Natural Born Killers (1994)

Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

Quentin Tarantino (story), David Veloz (screenplay)

Stars:

Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Harrelson	...	Mickey Knox
Juliette Lewis	...	Mallory Knox
Tom Sizemore	...	Det. Jack Scagnetti
Rodney Dangerfield	...	Ed Wilson, Mallory's Dad
Everett Quinton	...	Deputy Warden Wurlitzer
Jared Harris	...	London Boy
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Deputy Warden Kavanaugh
Edie McClurg	...	Mallory's Mom
Russell Means	...	Old Indian
Lanny Flaherty	...	Earl
O-Lan Jones	...	Mabel
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Wayne Gale
Richard Lineback	...	Sonny
Kirk Baltz	...	Roger
Ed White	...	Pinball Cowboy

Storyline

Mickey Knox and Mallory Wilson aren't your typical lovers - after killing her abusive father, they go on a road trip where, every time they stop somewhere, they kill pretty well everyone around them. They do however leave one person alive at every shootout to tell the story and they soon become a media sensation thanks to sensationalized reporting. Told in a highly visual style.

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Plot Keywords:

controversy | media | mass media | love | satire | 

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Taglines:

A bold new film that takes a look at a country seduced by fame, obsessed by crime and consumed by the media.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for extreme violence and graphic carnage, for shocking images, and for strong language and sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Navajo Japanese

Release Date:

26 August 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tueurs nés

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$34,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$50,282,766 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Regency Enterprises, Alcor Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 122 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oliver Stone says that his biggest regret about the film is the fact that he had to cut out most of Pruitt Taylor Vince's performance as the prison guard Kavanaugh. As filmed, Kavanaugh becomes a comic character, who Mickey uses as a shield while moving through the prison, and who ends up being shot sixteen times by the time Mickey meets Warden McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones) at the stairs. In the finished version of the film, you don't actually see Kavanaugh being shot at all, prior to the stairs. Stone says he was forced to cut much of this, because the studio insisted that the movie be under two hours. Strangely however, the footage of Kavanaugh was not restored by Stone for his Director's Cut, nor was it included as a deleted scene on the DVD.

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Goofs

When the waitress passes the redneck a beer, the glass bottle is clear, but when he's dancing with Mallory by the jukebox his bottle is brown.

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Quotes

[On a TV interview]
Boy 1: Mickey and Mallory are the best thing to happen to mass murder since Manson.
Boy 2: Yeah! But... they're way cooler!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are superimposed over a vast amount of stock footage, ranging from the future of Mickey and Mallory, stock A-Bomb tests, childhood photos of Mickey and Mallory, time-lapse footage, scenes from the movie, and so on.

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Connections

References Three Little Pigs (1933)

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Soundtracks

Taboo
Written and Performed by Peter Gabriel & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Courtesy of Real World Records Ltd./Geffen Records and Virgin Records Ltd.

User Reviews

Blame the media

Natural Born Killers is a disturbing film. It is a great film as well. Visually it looks great and between all that violence there is a message. Criticizing the influence of media with another form of media called film.

With a lot of cuts, strange camera angles, different colors, the kind of music and a lot of symbolism the sick world of mass murderers Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis) is presented. And the sick world of how people react to their violence. Director Oliver Stone shows it to us with this satire in a great and really disturbing way.

Harrelson and Lewis hit the right tone for Mickey and Mallory. Tom Sizemore as a cop, Robert Downey Jr. as a journalist (representing the whole media) and especially Tommy Lee Jones as the prison warden are great too. Originally written by Quentin Tarantino, although he was not too happy with the result in the end, this is one of the best satires I have seen. May be it is not for everyone, the images are not always that nice, but the meaning must be for everyone.