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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"The Ultimate Oliver Stone
Collection" is the second time out that Warner has
trundled this great director's wares on DVD. The
first collection was limited to titles that Warner
held the rights to. This time we get a
comprehensive collection of the master's work: 14
films in all, representing Stone's brilliant work
from virtually every studio in Hollywood -- save
Paramount. The set contains Stone's masterpieces
("Platoon," "Natural Born Killers," "Born On The
Fourth of July" and "Any Given Sunday"), his most
ridiculed and underrated set pieces ("JFK,"
"Nixon," "Wall Street" and "The Doors") and his
largely forgotten precursors to greatness
("Salvador" and "Talk Radio") that, in hindsight,
are great masterworks in their own right.
Synopses in brief: "Talk Radio" is a hard-edged
journey into the spiraling out of control life of
a radio shock jock who is on the verge of a crying
gag; "Salvador" is how a burned-out freelance
photographer's interest in journalism is rekindled
amidst the civil unrest in war-ravaged El
Salvador; in "Platoon" a troupe of soldiers enter
the hellish nightmare that was Vietnam and lose
their souls to a struggle that has no heroes or
winners; heavily dated in its oh, so '80s subject
matter, in "Wall Street" Martin and Charlie Sheen
butt heads after the latter goes to work for
unscrupulous corporate raider Gordon Gecco
(Michael Douglas); "Born On The Fourth Of July" is
a no-holds-barred, bare-knuckled account of the
folly and shame of an ungrateful country that
befell returning Vietnam vets; "Heaven & Earth" is
another trip to the orient, with Tommy Lee Jones
doing a sort of retro-Madame Butterfly that, while
beautifully staged, is somewhat disappointing;
"Natural Born Killers" is a seething, scathing
attack on the legal justice system and media hype
that transforms the terrorizing debauchery of a
couple of reprobates into Robin Hood-like
vigilantes; "The Doors" chronicle the calamitous
highs and debilitating lows of rock legend Jim
Morrison and puts "Rock Star" to shame; "JFK" is a
thrilling rollercoaster of a movie with a slam
bang finish, a stunning saga that attempts to
offer up an alternative theory to the Warren
Commission's report on President Kennedy's
assassination; on the other hand, "Nixon" is a
rather straightforward account with Sir Anthony
Hopkins doing his best to hide the fact that no
one is quite like Tricky Dick but the man himself
-- however, Paul Sorvino is hauntingly on point as
Henry Kissinger and Joan Allen gives a most
intelligent read of first lady, Pat; "U-Turn" was
a rare and debilitating misfire in Stone's career
in which a wrong turn (literally) leads to a
destructive and deadly road of no return (the
characters are marginally engaging but the story
is pure poison and lacking in Stone's usual
cynicism); and finally "Any Given Sunday" is a
hard-edged look at the world of professional
sports and how corruption, greed and the
competitive spirit collide -- with Cameron Diaz
and Al Pacino going against each other, trying to
will a ferocious team out of its losing streak --
hot stuff!
This collection gives you a solid batch of
transfers. The one disappointment remaining is
"Born on the Fourth of July," which still has not
been anamorphically enhanced for widescreen
televisions. Otherwise, picture quality throughout
is superb. Colors are rich and vibrant. "Wall
Street" does exhibit the most dated picture
quality of the lot. And some pixelization is
evident on both "Nixon" and "Talk Radio." But
"Platoon" and "JFK" exhibit a flawless and
impeccably balanced transfer with very clean,
reference quality whites and deep, rich solid
blacks.
The audio on most films is pristine. Again, the
earlier films in the collection (from "Salvador"
to "Wall Street") have comparatively tinny treble
and hollow sounding bass, but this is to be
expected. Special features vary according to each
disc. All come with at least an audio commentary
provided by Stone. There is also a host of extra
features on Stone himself, his life and life's
work, as well as a preview of his latest project,
"Alexander." For the price, this box set is an
absolute must for any collector! |
