NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994)
“In this day and age, a man has to have choices, a man has to have a little bit of variety.”
Director: Oliver Stone
Writers: David Veloz, Richard Rutowski, and Oliver Stone based on a story by Quentin Tarantino
Director of Photography: Robert Richardson
Editors: Brian Berdan and Hank Corwin
Notable Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield, Jared Harris, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Russel Means, O-Lan Jones, Robert Downey Jr., Dale Dye, Tommy Lee Jones, Edie McClurg, James Gammon, Balthazar Getty
Oliver Stone is one of the greatest filmmakers to have ever lived and worked in Hollywood. As an auteur who both writes and directs, he had a run in the 80’s and 90’s that rivals the best output of any filmmaker you could possibly think of. Salvador, Platoon, Wall Street, Talk Radio, Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors, JFK. I mean, hell, most filmmakers would kill to have three great movies in their entire career, and here Stone made SEVEN great films in a row. He then stumbled with Heaven & Earth (a shame, as it was the final film in his “Vietnam Trilogy”), before coming roaring back with a most unexpected project.
While Stone is usually known as a “very serious filmmaker” who tackles real world subjects in an unflinching way, he really hadn’t dipped his toes into genre filmmaking since the horror movie, The Hand, his second stint as a feature film director, way back in 1981. So, when it was announced he’d not only be returning to genre filmmaking, but utilizing a script by the new wunderkind on the scene, Quentin Tarantino, excitement for this young movie goer was sky high.
What I did not know when I sat in that darkened theatre to watch Natural Born Killers for the first time back in the summer of 1994, was it’d be the final time I ever sat in a theater and loved an Oliver Stone film. Natural Born Killers was Stone’s last great narrative film. Sure, he made many films after this, some okay, some pretty terrible, but nothing came even a little bit close to reaching the stratospheric heights of Stone’s early output.
His segue into documentary filmmaking proved the old guy still had gas left in the tank, though. If you’ve never seen his 12-part epic documentary series, The Untold History of the United States, stop reading this right now, track down the Blu-ray, buy it and let it wash over you. What he accomplished in that series, with his co-creator Peter Kuznick, is nothing short of revelatory. As my father says, even if only 20% of the series is true, it is a damning indictment of the U.S.A., and let me tell you, the series is way, way, way more than 20% true. Even if Stone had made nothing else except this docu-series, he’d have achieved immortality in my eyes. It is THAT good.
But Stone started out as a narrative filmmaker. First, as a successful Oscar winning screenwriter, then as an Oscar winning writer/director with a distinctly unique voice and vision, in films that only he, and he alone, could have created. Some of those films will be written about here in future posts. But for now, we will start with his last great film, the visual and auditory smorgasbord known as Natural Born Killers.
1ST 5 MINUTES
As soon as you hear the opening riffs of Leonard Cohen’s Waiting For The Miracle, you immediately are alerted to the fact you’re about to watch a movie with a killer (no pun intended) soundtrack. That gravelly voice, “Baby, I’ve been waiting….,” you know you’re in the hands of a master, and really, for me, I already know this is going to be a good movie.
After a few shots of predatory animals, both in grainy black and white 16mm and full color 35mm, we a see a medium CU of a TV, the old style with the dials and buttons on the front, as an off-screen character changes the channels, from wholesome Leave it to Beaver to Richard Nixon’s resignation to a screaming demon, before we get our first view of the apex predators that are our main characters.
Almost all the film’s themes are established within these 1ST 5 Minutes. A fractured narrative, inventive use of film stocks/speeds, rapid editing, pop culture dominance, mindflashes, great music. This shit was insane back in 1994 for a major studio release from one of the top filmmakers of the time. Hard to really appreciate this facet of the film if you hadn’t been there alive at the time of its release. It was stunning.
But watching it now, in 2024, I don’t really find anything “great,” per se, in these 1ST 5 Minutes. What I do find are interesting things. As stated at the outset of this project, it doesn’t take much in those 1ST 5 Minutes. Some films pack quite a bit into their 1ST 5 Minutes, while some only briefly tantalize you, the point is there needs to be something. And here we have good music, interesting photography, wild editing, and what looks to be two enthusiastic performances from the leads. If I’m putting on this movie for the first time, how do I not keep watching past the five-minute mark?
The rest of the flick
The rest of the opening diner scene plays out. A perfectly entertaining, propulsive action sequence, that further establishes the style of the film, the cheeky humor, and the way Stone will highlight the color green throughout the film, as sickness and death follow Mickey and Mallory wherever they go:
A highlight here toward the end of the diner scene is the intercut shots of Mickey and Mallory’s POV deciding who to leave behind as the sole survivor in the diner. O’Lan Jones has a truly fantastic, blood curdling scream (I know this has nothing to do with the film, but O’Lan Jones’ real-life relationship with actor/writer Sam Shepard always fascinated me, and I don’t know why, it could be because of their teeth?), and she gives it her all in her brief screentime.
That line in the opening Cohen song, “The maestro says it’s Mozart, but it sounds like bubble gum,” could be the capsule summary for this film. A profundity masquerading as pop trash.
And almost exactly 10 minutes into the film, we get my Favorite Scene.
Rodney fuckin’ Dangerfield. In my mind, his character, what he represents, both physically and psychically, is the pitch black, dark beating heart of this flick. The introduction of Mallory’s family growing up, through the use of the sitcom format, complete with video quality photography and laugh track deployed in all the most inappropriate places, was mind blowing back in 1994. It was hard to really verbalize why it was so powerful when you first saw it, but the basement humor mixed with true demonic malevolence was shocking, as you’re simultaneously laughing while being horrified. Rodney Dangerfield’s character is all too real. That shit goes on every day, all over the world, and it’s a dark, dark reality for some children.
Throughout the film, much like Blonde from last week, we see how trauma experienced as a child chases you into adulthood. For Mallory, it’s that image of her father that haunts her, and being called a “stupid bitch.” For Mickey, it’s the memory of his mother’s abuse, “quit being so fucking cute,” and being a small boy when his father decided to blow his own brains out right in front of him. For Scagnetti, the dogged, psycho killer cop (who also moonlights as an author in a genius bit, with a book titled Scagnetti on Scagnetti) played by Tom Sizemore during peak 90’s Sizemore insanity, it’s seeing his mother gunned down by Charles Whitman from that clock tower in Texas.
But because of the somewhat irreverent tone (and the Robert Downey Jr. character), it’s hard to take the film too seriously. It wants to have its cake and eat it too. Be a serious commentary on trauma and the numbing of the American psyche but also a goofy, ultra-violent gorefest edited like a music video on acid. And you know what? I’m totally fine with that.
The sitcom sequence is what elevates this film from the mere “quite good” to the “great,” bordering on genius. In 1994, sitting in the theater, when that sequence began, I simply could not believe it. Bold, daring, audacious, raw, scary, funny. The thought races through your head, “What the fuck am I watching right now?” Rodney Dangerfield is perfectly cast. Like he was born to play this part. Incredibly inspired casting by Oliver Stone here to not only convince the comedian to take on a role like this, but have him be so committed to the bit, despite Dangerfield admitting to Stone of not really understanding why the scene was “funny” or why Stone wanted him in the film so badly. But such was the power of Stone at the time that Dangerfield trusted him, and thank god he did, because we get one of the best depictions of true evil ever put on film.
The entire third act set in the prison with Tommy Lee Jones as Warden McClusky is great. My Favorite Shot in the film takes place as him and Scagnetti are walking in the prison, and there’s one of those quick, black and white “state of mind” shots Stone employs, and it’s McClusky and Scagnetti looking back over their shoulders in slight slow motion, somewhat paranoid/scared. It’s a blink and you miss it type of shot, but for some reason it always stuck in my head and is one of the indelible images I retain from the film. A very, very close second is the low angle CU shot of McClusky’s snake like tongue licking his lips.
Though I must say, I also love the shot where Russell Means (what a great actor, especially here. Love the touch of his son dying in the Armed Forces, dying for the very country that wiped his people out. Little touches like that really bring this film to whole other level, as violence permeates everything in American society, whether it is a serial killer or war pigs in D.C. using people as cannon fodder, it’s inescapable) is looking at Mickey and Mallory and sees the word “DEMON” superimposed on their bodies, then “TOO MUCH TV.” On the nose? Absolutely. Obvious? Sure. Do I still fucking love it? Absolutely! This whole sequence is fantastic.
The use of rear projection (speaking of which, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the use of rear projection in the entire film, really great use of the technique and you can tell a lot of thought went into what images were projected), the old man’s chanting and dancing as Mickey’s demons haunt him in his dreams. All edited perfectly (special mention should go to the sound editor for this sequence, really love when we hear Woody Harrelson, almost mimicking a scared child, saying “oh, don’t hit me.” I get chills just thinking about it). And thematically satisfying that Means’ death is what dooms Mickey and Mallory. At least in the short term.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I love the occasional dip into animation Stone does from time to time throughout the film, whether it’s the blood from their hands turning to intertwined snakes as it falls into a river (“We’ll be living in all the oceans now”), or the sequence of a super buff, gun toting Mickey prowling some hallway or something. I remember at the time wanting a whole movie animated like that, it was so wild back then to have that show up in a film, much less from a studio.
Click here for the only clip I could find of those sequences, sorry for the shit quality!
And one of the early uses of CGI in a practical, non sci-fi way, is when Stone uses digital effects to briefly twist Mickey’s face when they’re stuck in the desert. I was blown away when I saw that, thought it was such a genius use of what was considered new technology at the time.
My Favorite Line is towards the end, where they’re about to kill Wayne Gale and he’s pleading for his life with every rhetorical trick up his sleeve, but to no avail. At that point, Mickey basically sums up the whole film, for better or worse, on why they have to kill Wayne. “Killing you and what you represent is… a statement, I’m not 100% sure exactly what it’s saying, but…” What a great line. Sure, it’s self-referential, and maybe even a bit indulgent, but I love that kind of shit. The whole notion of making a statement that you yourself are not even sure what it means, is the best way to sum up this movie, and it certainly applies to the Rodney Dangerfield stuff. That sequence was a definite statement, and I’m definitely not 100% sure exactly what it was saying. And that’s okay, as sometimes things, and especially works of art, are meant to be experienced emotionally, and not necessarily intellectually. It’s about a feeling.
Oliver Stone was and is a fucking madman. Unfortunately, this was kind of it for him as a narrative filmmaker, which is a real shame.Natural Born Killers is not a 100% successful film, or one that has a true emotional impact as opposed to an aesthetic one, but its style was revolutionary for its time, and what it does do well it does very well. It’s a film I have revisited somewhat often over the years, and is responsible for my penchant for a good Key Lime pie!
The Soundtrack
As stated at the outset, this film has a phenomenal soundtrack, and aside from a few outliers, very much situates us in the thick of the 1990’s, with L7, Nine Inch Nails, Cowboy Junkies, Dr. Dre, Jane’s Addiction, etc. This soundtrack was in heavy rotation my sophomore year at college. The fact it also had dialogue from the film mixed in with the tracks made it that much better. Always loved when they included lines from the movies in the soundtrack proper. And this is seriously a film that lives or dies based on the song selection, and in this case, Oliver Stone and his team did a phenomenal job.
Some of the choice cuts, in addition to the great Leonard Cohen track that opens the film and sets the mood, are:
Shitlist by L7 – a propulsive rock & roll song (remember rock & roll? What happened to that shit?) that serves as the score for our first look at Mickey and Mallory’s signature brand of pop culture infused carnage.
You Belong To Me by Bob Dylan – great use of this classic folk track for the prison sequence where Mallory visits Mickey and gives him a handjob under the table. The faces of the other prisoners in this sequence are great. “Even ugliness looks beautiful next to you.”
The Trembler by Duane Eddy – for when Mickey breaks out of prison, another good early use of CGI on the tornado he rides off into. What a great looking shot.
Route 666 by Brian Berdan and Robert Downey Jr. – our first intro to Robert Downey Jr.’s Wayne Gale. Downey Jr. is great in this. Over the top? Sure. Too much sometimes? Ok. Feels like he came in from a completely different movie at times? Most definitely. But it works. His accent is hilarious, he has some of the best lines in the movie, and brings his all with every scene. Just listen to the way he says PATROLMAN GERALD NASH on this track. Amazing. One of my favorite elements in the film is where they have those brief cuts to things like a shot of Downey Jr. made up as a demon in front of a microphone. Classic.
Taboo by Peter Gabriel & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – great use of ancient, tribal chants and rhythms here. In addition to the Native American music used later, the use of this elemental type of music really connects the natural to the supernatural.
History (Repeats Itself) by A.O.S. – poignant track with a great piano riff to accompany a nicely shot sequence of Mickey and Mallory being followed by cops.
Something I Can Never Have by Nine Inch Nails – not a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails in general, just too hard for me usually, but here they deliver a nice ballad that is used quite well for the Mickey and Mallory mushroom fueled meltdown in the desert. “I still recall the taste of your tears.” Great lyric.
I Will Take You Home by Russel Means – much like the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan tracks, this is a fantastic track and use of ancient sounds to connect the violence on screen to its origins in our primeval past.
Drums A Go-Go by Hollywood Persuaders – propulsive track for Mickey and Mallory’s snake bitten panic drive, highlighted by the souls of all their victims clinging to the car, following them wherever they go. So good.
Hungry Ants by Barry Adamson – as close as we get to a score in this film, wonderful piece of music for the prison sequence.
A Warm Place by Nine Inch Nails – another nice, downbeat tune from Reznor and the boys. Might have been his first foray into doing original music for films.
One of the few films I love that does not have a traditional score and instead uses songs almost exclusively. A rarity, yet Stone achieved it at least twice, with this film and The Doors.
The One Sheet
Unfortunately, for such a good movie, the marketing campaign completely fumbled the ball. There was only one “real” one sheet, and it’s just a headshot of Woody Harrelson with a decidedly “ok” tag line that doesn’t really do the film justice.
The second poster at least shows Juliette Lewis, but again fails to really capture the gist of the film, with a lot more copy and again way too much focus on the media aspect, which is really only a fourth of the movie if you look at it objectively, as there’s Mickey & Mallory, Scagnetti, McClusky, and Downey Jr.
For a movie that is so innovative, visually speaking, the posters are a gigantic letdown.
And that does it for Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. What do you guys think? Did the 1ST 5 Minutes impress you enough to keep watching? I’ll admit, I absolutely went nuts for the movie when it came out, but in the intervening years, its status has diminished a bit with me, personally speaking. Still a great flick (and so freakin’ 90’s, which is a great thing unto itself), the new 4K Blu that came out is a must buy if you appreciate any aspect of this movie. And really, who doesn’t want to see a white trash, sweaty, bug eyed Rodney Dangerfield on video up-rezzed to 4k?!
See you in two…