Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone Collection)

Warner | minutes | | | Standard DVD reviewed by: Fusion3600

Mickey and Mallory were nobodies, just people with dark pasts and dim futures. That was before they met. After these two get together, it's love at first sight and nothing will ever be the same. While once upon a time no one knew who they were, just a short while into their relationship, the entire world will know their names. Mallory (Juliette Lewis) comes from a very dysfunctional family, with an abusive father (Rodney Dangerfield) who verbally, physically, and sexually assaults her, while Mickey (Woody Harrelson) comes from a home with a pair of abusive parents, including a father who killed himself right in front of young Mickey. Not exactly the ideal places to grow up, eh? But fate shines on M&M, and from the second they meet, it's true love, which starts off in grand style, with the two killing Mallory's parents, kicking off a nation wide killing spree by the star crossed lovers. The media smells ratings, and every paper, television show, and magazine in the country features the murderous couple, with enough information about the two to choke a horse. But does the public get tired of it? Hell no! They love Mickey and Mallory, who have been turned into national heroes of sorts. With the forces of every police unit in America looking for them, the media trying to track them down, and their hordes of loyal fans, how long will it be before M&M's love fest comes to an end?

This is the second release for this film on our beloved format, but not much changed this time around. This new disc (part of Warner's Oliver Stone Collection) sports a new anamorphic transfer and the theatrical version of the film, but the rest of the content seems to be mirror Trimark's edition. Now the main difference here is the lack of the added scenes from Stone's director's cut of the film, which add even more chaos to an already overflowing motion picture. I don't think these cuts alter the film a lot, but they do add to the atmosphere and tone of the picture and as such, I think they should be included in the end. But the running time of the added material is low, so don't think you'll see a whole new movie or anything, although the tempo is turned up a few notches. Even in this theatrical form, I think Natural Born Killers is a fantastic movie and while it won't please everyone, it is well worth a look to those interested. I love the new anamorphic transfer found here, but in the end, Natural Born Killers lovers will want to own both discs, to celebrate the best of both worlds. If you have to pick one, choose Trimark's director's edition, but if you can, I think both discs are worth picking up.

When speaking of his cast here, Oliver Stone calls Natural Born Killer's leading cast members the legs of a cinematic table. Most tables have four legs, but Stone's table here has five. Stone commented once that if any of these five performers would have came up short on their acting, the whole movie would have fallen apart. Obviously, Woody Harrelson (EdTV, Money Train) and Juliette Lewis (Strange Days, From Dusk 'Til Dawn) have the main roles, and as such carry the movie. The two are locks as their parts, and every time I watch, I forget that they are actors, they seem so natural as these characters. That's no easy task. The other three "legs" are supporting roles, but they are pivotal to the film's impact. Robert Downey, Jr. (Chaplin, Bowfinger), Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals), and Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan) are excellent, and add depth to the film which is needed. Each of these characters is vital to the movie, and also highly entertaining. The movie also features some great performances by Rodney Dangerfield (CaddyShack, Meet Wally Sparks), Balthazar Getty (Lord of the Flies, Judge Dredd), Edie McClurg (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Back To School), and Steven Wright (Mixed Nuts, Half Baked).

Natural Born Killers is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. As I am sure you know, this film uses all sorts of film stocks and other visual tricks, so it is impossible to score this transfer on the usual scale. But as far as I can tell, this transfer replicates the intended visual scope very well, I saw no serious problems here. The different film stocks, color plates, and the like change the scale somewhat, but I think this does the task and does it to good ends. This new anamorphic transfer is a solid improvement over Trimark's original release. I'm very pleased with this new transfer and I think other fans will be as well.

This disc sports a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and man, this seems to be a lot more active than I remember. I found the Trimark disc's audio to be good, but on the conservative side, while this mix is much more aggressive and volatile. I wouldn't compare it to more action driven features, but when lined up against the Trimark disc, this one seems more impressive. The surrounds are used when they need to be and used well, so I am a very happy camper. Again, this is not a whirlwind of surround sound, but it is much better than I expected. The music also comes across well and the dialogue is crisp, very well balanced overall. You'll also find a French stereo surround track, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

It seems as though most of the goodies have been ported over from the previous disc, including Oliver Stone's audio commentary track. I spot checked the track on several points, but it seems to be the same track included on Trimark's disc, even though the film's content is a little different. But, some new comments have tacked on the front, so perhaps a few other stretches include new comments also. The same six deleted scenes (with optional intros by Stone), the Chaos Rising featurette, and alternate ending have been tacked on here, but some new stuff is also jammed in here as well. The film's theatrical trailer (Trimark's disc uses an awful video promo) and an interview sequence have also been included.