Natural Born Killers: The Original Screenplay [Paperback]

Quentin Tarantino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 2000

Natural Born Killers is a disturbing and brilliant indictment of violence in the media and American celebrity culture. Mickey and Mallory Knox, outlaw lovers on the run, go on a killing spree of startling viciousness -- and find themselves transformed into cult celebrities by the tabloid media. The film, directed by Oliver Stone, departed significantly from Tarantino's original screenplay, so much so that Tarantino removed his name from the screenplay credits. Now available in America for the first time, the original screenplay offers fans and film buffs of all stripes the opportunity to compare Tarantino's original vision with Stone's version of the story of Mickey and Mallory.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Quentin Tarantino's films have single-handedly revived and redefined American cinema, bringing to Hollywood a new energy, irony, and cool. Natural Born Killers is a disturbing and brilliant indictment of violence in the media and American celebrity culture. Mickey and Mallory Knox, outlaw lovers on the run, go on a killing spree of startling viciousness--and find themselves transformed into cult celebrities by the tabloid media. The film, directed by Oliver Stone, departed signficantly from Tarantino's original screenplay, so much so that Tarantino removed his name from the screenplay credits. Now available in America for the first time, the original screenplay offers fans and film buffs of all stripes the opportunity to compare Tarantino's original vision with Stone's version of the story of Mickey and Mallory.

"Tarantino's scripts have a way of reworking the classic genres. The plots and characters are familiar, but Tarantino's structure and dialogue transcend any category.... Tarantino writes old-fashioned movie dialogue--the kind of speeches and banter and chat that actors love to say.... Quentin Tarantino is walking, talking proof that you can violate the rules and flourish in Hollywood."--Lynn Hirschberg, Vanity Fair

"Quentin Tarantino [is] the poet laureate of Bad Boy Chic."--Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed Pulp Fiction, which received the Palme d'Or at Cannes, a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, and seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, and won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. He wrote and directed the critical and audience favorites Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown, and his screenplay True Romance was directed by Tony Scott. He also wrote and acted in the film From Dusk Till Dawn, executive produced projects including From Dusk Till Dawn, Killing Zoe, and Curdled, and starred opposite Marisa Tomei in Wait Until Dark on Broadway.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Grove Press ed edition (June 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802134483
• ISBN-13: 978-0802134486
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vastly Superior to Stone's Film, June 4, 2001

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Natural Born Killers: The Original Screenplay (Paperback)

Quentin Tarantino took his name off the Oliver Stone film version of "Natural Born Killers." Read this fine screenplay, the one Stone virtually scrapped, and you will understand why. It's tightly focused, where Stone is distractingly all over the map; witty, where Stone is merely crude; deeply shocking and thought-provoking, where Stone is mindlessly sensational. Tarantino reveals himself to be a genuine moralist, of all things. As glamorous as the media finds Mickey and Mallory, Tarantino never lets you forget they are monsters. (Stone caved into the temptation to try to make them "likable" by presenting unbelievable, '60's-induced apologies for them.) Nobody gets off the hook in this version. One hopes that someday Tarantino can get the backing to remake the film his way. It should be a classic.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes it can drag,but this is a great script., June 17, 2004

By 

Joshua Miller "Josh" (Coeur d'Alene,ID) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Natural Born Killers: The Original Screenplay (Paperback)

I rented the movie directed by Oliver Stone due to the fact that Quentin Tarantino's name was on the story credits and I knew that Oliver Stone among others had messed with his script and Tarantino had removed his name from the screenwriting credits but I wanted to see it anyways.I thought the movie sucked,I hated it.So I bought the original script to see how the movie could've been and this is a great script.There's no mention of how the cinematography should look.There's no sexually abusive sitcom father,nor indian guy.This is how the film should have been.The movie is virtually just a big TV special by Wayne Gale who was played in the movie by Robert Downey Jr. The story is amazingly different.The opening scene is the same though.The story is basically Mickey and Mallory Knox in jail while Mickey is being interviewed by Wayne Gale.That's it.Buy this script.Burn the movie.Enjoy

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Natural Born Killers" Original Screenplay Review, July 17, 2005

By 

Crazy Jim (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Natural Born Killers: The Original Screenplay (Paperback)

There are people who seem to either enjoy Stone's movie and hate Quentin's screenplay or vice versa. Fact is I enjoyed both. Quentin Tarantino's original screenplay for "Natural Born Killers" is far different from the nightmarish acid trap that it became once Oliver Stone got his hands on it. Stone's film is far more epic and sadistic though Quentin's version isn't exactly a day at Disney World either. Much of Quentin's work is used in the film version though the way the story is told is so completely different than it was clearly conceived. The opening diner sequence is nearly the exact same as presented in the film though this is really the only one of Mickey and Mallory's murder spree sequences that Quentin intended to include (aside from the court room murder which was "deleted" from Stone's cut). Following that, the script takes a much different approach with it being told almost entirely in a documentary style with Wayne Gale (played in the film by Robert Downey) acting as the central character. Jack Scagnetti, who was a sadistic crooked cop in Stone's "NBK", is far less brutal in this one and is not positioned as a longtime rival of the murderous couple but more as a veteran cop being sold into hauling the two killers to the asylum. While the character of Dewight McClusky (played by Tommy Lee Jones in the movie) was a character in this script as well, his role is decreased and most of his action was written for a character named Wurlitzer, who didn't make Stone's version. The majority of the first half of the filmed "Killers" was not a part of the original Tarantino story and most of the social commentary was also absent. If you're a Tarantino fan or someone who would like a different take on the "NBK" story, this is an intruiging read.