Search - JFK [Special Edition] [Director's Cut] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Not For Children, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1991 DVD Release: 04/08/1997 Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Director's Cut,Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 3 hrs 26 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 11 Genres: Thriller, Political Thriller, Ensemble Film, Paranoid Thriller See Also: JFK [Director's Cut], JFK [Special Edition], JFK [Widescreen] [Ultimate Collector's Edition] [3 DVD/Book], JFK [Widescreen] [Special Edition] [Director's Cut], JFK [Blu-ray]

The November 22, 1963, assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy shocked the nation and the world. The brisk investigation of that murder conducted under the guidance of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren distressed many observers, even though subsequent careful investigations have been unable to find much fault with the conclusions his commission drew, the central one of which was that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone. Instead of satisfying the public, one result of the Warren Commission Report was that an unimaginable number of plausible conspiracy theories were bruited about, and these have supported a sizeable publishing mini-industry ever since. In making this movie, director Oliver Stone had his pick of supposed or real investigative flaws to draw from and has constructed what some reviewers felt was one of the most compelling (and controversial) political detective thrillers ever to emerge from American cinema. Long before filming was completed, Stone was fending off heated accusations of artistic and historical irresponsibility, and these only intensified after the film was released. In the story, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is convinced that there are some big flaws in the investigation of Oswald (Gary Oldman), and he sets out to recreate the events leading up to the assassination. Along the way, he stumbles across evidence that a great many people had reason to want to see the president killed, and he is convinced that some of them worked in concert to frame Oswald as the killer. Among the suspects are Lyndon Baines Johnson (the next president), the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Mafia. Over the course of gathering what he believes to be evidence of a conspiracy, Garrison unveils some of the grittier aspects of New Orleans society, focusing on the shady activities of local businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones). Garrison's investigations culminate in his conducting a show trial that he knows he will lose and which he is sure will ruin his career in order to get his evidence into the public record where it can't be buried again. This movie won two of the many Academy Awards for which it was nominated: one for Best Photography (Robert Richardson) and the other for Editing (Joe Hutshing). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Kevin Costner - Jim Garrison
Sissy Spacek - Liz Garrison
Joe Pesci - David Ferrie
Tommy Lee Jones - Clay Shaw
Gary Oldman - Lee Harvey Oswald

Oliver Stone's controversial JFK gets a superb release from Warner Bros. with this two-disc edition. The director's cut of the movie, which adds nearly 20 minutes of footage that was cut for the original theatrical release, is presented in a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Robert Richardson's influential cinematography is presented as well as one could possibly hope on this disc. English and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include an extensive commentary track by Oliver Stone, in which he discusses the historical events depicted in the film more than the filmmaking process. His always-entertaining monologue continues during the deleted scenes that are included on the disc. A documentary on the various conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy's assassination fills up the majority of the second disc in this set. This DVD joins =Singing in the Rain, =The Right Stuff, and =Yankee Doodle Dandy as one of the finest discs yet from Warner Bros. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide