Plot: What’s it about?
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?
Now, take a gander at some other reviews of this disc at other sites, and you’ll find a debate over the film’s “message.” Now, I am all for messages in films, but I feel no need to discuss this film’s message, because it’s been done too many times. Instead, I will tell you that this movie is a four on the floor thrill ride, filled with action and intense visual imagery, and it is a must see. Granted, if you’re offended by murder, profanity, nudity, and violence, you won’t like this movie. But come on, did you actually think you would, look at the damn title, you should have seen it coming. The movies uses ultra quick editing, and more video formats than you shake a stick at. The movie should be viewed at least once, just to see the visual style, which is stunning. I guess I am biased, but I love this movie. I like gunplay, I like violence, I like high energy movies. So this one had my name written all over it. Yeah, there is a message about the media glorifying violence, but I didn’t focus on it too much, I already knew that before I saw this movie. To sum things up, I love blood, guns, and violence. Sue me.
In the documentary on this disc, Oliver Stone calls Natural Born Killer’s leading cast the legs of a table. Most tables have four legs, but Stone’s table 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).
Video: How does it look?
This is a tough area to review, as the movies uses all manner of video devices, resulting in greatly varying image quality. Some shots are blood red, some high gloss video, some ultra grainy film stock, it’s hard to judge the overall quality. I will say that it all appears just as it did theatrically, so any grain or other errors are intentional. I didn’t notice any compression errors either, this is a nice transfer. The movie is presented in 1.85:1 non anamorphic widescreen, so it’s all good for original ratio folks as well.
Audio: How does it sound?
Again, the movie is highly varied, with some scenes using every speaker to full effect, and others reverting to almost mono audio. The surrounds will come to life during the higher action scenes, but most audio is found in the front channels. The track is a 5.1 surround version, but you won’t know it most of the time. But again, this is not the disc’s fault, the movies uses many different audio approaches. One thing is certain, dialogue is always clear and crisp.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Trimark has brought the same selection of goodies from the laserdisc, except for a Nine Inch Nails music video, but it’s no big loss. The disc is filled with stuff fans of the movie will love, and I’m glad Trimark included so many bonus materials. First off is a running commentary with director Oliver Stone, which is interesting, but not too deep. His commentary deals mainly with the film’s “message” with some talk of his battles with the MPAA. It’s a good listen, but not that packed with information. Next up is a documentary entitled “Chaos Rising,” which runs about half an hour and is filled with interviews and some behind the scenes footage. This is a much better source of info than the commentary, and should be a lock for the movie’s fans. A gallery of six deleted scenes, which are very fun to watch, especially the court scene with Ashley Judd. It’s easy to see how they were cut though, with the film’s frantic pace. Another great deleted scene is one that features the Hun brothers, muscle bound actors. It’s a riot. The disc also includes an alternate ending, the trailer, and some bonus trailers for other Trimark releases. Although not a technical extra, the film is presented in a three minute longer, director’s cut, which is great I think.
