“Now don’t get me wrong, we don’t like mass murder and shit, yeah we value human life, but hell, if we were serial killers we’d so totally be Mickey and Mallory.”
Oliver Stone’s violent indictment of 1990s media society storms onto Blu-ray. So has the world gotten better or worse since Stone turned his steely gaze to tabloid media? Worse, much worse I’d say since Mickey and Mallory would be given a reality show today.
Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis) Knox are a couple of confused kids on the run. Well, they should be on the run since they’re mass murderers, technically Mickey doesn’t cotton to the term serial killers, and have killed over fifty people before being caught by publicity hound Detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore), who is just as crazy as his quarry.
The deadly duo is currently serving hard time in Batongo State Prison under the watchful eye of Warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones) who is making plans to see that Scagnetti does away with them.
However, before Mickey and Mallory can meet their maker tabloid television journalist Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr.), host of American Maniacs, is granted a live interview with Mickey on Super Bowl Sunday. Tensions run high and the prison threatens to explode in one final spree for the dangerous duo of Mickey and Mallory.
Reporter Walter Cronkite, called the most trusted man in America, died on July 17, 2009. Serious news’ death might be traced to the 1990s, the period that Oliver Stone (trusted? Well, maybe not) satirizes in Natural Born Killers. In the 1990s serious news reporting, such as in Cronkite’s time, seemingly was on the wane with more tabloid journalism gaining in popularity.
Natural Born Killers got a lot of flack at the time it was released because of its supposed glorification of violence. Satire is a dangerous thing sometimes. Some folks can’t see it for what it is and take it seriously. Big mistake, especially telling that some of the folks railing against NBK never even saw the movie.
True, the movie is violent, but it shows that the deadly duo idolized by the media is crazed, cold blooded killers. It’s also true that journalism has swerved toward the salacious and even more so in our soundbite society. I was a bit appalled lately when celebrities twitter mumblings were made into a news story.
Ollie Stone might be a bit nutty too (though I’d never accuse him of not being intelligent, he just seems to cotton to some out there conspiracies), but sometimes he hits the nail on the head. The film is still fascinating and well made. I’ve never seen an Oliver Stone film that didn’t have some interest (though I’ve not seen a couple, U-Turn and the football one).
NBK is a favorite due to the twisted imagery, great soundtrack, and over-the-top performances. I’ve watched it several times and its not made me rob a liquor store…. Yet.
Natural Born Killers is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). Special features include a commentary from director Oliver Stone. This commentary isn’t new and has been on many of the releases of the film. This new edition does include some new material, presented in high definition unless noted.
There’s a new 3-minute introduction by Stone and the 22-minute “NBK Evolution” that examines the themes of the film in the Internet age and interviews Stone, Harrelson, Lewis, tabloid journalist Steve Dunleavy (the basis of Wayne Gale), tabloid subject Joey Buttafuoco, Internet star Tia Tequila, and a host of other current internet journalists. The rest of the special features are presented in standard definition.
The 26 minute “Chaos Rising” is the 1996 documentary about shooting the film. Next is an 11 minute interview excerpt with Stone from the Charlie Rose Show, 20 minutes of deleted scenes with introductions by Stone, a 5 minute alternative ending also with Stone intro, and the 2 minute trailer. The case also contains a 44 page booklet.
Natural Born Killers is satire at it’s most stinging. The sting is even more painful in that what the film predicts appears to have come true. The sad state of journalism as salacious entertainment only confirms what Oliver Stone was trying to say, though I’m still not convinced about JFK. Stone is a talented filmmaker and NBK has all his talents on display.
Natural Born Killers (Unrated Director's Cut) [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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