Some people . . . just don’t get it. There were quite a few who were upset about Natural Born Killers when it was released in 1994 and failed to see what the movie was trying to convey. Much of it can be open to interpretation and Olive Stone himself states that Natural Born Killers is a love story, which it is to a degree, but it’s also something that gives commentary on society. After fifteen years, you would believe that some things would change, but they haven’t. Much of what Natural Born Killers shows us is still very relative to today while some people still can’t see past the violence to understand what the movie is really trying to tell them.

Natural Born Killers is actually based on a story by Quentin Tarantino, not that this should come as a surprise given the level of violence found within the movie. The film follows the exploits of Mickey Knox (Woody Harrelson) and his “wife” Mallory Wilson Knox (Juliette Lewis) who are anything but the perfect couple. The two have taken to the road after Mickey kills Mallory’s abusive father Ed (Rodney Dangerfield) and well as her mother (Edie McClurg) and with a taste of bloodlust, the two have been on a killing spree ever since . . . expect for the day they were married because Mickey didn’t want to ruin the mood. The trail of dead has continued to rise and has put Detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore) on the case though he always seems to be one step behind. However, luck is finally with him and after Mallory is bitten by a rattlesnake and in dire need of an antidote they are arrested and put in the state penitentiary ran by Warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones.) The two killers are to be sent to the institution, though McClusky is having Scagnetti oversee their transportation and if anything should happen, he has permission to kill them, but there are others that have an interest in the tale of Mickey and Mallory. Tabloid journalist Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr) wants to interview Mickey which leads to that one chance of escape . . . and adding more names to the list of victims.

There are those who look at Natural Born Killers and see a movie that glorifies mass murderers as that’s exactly what Mickey and Mallory are, and that’s actually part of the point here. There’s some irony that people can get upset about a movie with fictional characters being more or less the anti-heroes and yet it’s perfectly acceptable to have cable channels focus on the crimes of people that are walking around in society. I suppose that some might state that their problem with this movie is that the two end up going free at the end and there’s no real conclusion to what has happened, and yet there is. As we see, they have given up the life they once had, at least we can assume so, perhaps even reaching a point where they were able to reform themselves.

This all goes to the idea, at least in my opinion, that those who involved in such a harsh reality come from one themselves. This shown with both characters; they come from environments that were abusive in every way and were merely products of their society, but there are also people who want to change and it’s highly possible that this is what has happened with them. But there’s more to Natural Born Killers than just these ideas. The film is really taking shots at the media in general. This is something that I addressed recently in another review, but there was a time when the news focusing on every detail rarely happened. I think that we can really blame the whole tabloid media on Geraldo Rivera who is one of the originators of what has become known as trash TV. He took it in a direction however where he was trying to cover real events, though often times without having any true research or knowledge of backup his claims.

Natural Born Killers addresses the tabloid media mentality that was rampant during the 90’s and actually still is today, only now it’s done in the form of “legitimate” new anchors with their own shows on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. The film shows that anyone, no matter how horrible their crimes might be, can achieve the status of rock stars simply based on oversaturation of the media and this is quite true. Back in the 50’s the crimes of someone like Ed Gein were considered horrendous while today a serial killer can be shown over and over again on the news with some being revolted while others become fascinated and attracted to them. The movie also has some unique approaches to things like dysfunctional families. When we are shown Mallory’s past home life it’s done so accompanied by a laugh track and comical music, almost stating that this type of behavior can be viewed as entertainment to some. It’s probably the very reason that a television series like Married . . . With Children managed to gain such a following. Even though the events portrayed were fictional, it was a life that many were familiar with on some level and instead of trying to correct the problems; it was sometimes easier just to laugh with the trauma. However, the series was also groundbreaking in the fact that it didn’t deal with the usual, squeaky clean family that we were always subjected to on television.

This is one of those films though that coming to high definition is welcomed, but also difficult to really come to terms with the necessity. Blu-ray often comes down to picture quality and in the case of Natural Born Killers, that’s a hard call of make. Oliver Stone utilizes so many different visual styles during the movie that it’s hard to really take in some of the visual aspects. There is the use of black and white, oversaturated images, POV camera shots through a television camera, and plenty of other visual elements. The movie looks good, I’ll give it that, but with so much going it can be difficult at times to actually take it all in and see that it is an improvement. Natural Born Killers to some is going to be nothing more than a sensory overload; they will feel themselves being assaulted in every sense of the word, but again, that’s one of the things that I believe the movie was trying to get across.

This is actually a re-release of the film on blu-ray, though now as an Unrated Directors Cut with a few new extras. It originally came out as one of the Warner Collector’s Editions in hardcover book style, or digibook, but apparently there are some who dislike these versions. Personally, I have no problem with them; Amadeus and Poltergeist fit in easily with my blu-ray collection, but I guess others want everything to be perfect. Instead of a digibook you’ll find the collector’s booklet inside the case complete with bios on the cast, production notes and even a little trivia. The movie also has commentary with Oliver Stone with really is eye opening to listen to. Stone also has an introduction to the movie, something not found on the other blu-ray release, and there is a new documentary that discusses how things might be if the movie were made today in terms of how Mickey and Mallory might be seen not just in the media but on the Internet. The interview from the Charlie Rose show is a carryover (and sadly in standard definition) and there are also deleted scenes as well as the theatrical trailer.

I would think that with the way that the MPAA is today, Natural Born Killers is a film that probably just won’t make it past the censors. This is the film that’s really the modern version of A Clockwork Orange and shows violence to such a degree that it becomes an art form that is both tantalizing as well as repulsive, but again there is really much more to this movie than just violence. Natural Born Killers is something of an onion where you can peel the layers back to discover something different each time you watch it which is probably what has kept many enthusiastic about it after all these years and which makes this an almost essential addition to your library.

-mike-
 

Directed by: Oliver Stone Written by: Oliver Stone Dave Veloz Richard Rutowski Cast: Woody Harrelson Juliette Lewis Robert Downey, Jr. Tommy Lee Jones

Blu-ray Features:  Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround English SDH, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, French, Dutch, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Indonesian, Bulgarian Subtitles Commentary with Oliver Stone Introduction by Oliver Stone Deleted Scenes Charlie Rose Show Interview with Oliver Stone NBK Evolution: How Would It All Go Down Now? Theatrical Trailer Collectible 42-Page Booklet