in all this is a great buy. If you really end up wanting the two-disc editions of some of the films after you watch them, you can always buy them later. If you buy this, Alexander (either or both versions), and his upcoming World Trade Center, you will own almost all of Oliver Stone's directorial efforts for a pretty cheap price all things considered. Enjoy!

1600 MINUTES OF GREAT MOVIES !!!!!!!!.......2006-10-01

Are you kidding me ???Where can you get 13 GREAT movies and EXTRAS for this price?? I cant believe people that find fault with a set containing so much for so little!!!!Each of these movies is highly entertaining in its own way. A diversified group of films you'll never find in a single collection!!!!I cant believe this doesnt cost$150 or more!!!

Not a Good Deal!.......2005-06-14

This DVD set consists of one outer and two inner Boxes, each has 4 glassy DVD case, 3 double, 1 single. DVDs are not indipendent in this set, so if you want to buy it used, beware of the condition of the box. some movies like "THE DOORS" and "Nixon" are originnaly two discs editions but only first discs are included in this dvd set and worse is, there is a word "disc 1" printed of them which indicates that these are the first DVDs of a 2 disc set and that makes you feel there is something crude about this box set! and there is something really crude!
the quality of boxes and print is low. outer box could easily be damaged or worn and it's very loose. it's not a good deal, specially at the price of 116 dollars!

One technical quibble.......2005-04-06

All great movies, but I couldn't help but notice that every time I try to eject the JFK Director's Cut DVD, the disc pops out of the DVD player and then makes an unexpected move back and to the left.

Average customer rating:

Good enough for rock and roll...
The Poor Collection of a Great Film Maker
Do I need to comment on my rating?
This is great
great collection!

Oliver Stone 10 Feature Collection
Starring: Oliver Stone , Wall Street , and Talk Radio
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Amazon.com

While this monumental retrospective of Oliver Stone's directorial career doesn't include Salvador or Platoon--Stone's early, acknowledged masterpieces of history and remembrance--it certainly sheds light on the more controversial arc of his work ever since.

Beginning with 1987's Wall Street, Stone's barbed tragedy about corporate raiders and blinding greed during the Reagan years, this cinematic 10-pack represents a curious odyssey of generational touchstones, outright obsessions, and feverish experimentation. The minor, 1988 Talk Radio, for instance, introduced Stone's then-evolving critique of inflamed media in a society of hapless onlookers. But it was 1994's Natural Born Killers that exploded the theme in a wildly ambitious farce concerning two lovers who defy manufactured perceptions by becoming notorious murderers. Killers pushes the limits of screen violence, visual literacy, and the mixed-media technique (juggling film stocks, incorporating video, etc.) that Stone introduced in JFK. If the result is cold and forced, it's also brazen.

Most significant is the way this collection underscores Stone's drive to fuse historical drama with lingering emotions about the past. Stone, a Vietnam War veteran, revisits that haunting debacle here in the masterful Born on the Fourth of July and the moving Heaven & Earth. Yet some of his most famous efforts still draw heaps of scorn for narrative hubris and factual recklessness. (Does anyone really believe John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a Lyndon Johnson coup d'état?) But time is on Stone's side. Eventually, JFK, The Doors, and Nixon will be seen not as a failed objective history, but as the experience of a tumultuous era in the imagination of a man who lived through it all and can't shake it off.

The collection concludes with the flawed contemporary noir U Turn and the unexpectedly entertaining football saga Any Given Sunday. Stone bided his time following this extraordinary body of work, until the humanitarian relief drama Beyond Borders (not included) found the director on familiar footing. As Stone's legacy continues to grow, there is a remarkable career here to revisit with these 10 films. --Tom Keogh

Description

The Oliver Stone Collection 10-Movie Giftset includes Extra Special Features on most Titles: Any Given Sunday Special Edition Director's Cut (2 discs):Behind-the-scenes DocumentaryFull Contact: The Making of Any Given Sunday2 Feature-Length Audio Commentaries by Oliver Stone and Jamie FoxOver a Dozen Deleted/Extended Scenes3 Music Vides Featuring Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J Jamie Foxx Audition Tape and Screen Tests Instant Replay Feature Allowing Direct Access to Game Action Scenes Gag Reel, Football Outtake Montage and Much More Also Includes Enhanced Features for DVD-Rom. JFK Special Edition Director's Cut (2 discs):17 Minutes of Footage Not Seen in North American TheatersNew Digital Transfer in Remixed Dolby 5.1 SurroundReissued in Dual-Layer Format Allowing Uninterrupted PlaybackFeature-Length Audio Commentary by StoneDeleted/Extended ScenesInterview with Fletcher ProutyVisual CommentaryMultimedia EssayAlso Includes Enhanced Features for DVD-Rom. The Doors (2 discs):Expanded Double-Disc EditionDocumentary The Road of ExcessDirector CommentaryFeaturetteAdditional Scenes. Natural Born Killers:New Digital Transfer in Remixed Dolby 5.1 SurroundDocumentary Chaos Rising: The Storm Around Natural Born KillersFeature-Length Audio Commentary by StoneDeleted Scenes and Alternate EndingOriginal Theatrical Trailer. Wall Street: Director CommentaryCharlie Rose Interview. Heaven and Earth: New Digital Transfer in Remixed Dolby 5.1 SurroundFeature-Length Audio Commentary by StoneDeleted ScenesOriginal Theatrical Trailer. Nixon: (2 discs) Expanded Double-Disc Edition with Deleted Scenes Reinserted into the FeatureDirector Commentary. Talk Radio: Prod

Customer Reviews:

Good enough for rock and roll..........2004-08-31

... ok.. i admit that i don't own this collection...and i haven't watched all of them as they are in this collection or seen any of the new features.. but i've seen Most of the movies in the collection.. and they are Mostly Kick-a$$ -- more than anything.. it seemed like a couple of the people that left reviews were being Down on the DOORS movie.. and for that.. i say 5 stars!!!!! cause that movie was cool enough to give all the rest of his movies 5 stars...

The Poor Collection of a Great Film Maker.......2003-06-17

I'm not sure who this collection is for. Die hard Stone fans (like me) already own his classics on DVD. And those new to Stone probably won't spend [this much].

But just in case we needed it, it's here. But who put this collection together? It's got the greats like 'JFK' 'Born On the Forth of July' and 'Wallstreet' but it also has Stone's follies such as 'U Turn' 'Heaven and Earth' 'Talk Radio' 'The Doors' and 'Any Given Sunday.' I believe Roger Ebert explained that when a man puts out gold five days a week he's entitled to put out lead on the weekend.

Why are we reliving the horrors that even the most hardened Stone fan (like me) couldn't stand? This is clearly an attempt to get fools to spend [this much] by mixing classic films in with bad ones.

Stone began his career as a sci-fi screen writer (remember 'Conan the Barbarian') who did some part time directing (remember 'The Hand') His first hit came with 'Scareface' in 1983. By 1986 he had two Oscars under his belt and was the hottest director in Hollywood. Just when you thought things couldn't get any better, they did. Unlike most directors his films just got better and better.

But with his last film in 1999 and his last good film in 1995 Stone is not exactly a big name today.

Stone was the defining director of the late 80s and early 90s. Not only was his directing great but his films gave us a hard look at modern America. No one can take that away from him.

Here's the real lowdown.
Platoon
Wallstreet
Born on the Forth of July
JFK
Natural Born Killers
Nixon

Do I need to comment on my rating?.......2002-08-25

Very good looking and full with excellent extras Set. If you like Oliver Stone's work you'll be very pleased with this Collection. You'll forget how much you paid for it, this set deserves it's own room in your house... Stankey Kubrick's and Best of Hitchcock Collections are excellent sets also.

This is great.......2001-12-29

This is a great collection. The Oliver Stone Collection it is extremely wonderful. I watched all of them. They all have great quality. I love Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, Nixon, and Any Given Sunday.

great collection!.......2001-10-21

This is a great collection of Oliver Stone's films. Born on the Fourth of July is truly amazing. The Doors is extremely entertaining. Natural Born Killers is absolutely insane. Any Given Sunday was definately edge of your seat. JFK and Nixon is totally interesting. But I was dissapointed in a lot of things. U-Turn and Talk Radio should not have been in the collection. They are good movies but do not deserve to be in a collection. I am mostly dissapointed that the one of the greatest war movies ever, Platoon, did not make collection. What were they thinking? It is brillantly acted, has a great story, and is captivating. Not to mention it won best picture. This is one of if not the best Oliver Stone picture he ever made. But all around, the collection is great. It is worth the money and the sound and picture quality is excellent.

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