While this monumental retrospective of Oliver Stone's directorial career doesn't include Salvador or Platoon--Stone's early, acknowledged masterpieces of history and remembrance--it certainly sheds light on the more controversial arc of his work ever since.
Beginning with 1987's Wall Street, Stone's barbed tragedy about corporate raiders and blinding greed during the Reagan years, this cinematic 10-pack represents a curious odyssey of generational touchstones, outright obsessions, and feverish experimentation. The minor, 1988 Talk Radio, for instance, introduced Stone's then-evolving critique of inflamed media in a society of hapless onlookers. But it was 1994's Natural Born Killers that exploded the theme in a wildly ambitious farce concerning two lovers who defy manufactured perceptions by becoming notorious murderers. Killers pushes the limits of screen violence, visual literacy, and the mixed-media technique (juggling film stocks, incorporating video, etc.) that Stone introduced in JFK. If the result is cold and forced, it's also brazen.
Most significant is the way this collection underscores Stone's drive to fuse historical drama with lingering emotions about the past. Stone, a Vietnam War veteran, revisits that haunting debacle here in the masterful Born on the Fourth of July and the moving Heaven & Earth. Yet some of his most famous efforts still draw heaps of scorn for narrative hubris and factual recklessness. (Does anyone really believe John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a Lyndon Johnson coup d'état?) But time is on Stone's side. Eventually, JFK, The Doors, and Nixon will be seen not as a failed objective history, but as the experience of a tumultuous era in the imagination of a man who lived through it all and can't shake it off.
The collection concludes with the flawed contemporary noir U Turn and the unexpectedly entertaining football saga Any Given Sunday. Stone bided his time following this extraordinary body of work, until the humanitarian relief drama Beyond Borders (not included) found the director on familiar footing. As Stone's legacy continues to grow, there is a remarkable career here to revisit with these 10 films. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
The Oliver Stone Collection 10-Movie Giftset includes Extra Special Features on most Titles: Any Given Sunday Special Edition Director's Cut (2 discs):Behind-the-scenes DocumentaryFull Contact: The Making of Any Given Sunday2 Feature-Length Audio Commentaries by Oliver Stone and Jamie FoxOver a Dozen Deleted/Extended Scenes3 Music Vides Featuring Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J Jamie Foxx Audition Tape and Screen Tests Instant Replay Feature Allowing Direct Access to Game Action Scenes Gag Reel, Football Outtake Montage and Much More Also Includes Enhanced Features for DVD-Rom. JFK Special Edition Director's Cut (2 discs):17 Minutes of Footage Not Seen in North American TheatersNew Digital Transfer in Remixed Dolby 5.1 SurroundReissued in Dual-Layer Format Allowing Uninterrupted PlaybackFeature-Length Audio Commentary by StoneDeleted/Extended ScenesInterview with Fletcher ProutyVisual CommentaryMultimedia EssayAlso Includes Enhanced Features for DVD-Rom. The Doors (2 discs):Expanded Double-Disc EditionDocumentary The Road of ExcessDirector CommentaryFeaturetteAdditional Scenes. Natural Born Killers:New Digital Transfer in Remixed Dolby 5.1 SurroundDocumentary Chaos Rising: The Storm Around Natural Born KillersFeature-Length Audio Commentary by StoneDeleted Scenes and Alternate EndingOriginal Theatrical Trailer. Wall Street: Director CommentaryCharlie Rose Interview. Heaven and Earth: New Digital Transfer in Remixed Dolby 5.1 SurroundFeature-Length Audio Commentary by StoneDeleted ScenesOriginal Theatrical Trailer. Nixon: (2 discs) Expanded Double-Disc Edition with Deleted Scenes Reinserted into the FeatureDirector Commentary. Talk Radio: Prod
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
By Abe J. Flores "htuttle" (Culver City, CA United States)
Clearly Oliver Stone is not your average film-maker. He is a man guided by passion, rebeliousness, and a burning sense of what is right and wrong. This 10-DVD set really strikes out and reveals the man for what he is, warts and all.
This set represents each of the films in the best condition available, which is both good and bad. The new Transfers of Nixon, Natural Born Killers and Heaven & Earth are stunning, and the extended cuts and bonus materials included with Doors, JFK, Nixon, and Any Given Sunday are more than any fan could possibly have asked for.
However there are flaws, fortunately most of them minor and probably exagerated by the contrast to what the set does actually achieve. Commentary tracks are lacking on Talk Radio and U-Turn, and not all the films are anamorphic widescreen. As noted those flaws are minor. A larger problem is Born of the Forth of July. While I wanted significantly more bonus material, something matching what is or will soon be available with the rest of the Viet Nam trilogy, the real problem is that the print is nearly unwatchable. In transfering this film they set the edge enhancement feature way too high. every scene is filled with images that have a white halo "Ringing" effect surounding the actors or the background. This is a side effect of a bad transfer and is present in many DVD's which have been "Cleaned" or "re-mastered" but I've never seen it this bad ever. It is so distracting here that one wonders if quality control ever checked this disc.
Given the attention to detail that went into several other of the Discs (See Heaven & Earth, Nixon, and Any Given Sunday) from the various studios involved, Universal really dropped the ball here. Director Stone, Ron Kovic, and this film all deserved substantially better than what Universal put in
But like I said, other than this glaring flaw the rest of the package is a real winner!!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: By R. Wilson (North Bend, WA USA)
If you like Stone, this set is a must. It may seem like a lot of money, but the special features are incredible and numerous (remember we were once expected to shell out $. . . for each of the NBK and Doors special editions on laserdisc!). JFK's 2-disc set it great-- with almost an hour of deleted scenes. There are commentary tracks for everything but U-Turn and Talk Radio (sadly), but still, it's more material than we've seen on any other director. The Any Given Sunday 2-disc set has a ton of deleted scenes and a gag reel which is hilarious. Nixon's 2-disc set has a new director's cut and there's a one-hour Charlie Rose interview with Oliver on it. One thing to keep in mind-- the bonus disc Oliver Stone's America is well-done, but it's not so much a documentary as a conversation with Stone. Overall, this raises the bar on director collections and is well worth the money considering it will take a month to get through everything. Imagine if they did this for Scorsese or Cassavetes!! MGM is supposed to release Platoon and Salvador special editions later this year, so that will wrap it up for Mr. Stone-- on to the other directors we love!!
7 of 16 people found the following review helpful: By C. Chow (Leesburg VA)
I'm not sure who this collection is for. Die hard Stone fans (like me) already own his classics on DVD. And those new to Stone probably won't spend [this much].
But just in case we needed it, it's here. But who put this collection together? It's got the greats like 'JFK' 'Born On the Forth of July' and 'Wallstreet' but it also has Stone's follies such as 'U Turn' 'Heaven and Earth' 'Talk Radio' 'The Doors' and 'Any Given Sunday.' I believe Roger Ebert explained that when a man puts out gold five days a week he's entitled to put out lead on the weekend.
Why are we reliving the horrors that even the most hardened Stone fan (like me) couldn't stand? This is clearly an attempt to get fools to spend [this much] by mixing classic films in with bad ones.
Stone began his career as a sci-fi screen writer (remember 'Conan the Barbarian') who did some part time directing (remember 'The Hand') His first hit came with 'Scareface' in 1983. By 1986 he had two Oscars under his belt and was the hottest director in Hollywood. Just when you thought things couldn't get any better, they did. Unlike most directors his films just got better and better.
But with his last film in 1999 and his last good film in 1995 Stone is not exactly a big name today.
Stone was the defining director of the late 80s and early 90s. Not only was his directing great but his films gave us a hard look at modern America. No one can take that away from him.
Here's the real lowdown.
Platoon
Wallstreet
Born on the Forth of July
JFK
Natural Born Killers
Nixon
Get A Copy Of Oliver Stone 10 Feature Collection (1991)
