• Audio commentary by director Oliver Stone (in 2.0 channel)
• "Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy" (1:30:01 SD, 1.33)
• 12 deleted and extended scenes/alternate ending with optional director commentary (54:55)
• "Assassination Updated" (29:40)

• "Meet Mr. X: The Personality and Thoughts of Fletcher Prouty"(11:01)

 

Product Description: Oliver Stone’s powerful film about the shots heard round the world and the mystery enshrouding them is one of the most provocative movies of our time. Aside from its box-office success, critical acclaim and awards, it played a major role in the national debate leading to passage of the 1992 Assassination Materials Disclosure Act. Nominated for 8 Academy Awards and winner of two...

 

 

The Film:

Oliver's Stone's "JFK" builds up an overwhelming head of urgency that all comes rushing out at the end of the film, in a tumbling, angry, almost piteous monologue - the whole obsessive weight of Jim Garrison's conviction that there was a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy. With the words come images, faces, names, snatches of dialogue, flashbacks to the evidence, all marshaled to support his conclusion that the murder of JFK was not the work of one man.

 

Well, do you know anyone who believes Lee Harvey Oswald acted all by himself in killing Kennedy? I don't. I've been reading the books and articles for the last 25 years, and I've not found a single convincing defense of the Warren Commission report, which arrived at that reassuring conclusion. It's impossible to believe the Warren report because the physical evidence makes its key conclusion impossible: One man with one rifle could not physically have caused what happened on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. If one man could not have, then there must have been two. Therefore, there was a conspiracy...

Excerpt from JRoger Ebert at the Chicago Sun Times located HERE

 

 

Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

This is a very impressive Blu-ray image - especially considering the film is now 18+ years old. Detail is very strong while colors are a shade muted. Some scenes can tend to look a bit glossy and this may be a factor of the VC-1 encode - frequently utilized by Warner. We've seen better contrast but it's not fatal. Stone's common use of vintage newsreel and faux 'similar' comes through as intended. The feature size is a gimongous 37.5 Gig on the dual-layered Blu-ray - probably more related to the 3.5 hour long film. There is no DNR or edge enhancements that I could ascertain. There is some noise and sporadically visible grain. You may click on the screen grabs to see the full 1080 resolution. It looks much crisper than I was anticipating. This transfer is akin to Stone's Nixon which we also endorse for visual quality. This is the 'Director's Cut' - some 16 minutes longer than the theatrical version.

 

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio & Music:  
TrueHD 5.1 is competent but the film is almost solely dialogue driven beyond John Williams original score and the brief interludes of N'awlins music we hear.  There are optional subtitles offered only in English or French.

Extras:
Nothing new but still fabulous supplements starting with Stone's mesmerizing commentary. I've heard it three times now and it seems better with repetition. Certainly I can't see this being improved upon and it's great that it is still included. We still have "Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy" running 1.5 hours (almost exactly! - a conspiracy?), Twelve deleted and extended scenes/alternate ending with optional commentary by Stone. These last almost an hour long and are more supportive for the conspiracy buffs extending those continued hypothesis. Two featurettes - 30 minutes of "Assassination Updated" relating some new material since the original releases of the film and the interesting/amusing "Meet Mr. X: The Personality and Thoughts of Fletcher Prouty" for a, too short, 11 minutes.

 

 

Bottom line:
I don't think you have to take JFK as verbatim to admit that this is one of the most thought-provoking political dramas ever made. Warner have come through with a complete package offering a justifiable cavalcade on digital of Stone's mammoth project. The Blu-ray image and audio are as good as one might expect and there is no real reason to complain. This is quite a film experience and one that we give a full recommendation in this new format.

Gary Tooze

November 12th, 2008

 

 

 

Reissued January 4th, 2011 at a cheaper price!:   Coming to 4K UHD by Shout! Factory in June 2025: