Good movie even though Stone makes lot of assumptions. Like inventing Donald Sutherland's character, which he says is a composite product of several people.

The underlying truth cannot be easily discarded. How did a lone gunman kill the president of the United States without any help?

A

One of the finest movies ever made, this movie, Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July has made Stone one of the finest filmakers of all time, regardless of Alexander (which I have not seen yet).

Just sets the mood of America perfectly after Kennedy's assiassination. Stone has gone on record saying out of 150 things, he may have gotten 5 wrong but what about the 145 things he got right. Should have won best picture instead of the Silence of the Lambs.

p.s- was so good, made more in international market...and this is a very American film.

Great film.

A+

JFK - B+

I thought it was excellent. Kevin Costner was really good, like usual. He never dissapoints.

One of the 5 best films ever made.



An alternative to the Warren Report, 21 July 1999




No one is saying that this film is exactly what happened on Nov. 22nd 1963. Nobody is saying that this is the solution to the great mystery, but what Stone is saying is that this is one possible alternative to one of the grossest lies ever told to the American people and the rest of the world. People that attack this film and dismiss it for being propoganda are missing the point. If this is propoganda, then what the hell is the Warren Report that says that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone? A comic strip?

Forget politics for just one second and just look at the beauty of this film. Because that is one thing that is lost in all the politics of this film, we forget what a truly incredible work of art this is. You will never find a film that is better acted, better photographed, better directed or edited than this. You can't. This film is perfection on every level that is film. Now you can believe what you want to believe, but what you can't deny is how the film makes you feel. And for me, it made me mad that a crime like this could be committed. Is there really anyone out there that really thinks that LHO could really fire off three shots that quickly, 5.6 seconds with the acuracy that he did? Does anyone not find it strange that the final head shot caused his head to go back and to the left, not down and to the right ( which would happen if he was shot from the book depository )? We all know the inconsistencies with the case that are quite factual, the ones that are not embellished by Stone. Kennedy's brain did disappear, the limo was ordered clean so that evidence was impossible to come by. The parade route was changed, the protective bubble was removed, a proper sweep of the area was not conducted. People's testimonies were altered on FBI reports, David Ferry lied to Garrison, the Warren report was run by guys that Kennedy had once fired, suspicious deaths of people that testified in the Warren Report happened frequently, and the magic bullet theory is impossible. Seven wounds, one bullet, that is quite impossible. So if you take into account all that is irrefutable about the case and the movie, why do so many people get mad when an alternative theory is presented. Surely no one really buys into the Warren Report. Do they? How about Oswald being shot by David Ferry? Too many strange things surrounding this case for it to be closed as easily as it was. So now Stone comes along and has a different theory, a brave one, and people critisize him for it. Well at least he and Garrison were willing to look in other corners for the truth. Someone had to try.

To talk of the film in parts is futile because there is not one part of this film that lacks. The ensemble cast from Costner as Garrison, to John Candy as Dino, to Joe Pesci as a overly hyper David Ferry to Kevin Bacon as a Willy O' Keefe who thinks that Mr. Garrison is a good looking man, down to Michael Rooker, Wayne Knight, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Lemon, Walter Mathau, Donald Sutherland and Gary Oldman, every performance in here is remarkable. They make you feel like you know these characters. What Oliver Stone has done here is make one of the greatest if not the greatest motion picture I have ever seen. I still believe that Jaws is the best ever, but JFK is a close second. Except for it's politics, this film is not open for discussion in terms of how good a MOVIE it is. Strictly on a film level, the film is flawless.

Finally, there is one shot in this film that I think is the greatest shot ever in the history of the movies. At the very end of Garrison's speech, he says the words " It's up to you." And as he does, the camera gets level with his eyes, so that he is now speaking with every person that watched this film. And it is up to us to make the decision. Are we going to swallow all that we have been fed by the government over the years, or are we going to accept the fact that there is more to the story that what the Warren Report says there is? Maybe not Stone's version, but something. At least give Stone credit, he is the only one really brave enough to tackle something like this and live to tell about it. I'd love to see more films like this that question our government. Because they make you think. And that is always a good thing.

Oliver Stone has made an incredible film and it is one that should be watched at least once by everyone, especially by young people that don't know much about the case or the assassination. I was 19 when this film came out. I saw it and it changed my life. It made me open my eyes to lies and deceit that our government is capable of doing. And that is not reserved to the American government, it could be the Canadian, Australian, German whatever. It is important to question the official version of what is fed to us. And if you dig a little deeper, you will see there is always an alternative to what they want you to believe. This film opened my eyes to that. And I am a better person because of it.

This is just one of those films that is rviting from beginning to end, and could never be too long, as far as I was concerned. What a cast! I didn't care about the fantasy facts it presented, it was damn entertaining, and sounded feasible.

A

Now that is definitely a movie I need to rewatch.

I'm just wondering if Doc got around to watching it a second time?

Sadly not, I can't even get to watch the films I own (don't own this one yet), heh.

I'll certainly post my whole review once I do.

A-

Despite Stone going off his own viewpoint here a lot it seems, there's no denying what Optimus, baumer, etc. have already stated. There are so many trails and wrongfully confirmed facts about the JFK case, it's impossible to close your eyes and pretend none of the conspiracy evidence exists, because it very much does. Stone did the right thing by never bowing down from his viewpoint and not showing only concrete evidence, he made the movie he wanted to about the possibility of corruption and it worked. He had the balls of a lion, and I appreciate him taking that leap and chance.

I also wanted to back up how brilliant JFK is as a piece of filmmaking and historical time capsule. Seriously... absolutely stunning. The cinematography and lighting of the present day scenes, everything is golden and feels so real. The set design of the 60s, the extras and what not all creating that mood. Editing, oh my, probably the best I've ever seen in a film, period. Also the way the shots are directed and constructed, like showing Oswold and his time frame in the book depository building, just perfect.

The screenplay is incredibly smart, entertaining, vivid. It's people talking for 3 and a half hours but it never ever once gets near boring. This movie is much more exciting and enthralling than it had anyyyy right to be.

And of course, that cast. That beautiful cast. Somehow Stone managed to get this huge plethora of actors to each take minimal screentime and do their small roles, and yet, none of them try to outshine the picture or create a bigger impact than exactly what that character needs, and yet, every performance is still THAT good. For example, I would've gaven Joe Pesci an Oscar nomination for this. Tommy Lee Jones did get one. Gary Oldman doesn't say much but he's effing brilliant without the words. Donald Sutherland, Jack Lemmon, Bacon, Candy, Mathieu, Spacek, what can you say. And finally, Kevin Costner. What a powerhouse. I cannot believe he didn't get nominated for this, I thought the powerhouse court scene alone would've done it. My original thought was "Wow, he probably should've won his acting Oscar for this, if only JFK wasn't released in the same year as Silence of the Lambs" Not even nominated... blah.

At the very least, JFK is a necessity as both an exploration of one of America's most shocking and devastating events, as well as a piece of technical filmmaking art at its finest. I'm glad I saw it.

When Costner explained on that TV program about how we would have never believed in the single assassin theory, if this happened to Khrushchev in the streets of Moscow. We would have for sure thought it was a conspiracy.

Imo that took any doubt out of my mind.

How can a single man be responsible for the President's death? Then have so many strange events and then have his brother shot as well?

Like anyone with a rational mind must now think that JFK was shot by a conspiracy by the CIA-Pentagon and prehaps LBJ. JFK was going against the Military Industrial complex, General President Dwight. D Eisenhower warned us about. He was going to cut down the military and was going to end Vietnam and warm up relations with the Soviets.

However, it ignores the fact Kennedy stole the 1960 election. If you believe all of this and that the 2000 election was a fake, then you must believe the 1960 election was a fraud.


Anyways great film A and will join my top 100.

Just finished watching this in US History (the whole 3 1/2 hour thing took us an entire week. we only did it because we'd taken the AP already and had nothing else to do). Watching it with a semi-historian commenting on its numerous errors and faults every step of the way certainly dampened the experience -- I was exposed to all of the liberties Stone had to take -- but it was extremely well-made, just about as well-made as I think a movie about these events could've been. The one thing I would've changed was the cast, which was a bit too star-studded for something that only really "required" Kevin Costner's role to be taken by a big name. I did love Gary Oldman's breakthrough performance, though.

A-

I thought the cast was ingeninous because it allowed as a viewer you were at ease and believed what was being told to you. I mean, are you going to believe there was a conspiracy going on, unless you heard it from Jack Lemmon, Ed Asner and Donald Sutherland.

Compelling, engrossing stuff. Stone's politics, and the massive length, aren't an issue at all. Terrifically edited, too.

I re-watched this recently, together with my wife who hadn't seen it yet and it fortified my opinion of it being a bona fide masterpiece. It's just such a great brooding mystery film about the great (supposed) mysteries of our modern history. Even we don't get a total conclusion to it, the way it deals with the doubt and players involved is just excellent. Costner, Pesci and Tommy Lee Jones are just delicious in it and Stone does such a great job of making it a compelling epic. The runtime is a breeze because it's such an interesting, edge of your seat story that I just completely sink into. Top 10 film all time.

A+