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DVD JFK (Director's Cut Two-Disc Special Edition)
Director Oliver Stone added 17 minutes of previously unseen footage for the "director's cut" edition of his hypnotic courtroom epic about the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. That fateful day in Dallas set in motion a sequence of events that would only intensify the mystery behind Kennedy's death, causing New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) to begin an investigation that would gradually become a personal obsession. Bravura filmmaking combined with controversial treatment of historical facts and audacious speculation, this breathtaking revision of history presents a mesmerizing parade of shady figures and conspiracy theories, unfolding like a classic mystery based on history's greatest unsolved crime. A technical triumph boasting Oscar-winning cinematography and editing, Stone's film is guaranteed to grab the viewer's attention with its daring take on the JFK controversy. The stellar supporting cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. --Jeff Shannon
Review(s): DVD JFK (Director's Cut Two-Disc Special Edition)
Great Movie-Making .... But The "Patsy" Plot Is Just Idiotic!
In his landmark 1991 film about the assassination of President Kennedy -- "JFK" -- Oliver Stone has just about everybody east of the Rocky Mountains involved in one way or another in the elaborate "plot" to assassinate John Kennedy. This film is a veritable "Melting Pot of Plots".
A logical question to ask would be: How could so many different people, agencies, and organizations possibly ALL be involved in such a massive assassination plot and never have anybody from any of these agencies leak any information? Such widespread theorizing is utter nonsense, IMO. I guess Mr. Stone just wanted to touch every possible base, and throw in the kitchen sink, to boot. :-)
There's a point in the film which has Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and his staff, while eating dinner in a restaurant, coming up with conspiracy theories seemingly out of thin air and off the tops of their heads. Mr. Garrison seems to be taking assassin Lee Harvey Oswald at his word when Oswald shouted "I'm just a patsy!" to the waiting press in the Dallas Police Department hallways. Of course, just exactly WHY this known liar (Oswald) -- who told one falsehood after another to both the police and the anxious press at the police station -- would suddenly be looked upon as a TRUTHFUL person by the conspiracy theorists, who believe he was telling the truth when he uttered his famous "Patsy" declaration after his arrest, is a mystery to me. Most curious indeed.
"JFK", which premiered in U.S. movie theaters on December 20th, 1991, might very well make some people think twice about what really happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963. But when weighed against all the evidence in the case, you soon begin to realize that the film is designed ONLY to make you think like Oliver Stone WANTS you to think.
And I would also ask those conspiracy theorists who take this movie to heart to consider the rationale and logic that would have been exhibited by any "plotters" who were attempting to "frame" their lone "Patsy" PRIOR to the assassination. Because placing your faith in the boobs who supposedly cooked up the kind of PRE-assassination "Let's-Frame-Oswald" plot that is proposed by Mr. Stone in this film is akin to drawing to an 'Inside Straight'! I'd sooner believe the sun will rise in the west tomorrow.
In other words -- In order to accept the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald was the "Patsy" he said he was, and in order to buy into Oliver Stone's 3-Gunmen, 6-Shot "Triangulation of Crossfire" conspiracy theory that is the central "shooting plot" as depicted in this motion picture, anyone who accepts this film's proposed shooting scenario as "fact" MUST, therefore, also be of the opinion that these "conspirators"/"plotters" had no hesitation whatsoever to green-light and proceed full-tilt with a "Patsy" plan that would involve the POTENTIAL final results of having the one and only target (John F. Kennedy) being hit with UP TO SIX SEPARATE BULLETS fired from the guns of THREE different snipers (one of which was firing from the front, the exact OPPOSITE direction from where the ONE "Patsy" was supposedly firing in the Texas School Book Depository Building, which was located to the REAR of the President's car).
Even in a 'perfect conspiracy world', how in the heck could these covert "plotters" possibly have thought (on November 21st, the day before such a nutty plan would be taking place) that it was a GOOD idea to utilize three different assassins, who would ALL be drilling JFK's body (potentially) with many bullets in just a short 6-to-8-second time period -- with several of these missiles coming from OBVIOUS non-Oswald (non-"Patsy") locations?
Were these conspirators of the opinion (somehow) that JFK would be pronounced "dead" right there in the limousine, right there in Dealey Plaza, and would then be driven IMMEDIATELY to some "Conspiracy Morgue" someplace where all the wounds that have just been inflicted upon the President would be "controlled" by the same evil henchmen who conceived of this plot?
Did the people who dreamed up this impossible-to-pull-off "Frame-The-Lone-Patsy" plot really NOT consider the possibility of ALL six shots striking President Kennedy (or all six shots hitting SOMEBODY in Dealey Plaza)?
Did these plotters just automatically assume that all of the "frontal-shot" evidence (that would have invariably blown the Patsy Plot to bits just minutes after the gunfire had ceased in Dealey Plaza) wouldn't be noticed by ANY Parkland personnel -- and that ZERO of these many bullets that would be potentially entering the body of John F. Kennedy (or any other victims who might be accidentally hit) would ALL simply "get lost" on their own or wouldn't be seen by ANY non-plotters?
Or was it the conspirators' belief that all of these bullets would immediately be collected by some additional conspirators within the hospital? Or -- did the plotters just feel it wouldn't make any difference how many bullets had pelted JFK's body, and that any 'Non-Oswald' bullet wounds would simply be "taken care of" by other "after-the-shooting" conspirators who were in charge of the "Cover-Up" operation? Kind of a reckless plan and a very large risk to take -- don't you think?
Plus: Did these clandestine assassins really NOT consider the potential eyewitness accounts of the literally hundreds of witnesses who were scattered throughout Dealey Plaza to watch the President pass by? (Many of them with cameras, who would be photographing the dastardly deed, potentially acquiring the filmed proof of conspiracy within their still photos and motion pictures!)
Did the plotters just GET LUCKY when not one single witness saw ANY assassin other than the killer located in the "Oswald window" in the Depository? And did they just get lucky that the vast majority of earwitnesses heard only three shots (the EXACT number that Oswald could have fired in the allotted assassination timeframe)?
And: Did the conspirators also just "luck out" when very, very few witnesses (less than 5% total) said that they heard shots coming FROM MORE THAN ONE DIRECTION? (And the vast majority of these witnesses heard shots from BEHIND the President's car, from the direction of the School Book Depository.)
Didn't ANY of these things go through the heads of these assassination-planning operatives? If these potential "problems" with their screwball plan didn't enter their brains, these guys weren't earning their covert dollars, that's for sure.
Shouldn't just a small bit of common sense and practicality have crept into the minds of these people (whoever they were supposed to be)? And shouldn't at least one of these plotters have spoken up and said on 11-21-63: "Gee, fellas, this plan seems a little bit loony to me. We're asking three different killers to all fire rifle bullets at JFK at virtually an identical point in time and yet also expect ALL of the trace evidence to, somehow, some way, immediately lead back to Oswald's window and only Oswald's rifle. Hmmm....maybe we ought to re-think the probability of this plan succeeding. Ya think?"
But -- Per CTers, I guess nobody on the "JFK Assassination Plot" payroll made any such logical statement, and, therefore, the almost-certain-to-collapse plot was allowed to proceed, as planned.
The "Common Sense" truth re. this mess that Oliver Stone purports in his movie is this --- From a PRE-assassination standpoint, a conspiracy plan as depicted in this film would have been just plain suicide for any team of conspirators, and is a plot that only a crazy person would think of going forward with. Which is the main reason why no such plan of this nature would have been implemented on 11-22-63; nor would such a foolish plot have even been considered in the first place, given the many obvious hazards and complications that such a "Patsy" operation would have presented.
It's hilariously absurd from every given angle! Hard to believe any reasonable-thinking person can actually believe such "Oswald Was Merely A Patsy" nonsense.
A portion of the "hilarity" in it stems from the idea that these behind-the-scenes plotters (who were supposedly manipulating Oswald like a puppet on a string) couldn't have cared less about the precise whereabouts of their one-and-only "Patsy" at the time JFK was being murdered.
Because, per this movie, Lee Harvey is left free to roam the lower floors of the Depository building at his leisure (while supposedly waiting for a telephone call that never came), leaving him free to inadvertently establish himself a perfect alibi for his location and movements at exactly 12:30 PM on November 22 (should anyone happen to see him on the lower floors at 12:30).
A great job by those "Real Killers" at keeping Oswald WHERE THEY NEEDED HIM, on the 6th Floor, huh? I guess it was just another instance (among gobs) where the "real killers" simply lucked out that afternoon, by not having one single person inside the Book Depository get even a brief glimpse of Lee Oswald on the lower TSBD floors at the time JFK is being killed outside the building. Will the grand luck of these conspirators ever run out? Per most CTers....apparently it never has.
I think it's kind of interesting that Director Stone decided not to accept Robert Groden's complete version of the assassination. In his book ("The Killing Of A President"), Groden, who served as a technical adviser on the film "JFK", tells his readers of his conspiracy theory which involves a MINIMUM of 8 shots (and possibly even more). And, incredibly, Mr. Groden claims that NONE of these eight bullets likely came from the Oswald window in the TSBD! ~LOL break~ .... Please note that even Mr. Stone didn't "buy" that silliness.
But, as far as Oliver Stone's "JFK" filmmaking is concerned, I think it's quite good. Very authentic-looking 1963-era "re-creations" were filmed of Dealey Plaza and the motorcade (with an appropriate amount of old-time "graininess" added to the new imagery), which have been intercut throughout the movie with actual news clips and amateur film footage. At times, it is difficult to discern between the re-creations and actual archival footage (although JFK assassination experts will have no trouble spying the differences). The editing of this picture is on a level way above anything else you're likely to see anywhere. And the John Williams music score is also superb.
I have the 2-Disc Widescreen DVD edition of "JFK: Special Edition Director's Cut" (in the "Snapper" type case) that was released by Warner Home Video on February 6, 2001, which does not include the 90-minute "Beyond JFK: The Question Of Conspiracy" documentary that is available on the newer (2003) 2-Disc SE.
This 2001 edition, though, does sport a beautiful Anamorphic (16x9-enhanced) DVD transfer (in the wide "scope" aspect ratio of 2.35:1). That fabulous music of John Williams shines brightly, too, via the disc's rich-sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. This DVD might own the record for most "Chapter Breaks", too (88 of 'em)!
The bonus features on this (2001) 2-Disc DVD set aren't really that much to write home about, IMO. There's an Audio Commentary Track by Oliver Stone and some "Deleted/Extended Scenes" (which I did enjoy seeing). But the totality of the extras on this older DVD edition seem to be a tad on the weak side -- especially the feature on Disc 2 called "Multimedia Essays", which is pretty much dry as dust, IMHO. (Of course, I say this as a staunch "LNer" who believes in Lee Oswald's lone guilt in the JFK and J.D. Tippit murders; so {possibly} that's part of the reason I fail to see a whole bunch of redeeming qualities in these conspiracy-slanted "Essays" that are presented here.)
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Some Closing "JFK" Thoughts & Recommendations.........
I enjoy watching Mr. Stone's "JFK" -- but from the standpoint of "fictional drama" only; and certainly not from any kind of "historically accurate" POV at all. The "CT-created drama", along with the music score and the outstanding editing together of re-constructed scenes with real 11-22-63 film footage are all things that are noteworthy in the movie.
But I'll stick with my own (and Vincent Bugliosi's) version of assassination events (i.e., Oswald was guilty as sin and had no helpers), rather than take a huge leap off the conspiracy diving board, where every theory being discussed is as cloudy and murky as the "Badge Man" image in Mary Moorman's famous Polaroid photograph.
The next time you watch this movie, take notes and count the number of times where the evidence is presented in anything close to an "unbiased" manner. At the end of the 3-hour motion picture, you'll still be left with a blank piece of notepaper.
At the very least, the movie should have a disclaimer crawling along at the bottom of the screen every ten minutes while watching it. Something akin to .... "What you are watching is a fictional account of a true-life event. Handle with care; and with lots of salt."
I'd advise anyone interested in the JFK assassination to seek out (at any cost) the amazingly-good 1964 documentary "Four Days In November" (MGM/UA Home Video). It's a 123-minute journey back to November 1963 that is supported by the FACTS and EVIDENCE in the JFK case. It gives a detailed and thorough chronology of all four days surrounding President Kennedy's assassination, including Ruby killing Oswald and also a look at the hard facts supporting Lee Oswald's blatantly-obvious guilt in the murder of police officer J.D. Tippit.
"Four Days In November" is the antithesis of Oliver Stone's fantasy film. I'd strongly recommend to everyone that they watch "Four Days" immediately after watching Stone's film. It's a night-and-day difference, of course. But at least "Four Days" is based on a little something that Mr. Stone's "JFK" doesn't get within a country mile of -- i.e.: The documented and verified facts of the events of November 22, 1963.
So, I'd say -- Watch Oliver Stone's slickly-presented piece of motion-picture entertainment by all means. But don't forget the salt shaker. Because it shall be needed.
LIKE A VAN GOGH IMPRESSIONIST MASTERPIECE ON FILM: BUT NOT PERFECT TRUTH
To evaluate this film fairly is like evaluating the book "State of Fear". If one agrees with the Author/Director's conclusions, the film or book is great. If not, it is garbage or worse, in one's opinion. I have chosen to treat both of these as prime examples of fictionalization. In that light, this film is terrific entertainment and does indeed get people thinking and politicians worrying.
Of course, it is a shame that everything in the book is not pure fact. Watching this film, one becomes certain that Clay Shaw, played by Tommy Lee Jones in an Oscar-winning role, was certainly guilty as sin. After all, we all but saw him commit the crime. Jim Garrison played deftly by Kevin Costner proves every point including Clay Shaw's perjury as we see the answers to the questions Garrison is asking in flashback form which is followed by Shaw telling yet another lie. The same style is used with John Candy's character Dean Andrews answering the question, "Did you ever met Clay Shaw?", with, "I never met the dude", while he asks for more cashews from Shaw in a simultaneous flashback. Oliver Stone uses this flashback device as a sort of lie detector for the viewers' benefit and entertainment throughout the film to reinforce his point. The benefit is the immediate comprehension of the point that Stone wants to make, but the entertainment value is the more lasting one. In essence, watching these scenes over and over is just as comedic each time but as one gets familiar with the facts [as they are being presented], one can both see the flaws in the argument and be drawn to collecting the facts oneself from more objective sources. If only Stone had been a little more objective with his arguments/facts, this film would have been a great gift to humankind instead of just great entertainment for film fans/JFK conspiracy theorists.
ABOUT THE 2 DISK DVD SPECIAL EDITION:
There are scenes in this DVD that are not on the VHS or theatrical releases. These additions make much of the rapid-fire quasi-facts presented during the Garrison explanations at trial make more sense. Widescreen helps too, as this ensemble cast does not quite fit in full frame in some sequences.
FEATURES:
Deleted scenes are usually best left deleted. This film is no exception as they really slow things down, but they do add understanding to the heart of the film's premise. There is also a thought-provoking feature which details what the Congress has done regarding looking into this matter (JFK's assassination) after this film's release.
Great Movie.....Great FICTIONAL Movie
Oliver Stone's "JFK" caused an enormous amount of controversy when it was released in 1991. There are many areas of praise for the movie including outstanding performances by Kevin Costner, Michael Rooker, Gary Oldman, and Tommy Lee Jones among others. The music by John Williams is fantastic, and the camera work is excellent if now a bit dated.
The CONTENT of the movie, however, - the basic pillar of 'Oswald as a patsy' - is thoroughly pathetic. It is one thing to make a movie about a conspiracy where Oswald was part of that conspiracy. It is quite another, however, to turn Oswald into nothing more than an 'innocent victim.' And ethical debate insists that if you're going to critique a position, you critique the STRONGEST points of it to show where it is wrong. Stone sets up and knocks down straw men repeatedly. Here are just a few examples:
1. The Warren Commission said Oswald fired three shots in 5.6 seconds.
TRUTH: No, that is incorrect. They put a range betwee 4.8 and 7.9 seconds for the three shots although the 5.6 is the accepted figure based on the Zapruder film.
2. Senator Russell Long (played by Walter Matthau) thought Oswald was 'a good old fashioned decoy.'
TRUTH: Long had questions about the assassination. However, he thought Oswald was part of a conspiracy NOT THAT OSWALD WAS INNOCENT.
I could go on and on with what Stone distorted or misrepresented, but it would be a waste of time. The worst straw man is the most common by conspiracy theorists, the so-called magic bullet. Never underestimate visual images. Costner 'proves' the bullet theory wrong - except for the entire presentation is a straw man. NEVER did the Warren Commission say that the bullet went left and right and up and down. That is the claim of CRITICS of the WC.
The bottom line is this: Oswald killed Tippit. He was also the only worker at the School Book Depository not present for a roll call of employees. This leads to two questions: why did he run unless he did it and why did he kill Tippit unless he did it? Finally, why did he try to shoot the cop apprehending him in the theatre? (Stone botches this by having Oswald attempt to hit the cop).
ANY theory that exonarates Oswald MUST interact with those questions. There is simply no choice. That does not answer the question of conspiracy - but it DOES answer the question of Oswald's guilt pretty solidly. How does Stone handle those three questions? He ignores Oswald missing the roll call, he implies that two other people killed Tippit by appealing to Aquila Clemons - the 'witness' FARTHEST away from the actual shooting that was seen by 12 witnesses, and he rewrites history by having Oswald try to hit instead of shoot the arresting officer.
Imagine that. Stone has to CHANGE what we know happened to even tell his story. Why should I believe him?
As far as the question of conspiracy, I said my piece on "Case Closed" when I reviewed Posner's book. Here are the basic points.
1. ALL of the physical evidence points to Oswald AND TO NOBODY ELSE!!!
2. ALL of the fabricated evidence has been on the conspiracy side.
3. ONLY the new 'conspiracy witnesses' like Jean Hill, Julia Ann Mercer, and Gordon Arnold have changed their stories. NONE of the 'lone gunman' witnesses have.
4. If there was a conspiracy, who did it? And how do you know?
5. Supposing one wants to argue that there is a 'murder hit squa' killing key witnesses, two questions are important: 1) Why are nearly all of the killed witnesses supporters of the lone gunman theory? and 2) How would this solve anything? Killing witnesses still reveals to the killers the 'secret' of the conspiracy.
Great FICTIONAL movie.
Related DVD's JFK (Director's Cut Two-Disc Special Edition)
Oliver Stone's controversial drama about the Nixon years in the White House stars Anthony Hopkins in a genuinely great performance as the scandal-plagued president. The film attempts to wed suggestions of Nixon's formative experiences as a boy to his political connections with shady movers and shakers and finally to his self-destructive tenure in the Oval Office. The Watergate scandal is revisited rather impressionistically--it may be hard for viewers who weren't alive then to get a sense of what the crisis was about. The parade of stars playing figures in Nixon's orbit--J.T. Walsh as John Ehrlichman, James Woods as Bob Haldeman, David Hyde Pierce as John Dean, etc.--is fun if a tad distracting. Joan Allen got a well-deserved Oscar nomination as First Lady Pat Nixon, and Hopkins got one... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Anthony Hopkins - Joan Allen Director(s): Oliver Stone DVD Release Date: Released the 12 March 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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When released in December 2000, Thirteen Days was pummeled for taking liberties with the facts of the Cuban missile crisis and smothering its compelling drama with phony Boston accents by its primary stars. More tolerant critics hailed it as one of the year's best films, and that's the opinion to believe for anyone who enjoys taut, intelligent political thrillers. For those too young to relate directly to the timeless urgency of the crisis that played out over 13 days in October 1962, Thirteen Days joins the classic TV treatment The Missiles of October (1973) as an intense and thought-provoking study of leadership under pressure.
The film (and costar-coproducer Kevin Costner) drew criticism for fictionally enhancing the White House role of presidential aide Kenneth... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Kevin Costner - Bruce Greenwood Director(s): Roger Donaldson DVD Release Date: Released the 10 July 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Robert Groden suggests that the Zapruder film of the Kennedy Assassination has been tampered with to cover up the real killers of Kennedy. In my opinion, his "evidence" is shaky at best. Groden has made a lucrative living off of proposing alternative theories of who "really" shot Kennedy, and here he is in 2003 suggesting that there was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary presented by ABC, CBS, and many books. Groden needs to finally realize that the Kennedy assassination has been solved definitively, and his continuation of conspiracy theories is clearly his lame and pathetic attempt to keep his money cash-cow alive.
Don't draw a conclusion based on this DVD! Look at other sources listed below and then draw your conclusion:
More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Robert J. Groden DVD Release Date: Released the 18 November 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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It helps to have one of history's greatest scoops as your factual inspiration, but journalism thrillers just don't get any better than All the President's Men. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford are perfectly matched as (respectively) Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation into the Watergate scandal set the stage for President Richard Nixon's eventual resignation. Their bestselling exposé was brilliantly adapted by screenwriter William Goldman, and director Alan Pakula crafted the film into one of the most intelligent and involving of the 1970s paranoid thrillers. Featuring Jason Robards in his Oscar-winning role as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, All the President's Men is the film against which all other... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Dustin Hoffman - Robert Redford Director(s): Alan J. Pakula DVD Release Date: Released the 30 October 1997 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The first six chapters of The Men Who Killed Kennedy is a must read before viewing chapters seven , eight and nine. I do agree with another reviewer in respect to this series lacking cohesion. However, I consider this "brainstorming" in a way and a chance to see all the theories out there. Who did it and who covered it up will be explained in the remaining three chapters. The Zapruder film sets the stage for everything to follow. From the Zapruder film, we know that Kennedy was shot from the front. Since the Parkland Doctors also confirm this , we are sure there was a cover up since the autopsy photos show no rear exit wound. These facts are enough to conclude we were not told the truth and one could just stop there. I guess what many people are asking is the government to finally... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Nigel Turner DVD Release Date: Released the 26 February 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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