Review of Natural Born Killers: Director`s Cut

Introduction

Oliver Stone`s 1994 romantic crime drama Natural Born Killers is one of the most notorious movies of recent years, promised a great deal when it was released - a Quentin Tarantino script and a strong cast, however the UK release of the film was postponed by Warner Home Video after the Dunblane massacre on the basis that the movie`s content was rather insensitive to say the least given the mood of the nation.

The film tells the story of Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliet Lewis), serial killers who go on an uncontrolled killing spree across America, becoming media celebrities in the process. Told in a comic book style, the film is anything but comic, as the at times glorified violent killings unfold on the screen.

Video

The video is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen (an improvement on the letterboxed Region 1 release) and the print is of above average quality, with some grain evident. The image itself is vibrant and sharp, with a reasonable of detail and no compression problems.

The style of the movie is like nothing you`ve ever seen before, told in a pop-culture fashion with rapid fast cuts from shot-to-shot and scene-to-scene, all shot in different styles, some very surreal, some just like a normal movie. You`ll either love or hate this method of presentation, personally I hated it as I was bombarded by visuals constantly throughout the movie.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and, like the video, is of above average quality, and whilst the music sounds very good, other scenes are a little flat at times.

The music itself is memorable, featuring Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Nine Inch Nails, L7 and Dr Dre amongst others, and it fits in with the tone of the movie very well.

The dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout the movie.

Features

Extra features include a commentary from Stone, an alternative ending, a documentary, alternative scenes, an image gallery and the trailer.

The commentary track provides the usual facts and trivia about the movie, but doesn`t for example explain what drugs Stone was on when making it! The documentary looks at the controversy surrounding the movie.

Conclusion

The list of notorious and banned movies includes many that should have stayed banned - not on grounds of censorship or taste, just because they are not very good, and Natural Born Killers should have been consigned to the archives forever. Apparently Quentin Tarantino disowned his original script after it was butchered by screenwriters, and combined with the in-your-face style of the movie, it is very easy to see why. This really is an over-hyped turkey.

Natural Born Killers is one of the few films that I have seen recently that I wanted to turn off half-way through, because I simply was not interested in what was going on, and I certainly wasn`t interested in seeing it presented to me in such a hap-hazard manner. However, having said that, the movie has a cult following, so it`s clearly a case of you either like or loathe it.

The DVD itself is technically competent, and the anamorphic widescreen transfer makes it more appealing that the letterboxed Region 1 edition.

To summarise - if you`re a fan of the movie, the DVD is worth buying, however, if you`ve never seen it and are curious about the notoriety, I suggest renting it out rather than buying it.