- Actors: Kevin Costner, Brian Doyle-Murray, Joe Pesci, Walter Matthau, Donald Sutherland
- Directors: Oliver Stone
- Format: Box set, Director's Cut, PAL, Subtitled
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 2
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Warner
- DVD Release Date: 28 Feb 2005
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0007LEJRW
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 39,718 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Not a John F Kennedy biopic, but a film of New Orleans' attorney Jim Garrison's investigation into the President's assassination, JFK is that rarest of things, a modern Hollywood drama which credits the audience with serious intelligence and ultimately proves itself a great film. Oliver Stone's film has the archetypal story, visual scale and substance to match; not just a gripping real-life conspiracy thriller, but a fable for the fall of the American dream (a theme further explored by the director in Nixon and Any Given Sunday). JFK doesn't reveal exactly what happened in Dallas on 22 November 1963--those who knew generally took their secrets to the grave--but marshals a vast wealth of facts and plausible theories, trusting the audience to draw its own conclusions. Following less than a year after Dances With Wolves (1990), these two epics mark the high point of Kevin Costner's career and the vast supporting cast here, including Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland, is superb. Quite simply the best American political film ever made. --Gary S Dalkin
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I cannot stand 'political' movies but happened across this one on TV by accident. I was hooked, had to buy it (extended version) and now rate it as one of the all-time classics. Costner's style, so often maligned, fits into his Southern part beautifully and to describe the rest of the cast as 'supporting' doesn't do justice to their performances. In particular, Donald Sutherland's scene is a lesson in the art of storytelling. Next time you watch it, time it and you'll be amazed. All in all, an excellent film that can't be watched piecemeal, so lock the door, take the phone off the hook and enjoy.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
JFK, as if you didn't already know, concerns the story of real-life Louisana District Attorney Jim Garrison and his (ultimately unsuccessful) prosecution of Clay Shaw for conspiring in the murder of President John F. Kennedy.
Through an audacious technique of sound and image editing, combining different film stocks and overlapping dialogue, JFK is a powerful piece of cinema that deserves a place in everyone's collection. It is to director Oliver Stone's credit that he keeps the viewer continually engaged with the film through it's three hours and seventeen minutes running length.
The film is not only a significant technical achievement but supremely enjoyable on a purely cinematic level. The cast is uniformly excellent - a special nod of the head to Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald - and Robert Richardson's cinematography is, as always, gorgeous.
Due to the inflammatory subject matter (a U.S. covert action program designed to assassinate foreign leaders gets blown-back and turned on President Kennedy), this film and those associated with it have often come in for a lot of highly charged invective. Therefore, some background reading is highly recommended; if you only read one book on the Kennedy assassination, make it Oxford historian Anthony Summers' "Kennedy Conspiracy" for an in-depth and reasoned analysis.
In short, this is Oliver Stone's "J'accuse!" -not only one of the best films ever made but also one of the most important.
Through an audacious technique of sound and image editing, combining different film stocks and overlapping dialogue, JFK is a powerful piece of cinema that deserves a place in everyone's collection. It is to director Oliver Stone's credit that he keeps the viewer continually engaged with the film through it's three hours and seventeen minutes running length.
The film is not only a significant technical achievement but supremely enjoyable on a purely cinematic level. The cast is uniformly excellent - a special nod of the head to Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald - and Robert Richardson's cinematography is, as always, gorgeous.
Due to the inflammatory subject matter (a U.S. covert action program designed to assassinate foreign leaders gets blown-back and turned on President Kennedy), this film and those associated with it have often come in for a lot of highly charged invective. Therefore, some background reading is highly recommended; if you only read one book on the Kennedy assassination, make it Oxford historian Anthony Summers' "Kennedy Conspiracy" for an in-depth and reasoned analysis.
In short, this is Oliver Stone's "J'accuse!" -not only one of the best films ever made but also one of the most important.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is one fantastically made film, Stone mixes his own fictional footage with genuine historical footage until you don't know which one is the truth, this powerful movie bombards you with information and will not stop. Throughout the film, Garrison (Costner) and his team put foreward every conspiracy theory known to man (aside from Elvis at the Grassy-Knoll) before deciding on their prefered option and hammering it home in a riveting final court-room scene.
I for one don't believe that Lyndon Johnson was waiting for a call from Clay Shaw saying "Kennedy's been killed and I want my money". Oliver Stone is not a historian and this is not history, as Stone said, this film is merely a counter-myth to the myth that is the Warren Report and that is what it does. One only has to watch the trial scene to realise that the Warren Report was fiction and although Garrison's proposition of a government-planned conspiracy is a little off, it does make you think and that is what a good film should do.
The supporting cast is excellent with Tommy-Lee Jones earning a Best Supporting-Actor Oscar, the music is superb and powerfully atmospheric.
A good buy for anyone who likes to think and an ideal subject for discussion
I for one don't believe that Lyndon Johnson was waiting for a call from Clay Shaw saying "Kennedy's been killed and I want my money". Oliver Stone is not a historian and this is not history, as Stone said, this film is merely a counter-myth to the myth that is the Warren Report and that is what it does. One only has to watch the trial scene to realise that the Warren Report was fiction and although Garrison's proposition of a government-planned conspiracy is a little off, it does make you think and that is what a good film should do.
The supporting cast is excellent with Tommy-Lee Jones earning a Best Supporting-Actor Oscar, the music is superb and powerfully atmospheric.
A good buy for anyone who likes to think and an ideal subject for discussion
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
you will be in the middle of what really has happened?
(THE FILM):JFK, Oliver Stone's powerful film about the shots heard round the world and the mystery that still surrounds them, is one of the most provocative movies of our time. Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. F. husseiny
Stone and Costners best movie.
JFK tells the story of Jim Garrison, a Louisiana District Attorney, who attempts to solve the riddles and mysteries surrounding the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on 22... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. G. Robinson
The greatest question that was never fully answered.What really...
This is a excellent film. Even if you don't don't believe everything that's said here to be a fact,there's enough to leave you wondering,pondering the maybe's and I think that was... Read more
Published 6 months ago by vi
How to make fiction from fact ...
This is a well made, and enjoyable film. The problem is, that people have started to believe it is fact based. It is not, and contains many inaccuracies. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Nic
A Real Piece Of History or Conspiracy
I was a little concerned with this DVD arrived and seeing that the cover was in German however my concerns were totally unfounded .This is an epic of a film. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Spud
Still Great 20 Years On
JFK is a dense and sometimes hard to follow movie. It requires numerous viewings to pick up all the nuances and plot threads and it is a testament to the director Oliver Stone and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by M. Hevingham
Was there a conspiracy or just one's imagination?
In the modern movie world, Oliver Stone's films focusing real life events have been subject for numerous theories on whether we love or hate them and JFK was no real exception for... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jonathan Sanger
"A summation of possibilities"
This is a review of the two-disc `Special Edition Director's Cut'. It has seventeen added minutes and comes with a commentary by Oliver Stone in which he argues his case in detail,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Nicholas Casley
Fantastic Film
For JFK conspiracy theorists this is a classic film whichever version of events you choose to believe. However it is important to remember that it is just a Hollywood film. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Markie
Thought provoking, whichever side of the fence you sit..
Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning 1991 film JFK based on books by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, and conspiracy author Jim Marrs, suggest that President John F. Read more
Published on 26 May 2010 by Peter Buckley
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