Post by Quorthon on Dec 22, 2005 13:47:23 GMT -5
Natural Born Killers
Drama/Black Comedy
1994
Color
MPAA Rating: Unrated Version
Directed by: Oliver Stone
USA
Like I did with Minority Report as my first, finally, review of a Steven Spielberg film—I’m also finally reviewing an Oliver Stone flick. And I’ve started with arguably his most violent and sadistic film. A film that tries painfully hard to be so over-the-top that at times, it’s downright difficult to watch. Top it off with the story coming from the maw of Captain Dementia himself, Quentin Tarantino, and I was pretty sure I was in for a good, psychotic, violent time.
This is basically the story of a lunatic couple, something along the lines of Bonnie and Clyde, but “cranked to 11” and high as a kite in the sun. Woody Harrelson and Juliet Lewis play our psychotic “Bonnie and Clyde” duo who’s love for each other is only matched by their love of total, hair-raisingly blood-thirsty mayhem. Robert Downy Jr. apparently managed to stay sober enough to actually have a role in this film as a sleazy television news exploitationist drooling to do a story on Mickey and Mallory (Harrelson and Lewis) because he’s a sucker for higher ratings. The film basically chronicles the last days of their depravity-laden freedom, their capture, and their brief incarceration. All of it covered with a fine coating of sadistic, violent, cruel, inhuman behavior towards pretty much everyone. But, let’s not forget, there’s that love story quality hidden beneath those gallons of blood!
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--Well, I’m a horror fan and a gorehound. So I’m a fan of movies pushing boundaries of sheer violence and gore. And this movie had violence. And it had it in spades.
--Generally, pretty good acting, with an interesting flavor to it all.
--Fantastically wild cinematography and artistic style. Very over-the-top and flashy. Also dreamy and tense—this film passes itself off as some sort of hellish, barbaric, drug trip… perhaps Downy was lending a hand to more that just acting here… This is rampant cinematography that has to be seen to be believed or really understood. Unbridled zoom shots, quick flashes from color to black and white to grainy old color to grainy older black and white, with some shots still in negative form coupled with quick flashes of violence, bloodied Mickey, or flashback montages. This film has a lot of energy.
--The tense, dark atmosphere through and through really carries the characters through their trials and tribulations—and near endless homicides.
--Generally, good use of sound.
--Entertaining “segments” of the film themed differently—namely, the “Mickey meets Mallory” scene set up like a “Married, with Children”-style sitcom, but far nastier.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--The story itself is really nothing too special. This film is sold on the cinematography, style, and shocking violence—not so much the substance. We’ve seen better versions of this kind of story in other places, for instance, another penned by Tarantino: “True Romance” is a better story, with deeper characters.
--Not a whole helluva lot of character development, some minor depth, but for the most part, these characters are 2-dimensional at best—only Mickey and Mallory have any amount of depth given to them, and even that seemed a little thin. We have one “thoughtful” scene near and during the film’s climax with Woody Harrelson’s Mickey, and a few flashbacks to troubled childhoods—but that’s about it.
--Some decent music choices and some odd ones.
The Bad:
--The extensive violence will be as much a turn-off for some people as it is a turn-on for others.
--The wild, flashy cinematography can get to be too much after a while—it’s like watching a music video for two solid hours, and often times detracts quite a bit from the dialog. The film’s intense imagery and energy can be draining—almost physically exhausting to some—after a while. This easily tops the “crazy cinematography” that Rob Zombie tried, and generally failed, to pull off in “House of 1000 Corpses.”
--Pretty much every person in this film is a horrible, psychotic, or depraved human wretch. Not quite as bad as the truly awful human qualities crammed into the “people” in the “Creature Features” remake of “How to Make a Monster,” but still pretty low.
The Ugly:
--Depending on the individual, a whole lot of this film is ugly.
Memorable Scene:
--The climax in the prison.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 6/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Cinematography: 10/10 (Will not be to everyone’s liking)
Character Development: 7/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 8/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 3/10 (Very brief nudity, but a decent amount of other sexuality)
Violence/Gore: 9/10 (Tons of violence, tons of blood, very very little actual “gore”)
Dialogue: 8/10
Music: 7/10
Direction: 9/10
Cheesiness: 2/10
Crappiness: 1/10
Overall: 8/10
What’s that you say? Something wrong with my Violence/Gore setting? Think it should be a “10?” Well, you clearly haven’t seen the multitude of depravity I’ve witnessed in years of horror film addiction. “Evil Dead” and “Dead-Alive” (“Braindead”) both easily top this film in pure violence and gore. Let’s not forget “Day of the Dead” or “Zombie” (“Zombi 2”)—both also much higher in the violence/gore department. But don’t get me wrong, there’s tons of violence in this film, particularly during the climax in the prison. That said, you gotta be a sucker for bizarre, extremely violent, sadistic films to really enjoy this one—so it’s not for everyone. The wild cinematography will be a turn-off for a lot of people as well. So, take the psychotic drug-trip induced visuals of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and combine it with the rampant violence of most any given war film, remove a lot of character depth and most any heart or humanity and you have this film.
Drama/Black Comedy
1994
Color
MPAA Rating: Unrated Version
Directed by: Oliver Stone
USA
Like I did with Minority Report as my first, finally, review of a Steven Spielberg film—I’m also finally reviewing an Oliver Stone flick. And I’ve started with arguably his most violent and sadistic film. A film that tries painfully hard to be so over-the-top that at times, it’s downright difficult to watch. Top it off with the story coming from the maw of Captain Dementia himself, Quentin Tarantino, and I was pretty sure I was in for a good, psychotic, violent time.
This is basically the story of a lunatic couple, something along the lines of Bonnie and Clyde, but “cranked to 11” and high as a kite in the sun. Woody Harrelson and Juliet Lewis play our psychotic “Bonnie and Clyde” duo who’s love for each other is only matched by their love of total, hair-raisingly blood-thirsty mayhem. Robert Downy Jr. apparently managed to stay sober enough to actually have a role in this film as a sleazy television news exploitationist drooling to do a story on Mickey and Mallory (Harrelson and Lewis) because he’s a sucker for higher ratings. The film basically chronicles the last days of their depravity-laden freedom, their capture, and their brief incarceration. All of it covered with a fine coating of sadistic, violent, cruel, inhuman behavior towards pretty much everyone. But, let’s not forget, there’s that love story quality hidden beneath those gallons of blood!
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--Well, I’m a horror fan and a gorehound. So I’m a fan of movies pushing boundaries of sheer violence and gore. And this movie had violence. And it had it in spades.
--Generally, pretty good acting, with an interesting flavor to it all.
--Fantastically wild cinematography and artistic style. Very over-the-top and flashy. Also dreamy and tense—this film passes itself off as some sort of hellish, barbaric, drug trip… perhaps Downy was lending a hand to more that just acting here… This is rampant cinematography that has to be seen to be believed or really understood. Unbridled zoom shots, quick flashes from color to black and white to grainy old color to grainy older black and white, with some shots still in negative form coupled with quick flashes of violence, bloodied Mickey, or flashback montages. This film has a lot of energy.
--The tense, dark atmosphere through and through really carries the characters through their trials and tribulations—and near endless homicides.
--Generally, good use of sound.
--Entertaining “segments” of the film themed differently—namely, the “Mickey meets Mallory” scene set up like a “Married, with Children”-style sitcom, but far nastier.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--The story itself is really nothing too special. This film is sold on the cinematography, style, and shocking violence—not so much the substance. We’ve seen better versions of this kind of story in other places, for instance, another penned by Tarantino: “True Romance” is a better story, with deeper characters.
--Not a whole helluva lot of character development, some minor depth, but for the most part, these characters are 2-dimensional at best—only Mickey and Mallory have any amount of depth given to them, and even that seemed a little thin. We have one “thoughtful” scene near and during the film’s climax with Woody Harrelson’s Mickey, and a few flashbacks to troubled childhoods—but that’s about it.
--Some decent music choices and some odd ones.
The Bad:
--The extensive violence will be as much a turn-off for some people as it is a turn-on for others.
--The wild, flashy cinematography can get to be too much after a while—it’s like watching a music video for two solid hours, and often times detracts quite a bit from the dialog. The film’s intense imagery and energy can be draining—almost physically exhausting to some—after a while. This easily tops the “crazy cinematography” that Rob Zombie tried, and generally failed, to pull off in “House of 1000 Corpses.”
--Pretty much every person in this film is a horrible, psychotic, or depraved human wretch. Not quite as bad as the truly awful human qualities crammed into the “people” in the “Creature Features” remake of “How to Make a Monster,” but still pretty low.
The Ugly:
--Depending on the individual, a whole lot of this film is ugly.
Memorable Scene:
--The climax in the prison.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 6/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Cinematography: 10/10 (Will not be to everyone’s liking)
Character Development: 7/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 8/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 3/10 (Very brief nudity, but a decent amount of other sexuality)
Violence/Gore: 9/10 (Tons of violence, tons of blood, very very little actual “gore”)
Dialogue: 8/10
Music: 7/10
Direction: 9/10
Cheesiness: 2/10
Crappiness: 1/10
Overall: 8/10
What’s that you say? Something wrong with my Violence/Gore setting? Think it should be a “10?” Well, you clearly haven’t seen the multitude of depravity I’ve witnessed in years of horror film addiction. “Evil Dead” and “Dead-Alive” (“Braindead”) both easily top this film in pure violence and gore. Let’s not forget “Day of the Dead” or “Zombie” (“Zombi 2”)—both also much higher in the violence/gore department. But don’t get me wrong, there’s tons of violence in this film, particularly during the climax in the prison. That said, you gotta be a sucker for bizarre, extremely violent, sadistic films to really enjoy this one—so it’s not for everyone. The wild cinematography will be a turn-off for a lot of people as well. So, take the psychotic drug-trip induced visuals of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and combine it with the rampant violence of most any given war film, remove a lot of character depth and most any heart or humanity and you have this film.
