Customer Reviews

Oliver Stone 10 Feature Collection

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!!

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!!

If you can afford it then this is a great collection to get. I bought a multi region dvd player just so I could watch it in the uk!

The set contains great commentaries and superb extras - notably on the JFK and Doors 2 disc sets.

The only disappointment was that Platoon and Salvador did not feature in the set, but the special editions of the two films are on the way.

Overall, the set is highly recommended to die hard stone fans, and I recommend the documentary to anyone interested in film. This is a legendary set and not one to be missed. Lets just hope Stone works for long enough to be able to produce another set of this magnitude.

Very good looking and full with excellent extras Set. If you like Oliver Stone's work you'll be very pleased with this Collection. You'll forget how much you paid for it, this set deserves it's own room in your house... Stankey Kubrick's and Best of Hitchcock Collections are excellent sets also.

This is a great collection of Oliver Stone's films. Born on the Fourth of July is truly amazing. The Doors is extremely entertaining. Natural Born Killers is absolutely insane. Any Given Sunday was definately edge of your seat. JFK and Nixon is totally interesting. But I was dissapointed in a lot of things. U-Turn and Talk Radio should not have been in the collection. They are good movies but do not deserve to be in a collection. I am mostly dissapointed that the one of the greatest war movies ever, Platoon, did not make collection. What were they thinking? It is brillantly acted, has a great story, and is captivating. Not to mention it won best picture. This is one of if not the best Oliver Stone picture he ever made. But all around, the collection is great. It is worth the money and the sound and picture quality is excellent.

Oliver Stone is one of the best directors of all time. This collections shows his different styles and genres and how great he is at showing the depths of every character. I would have gave this set 5 stars if it wasn't for U-turn which I think was his weekest movie, and for the high price, especially after the price hike... But if you have the money to spend, this is a great collection and the documentary about Oliver Stone that comes with it offers great insight about the man behind the films. You also get a few titles earlier than they will be available individually, The Doors, Nixon, JFK, Any Given Sunday, which aren't available until February or not even announced yet.

JFK is a new Special Edition Director's cut. A recreation of John F. Kennedy's assassination and investigation. Strong cast. Great performances. This new 2-disc edition has a new digital transfer and 5.1 remixed surround sound, includes 17 additional minutes of footage not seen in North American theaters, audio commentary by Oliver Stone, an interview with an ex-government official, deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary by Stone, multimedia essasy about the assassination, biographies, filmographies, trailers, and an exclusive second audio commentary by Stone that links from the internet.

Nixon will also be a new 2-disc Edition, but I don't know the details yet. It is the story of President Richard Nixon, and Anthony Hopkins gives a powerful performance in this film.

Any Given Sunday is a different version from the current one. It is a new 2-disc edition as well. The film itself isn't as great as his other works, but the visuals and cinematography are great, and if you like football, you gotta see it. It has all the features of the original edition, but includes 2 new audio commentaries and 12 extended/deleted scenes among other features.

U-turn, a movie I felt didn't belong in this set, is pretty much a movie only edition, except for audio commentary. This is Stone's weakest film and should have been replaced with Platoon, Stone's greatest film.

Born on the Fourth of July is a good war film, starring Tom Cruise. It is the same as the one currently available.

Heaven & Earth is new to DVD, includes commentary and some deleted scenes. It is a touching story of the aftermath of the Vietnam war, and a Vietnamese woman falling in love with an American soldier. I enjoyed the film immensely. It shows the other side of war, the tragedy and warmth, karma and emotion.

Natural Born Killers, is not the Director's Cut, but includes commentary and deleted scenes. The film portrays the life of a guy and girl and their carelessness with life, and lack of compassion for other lives. Extremely violent and is either a hate or love film with certain people.

The Doors is also a newer 2-disc edition with all the trimmings like the others. Tells the life of the group The Doors, and their tragic downfall.

Wall Street and Talk Radio are the same editions available and are both good films that offer strong dramatic performances. Wall Street is a story about obviously, business. Great performance by Michael Douglas. Talk Radio is a film about the talk show host that has the answers to everyone's problems but his own.

Oliver Stone's America is the extra disc only available in this set. Story of Stone's life and work. Has interviews with friends and coworkers, behind the scenes footage, and includes one of his short films.

Got the money? Get this baby now!

This is a great collection. The Oliver Stone Collection it is extremely wonderful. I watched all of them. They all have great quality. I love Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, Nixon, and Any Given Sunday.

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

... ok.. i admit that i don't own this collection...and i haven't watched all of them as they are in this collection or seen any of the new features.. but i've seen Most of the movies in the collection.. and they are Mostly Kick-a$$ -- more than anything.. it seemed like a couple of the people that left reviews were being Down on the DOORS movie.. and for that.. i say 5 stars!!!!! cause that movie was cool enough to give all the rest of his movies 5 stars...