An opinionated conspiracy
Jim Garrison and Oliver Stone got together to discuss how this movie was going to play out. Garrison, who is the main character in the JFK movie, had some theories on how the assassination of President Kennedy actually played out. Was it a government job covered up through a very disturbed individual named Lee Harvey Oswald, or was there something more? It has been a debate that will probably outlast this government before getting resolved.
The movie itself is more of a soapbox statement than a real collection of facts. Having seen the real Jim Garrison on the History Channel (which I don’t honestly consider the end-all-be-all authority on things, but it’s a lot more objective than Garrison’s book or Stone’s movie) and what he went through and how he presented himself, it was difficult buying the role that Costner sold the audience. In fact, had Kevin Costner actually been Garrison back in the day, he probably would have been taken more serious (as well as the situation). It was more for fame and glory and than truth, according to the documentary on the History Channel. Truth aside, I think the movie does entertain, though it should have been about 45 minutes shorter, and it does bring up questions that haven’t truly been answered properly. I think the intention was good, maybe even well-planned for this film, but the execution just seemed a bit slow and too detailed. It was as if Stone didn’t know exactly when to stop and wrap it up. Of course, that could also be a writing problem, but it is what it is. It’s not like the Blu-ray version was going to change it (hmmm…. no).
Again, I think the story was compelling, it certainly raised some questions. Costner’s Garrison was far more passionate than the real Garrison, and Lee Harvey Oswald (played by Gary Oldham) was epic. Regretfully, since the actual case went no where, all this movie did for a year was get people to explore the possibility that there might have been a government cover up
Conspiracy on Blu-ray
Warner Brothers has done a fabulous job on the recent re-releases of films on Blu-ray. Poltergeist was the last movie that got the Blu-ray treatment, and it looked gorgeous. Much like Poltergeist, JFK gets the same 1080p love with 5.1 Surround Sound to boot. The enhancements that Blu-ray brings to the table makes the movie experience just that much better. It certainly made the three hour film a bit more tolerable. A movie that was nearly 20 years old that looks and sounds gorgeous as if it was just released, is impressive. Kudos to Warner Brothers.
Outside of the visual and audio enhancement, the Blu-ray also comes with an information booklet that comes packed with this re-release, that details characters, the director, has full-color pictures and information that makes the movie more interesting, is pretty damn cool. The booklet itself is actually apart of the case, which makes it almost a tiny book. This concept is Warner Brothers’ alone and it is nice to see some added effort to make the movie better.
As for the features, you get a nice documentary called Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy, which provides a bit more reinforcement to the movie. There is also some nice commentary from Oliver Stone, take that for what it is. Aside from those, you get some deleted scenes/extended scenes, an Alternate Ending (interesting stuff) and Multimedia Essays which is actually quite fascinating.