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:

media | satire | controversy | woman on top | mass media | 

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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:

Natural Born Killers

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$34,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,166,687, 28 August 1994, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$50,282,766

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

Tommy Lee Jones (Warden Dwight McClusky) and Joe Grifasi (Deputy Sheriff Duncan Homolka) appeared in Batman Forever (1995).

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Goofs

Several times during the Prison riot scenes people's weapons constantly reload 'magically' as no one (save Mickey) is ever seen to be reloading their weapons, nor even seen to be procuring shells or magazines from the bodies of guards, yet they still continue to fire. Again, this comes from reading the film too literally; the riot is not supposed to be taken as a realistic depiction of a riot.

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Quotes

Wayne Gale: [after Mickey Knox takes over] Where's Roger?
Roger: [pops out] I'm right here!
Wayne Gale: Where's Scotty?
Roger: He's hit. I-I think he's dead.

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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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Alternate Versions

The Director's Cut was originally released by Vidmark Video, after Warner Bros. refused to distribute it because of a company policy that won't allow them to release unrated or NC-17 rated tapes (the Director's Cut was unrated). The Warner Bros. logo was thus removed from the beginning of the film. However, in 2009, Warner Bros. did release their own edition of the Director's Cut, in which the logo was restored.

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Connections

Features In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914)

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Soundtracks

Checkpoint Charlie
Written and Performed by Barry Adamson
Courtesy of Mute Records
by arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

A bizarre acid trip of a film that has good and bad points

Oliver Stone seems to have outdone himself on this one. Not only is Natural Born Killers a visual masterpiece, but it is probably one of the most insane and nonsensical social commentary films I have ever seen. Disappointing, since it was penned by one of my favorite film directors, Mr. Quentin `Bad Motherf***er' Tarantino himself. The elements of a good story are there: Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love and go on a mass murdering spree which is lapped up by the media. While there is definitely a strong social statement, the story is too erratic and scattered to be completely coherent.

Visually however, Natural Born Killers is stunning. It is intensely colorful, unflinchingly violent and innovative in its cinematography. This movie is not for most, but if you decide to try it out, be warned: It is not for the faint of heart, and not for the weak of stomach. But it is an important film for its visual merits, at the very least.

--Shelly