You've gotta love Oliver Stone

Andre Barros · 01-02-2004, 07:49 PM

This guy apparently knows what we like. I was watching my Special Edition "On Any Given Sunday" last night for the 100th time with the director's comment on, this is in my opinion one of the best if not the best extra feature a DVD can have. After watching that I remembered that I had a "Wall Street" DVD somewhere. Wall Street was one of the first titles I ever bought and it was one of the first great movies to be encoded for region 4. I had not looked at this disc for a while. So I go in the drawer and I pull out this super bare bones disc. Man, I haven't checked if there is a SE Wall Street out but I'll remember to do so today, anyway, this is as UNspecial as they come. Ugly menu, ugly box, so and so transfer but the director's commentary is there!!!! I watched it for the first time with the director's commentary on even though I've had this disc for years. I presume this is something that Oliver Stone himself likes because they have it even on bare bones discs. OK, so these are only two examples but they are the only two Oliver Stone movies I have. Tomorrow I'll try to rent some of his other movies and check to see how many have the director's comments soundtrack, specially those that are not Special Edition or anything of that sort.

Alistair_M · 01-02-2004, 09:23 PM

My opinion of Oliver Stone as a filmmaker are that he is one of the best.

However, my opinion of Oliver Stone the historian is close to zero. Anyone interested in JFK should look out for the recent BBC documentary (made by the BBC Newsnight team) on the assissination which closely looked at Oliver Stone's presentation and basically debunked just about all of his theories using good old science. Lee harvey Oswald acted alone. Many key facts in the film were dangerously wrong.

Andre Barros · 01-03-2004, 12:29 AM

Alistar,

That being said, how are the special features on the JFK DVD? That might be an interresting one since he might talk about some facts of the assassination (right or wrong) and how he came accross them.

As far as being one of the best directors around, no doubt about that.

TheBat · 01-03-2004, 01:21 AM

I did enjoy his commentary on both the born on the fourth of july and the doors.

JACOB

oscar_merkx · 01-03-2004, 07:03 AM

I thought that Salvador is one of his best movies and very underrated

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Craig: Mclaren · 01-03-2004, 07:42 AM

I've got Salvador, Platoon, Wall Street and Natural Born Killers on DVD. The guy is a great filmmaker and very likeable. He is a character. They don't make directors with his balls anymore.

JonZ · 01-03-2004, 10:07 AM

Stone is my favorite working director.

While I didnt care for Uturn, Ive loved everything hes done since Salvador(AGS had to grow on me a bit). Too bad he couldnt get King off the ground.

JFK,Nixon,Platoon,BOTFOJ are in my all time top 50

Its a shame some of his films are horrible DVDs - The Doors,Nixon,BOTFOJ and NBK all need to be rereleased in 16x9.

Chad A Wright · 01-03-2004, 11:39 AM

Many key facts in the film were dangerously wrong

Yeah, but it's still a damned entertaining film. I just watched it for the first time a few days ago. Fantastic film.

Haden · 01-03-2004, 06:54 PM

I agree, it's a damn good film regardless of the historical validity. All of Stone's films are entertaining, and his DVD commentaries are very good and interesting to listen to. His JFK and Natural Born Killers commentaries are two that I've actually gone back and listened to more than once because they are fascinating from a filmmaker's point of view. He really loves to talk about his films in-depth and not just sit and watch them like a lot of director's do with their "commentaries".

On a side note, I hope nobody turns this thread into another debate about the events of the JFK assasination or the accuracy of Stone's film. That crap totally ruined the JFK:SE thread 2 months ago.

Mick Wright · 01-03-2004, 07:05 PM

Oliver Stone is my favorite director also. I've noticed something interesting about his films over the years - they're like a sensory overload in the cinema. NBK, AGS, U-Turn, and Nixon were all way too much for me in the cinema, but they've become some of my favorite movies on dvd. However, seeing JFK and The Doors upspool in the theater remain two of my favorite movie going moments. Anyone interested in Oliver Stone should check out the book Stone by James Riordan. They met when Mr. Riordan was a technical consultant on The Doors, and this relationship led to a no-holds-barred biography, with Oliver's participation. It only covers up to Nixon but it's about as unflinching as a biography can get with it's subject involved.

I still can't believe he made Salvador, Platoon, Wall Street, Talk Radio, Born, The Doors and JFK all in a period of six years. Incredible.

Jari · 01-03-2004, 08:03 PM

JFK is my favourite film and the SE DVD is a fantastic way to watch this movie. The commentary track is excellent and informative, and the rest of the extras are also truly excellent. And I don't even have the latest SE that includes the bonus documentary! There are not many DVD releases I'd give 10 out of 10. This is definitely one of those (besides JFK only Fight Club and Lotr EE's really deserve 10/10 as a whole DVD experience in my book).

BTW: Do you guys know that during the 18 month Lotr shoot Peter Jackson used to watch JFK so he could keep his brain going and going.