Natural Born Killers: The Director's Cut (1994)

[everygrainofsand]

Originally Posted by bigshot

I like the film because Oliver Stone directs it like a cartoon, throwing any gag up on the screen he can think of...

Great comment - I aint thought of that before. The stuff in the opening, with the opera music and POV of an axe - and even a bullet fired from a gun! - is exactly what you say, and remarkable because it's live action. Violence as attractive, funny, cartoon entertainment, the f*cked-up, desensitising effect of which is a key thematic plank of the film. Indeed the performances are often cartoon hysterical, like Tommy Lee Jones spittin' and frothin' with Looney Tunes manic energy.

I've always recognised Stone's invective against the cable media landscape of the day. But I look forward to revisiting NBK with your specific observation in mind, as to the film's heavy cartoon roots. It really is a smashing work, with real brains. A visceral a tour de force. In many ways, his frenetic snippets and bite-sized hyperbole (wholly accidentally) anticipated the current state of play with TikTok, YouTube etc.