Natural Born Killers
Short description
Natural Born Killers centres on Mickey and Mallory Knox, a young couple whose shared history of abusive childhoods fuels a killing spree across the United States. They leave witnesses behind to spread their story, and the mass media turns them into celebrities. A tabloid television journalist, Wayne Gale, exploits the public's fascination with the pair, while a detective pursues them. A prison interview becomes the setting for violence that engulfs the people around them.
Oliver Stone directed and co-wrote the screenplay with David Veloz and Richard Rutowski. The film sits tenth in chronological order among the twenty-two features he has directed, arriving between Heaven & Earth and Nixon. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis play the couple, with Robert Downey Jr. as Gale, Tommy Lee Jones as Warden Dwight McClusky, Tom Sizemore as Detective Jack Scagnetti and Rodney Dangerfield as Mallory's father.
Released in August 1994, the crime drama runs 119 minutes and was made for about 34 million dollars, returning roughly 110 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.2 out of 10 from more than 267,000 votes, and on TMDB 7 out of 10 from a much smaller electorate. A critics' rating of 6.3 out of 10 from 48 reviews places professional assessments close to, though slightly below, the audience scores, indicating a divided reception rather than broad acclaim.
What's left behind the scenes
- During filming, Juliette Lewis genuinely broke Tom Sizemore's nose in the scene where she headbutts Scagnetti against the wall.
- This film was the favorite of the two teenagers who committed the Columbine High School massacre.
- The Coca-Cola Company approved the use of their polar bear advertising without fully understanding what the film was about. But later, when the board of directors saw the finished product, they were simply furious.
- In the hotel room where Mickey and Mallory are holding the hostage, the television screen alternates between scenes from Alan Parker's "Midnight Express" (1978) and Brian De Palma's "Scarface" (1983), both written by Oliver Stone.
- Robert Downey Jr. spent some time with Australian sensation Steve Dunleavy to prepare for the role of Wayne Gale, and when he returned with an Australian accent, they decided he would be Australian.
- The color green is used to depict Mickey's mental confusion and appears before the most violent scenes. For example, the lime pie in the diner, the green neon sign on the pharmacy, etc.
- Mickey and Mallory kill a cop named Harold Nash. In "Reservoir Dogs" (1991), the cop who is tortured and killed is named Marvin Nash. The actor who played Marvin Nash, Kirk Baltz, plays Roger, a member of the film crew in "Natural Born Killers" (1994).
- The director's cut has a runtime of 122 minutes.
- The screenplay for the film was written by Quentin Tarantino but was subsequently heavily revised by Oliver Stone along with David Veloz and Richard Rutowski. Tarantino disliked the revised version and publicly disowned the script, requesting his name be removed from the credits. However, he ultimately agreed to: Story by Quentin Tarantino.
- Mickey wears women's underwear in the scene with the hostage in the hotel room.
- Michael Madsen was considered for the role of Mickey.
- Tom Sizemore's character is named Jack Scagnetti. In the film "Reservoir Dogs" (1991) (whose screenplay was also written by Tarantino), the police officer Vic Vega is named Seymour Scagnetti.
- Mallory's mother (Edie McClurg) has blue hair, just like the mother of another psychopath, Alex, in "A Clockwork Orange" (1971).
- This was the second screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino (the first was "True Romance" (1993)), which was reportedly heavily rewritten by Stone afterward. Most people who have seen the film and read the script believe that Tarantino’s script is better than the film.
- The riot scene was filmed in a prison, and the "inmates" in the film are actually its residents, some of whom are even convicted of murder.
- The filming took only 56 days.
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