JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Barbara Kopple, Danny Schechter, Oliver Stone
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Walter MatthauDirector: Barbara Kopple, Danny Schechter, Oliver Stone
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Oliver Stone
Producer: A. Kitman Ho
Writer: Jim Garrison
Writer: Jim Marrs
Writer: Zachary Sklar
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 205 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-11-11
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Movie Review: A Film of Paramount Importance, Even if Fact mixes with Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
Concerning the assassination of President Kennedy, I think it's important to keep in mind the colorful stir created by Oliver Stone's film, JFK. Whether from journalistic diatribe or vitriolic accusations of fraud by certain politicians, it's obvious Mr. Stone hit a sensitive nerve. So many conspiracy theories have been put forth. These groups and the hard-liners defending the Warren Commission's final report seem to actually be converging; the final combination will put the matter to rest. Or will it? Hopefully, this will happen before the documents are released in 2017 or 2029, or whatever date is now in vogue, if for nothing else, to allay the continued torment of American people. But the documents do not hold the answer; or at least, I believe it is unlikely.
From the X-Files, I think we can now say that, "the truth is out there". But what most people don't seem to realize, is that "The Truth," is not written down in any kind report or manuscript. I am sure there are names, dates, addresses, points of contact, and associations between persons involved in the conspiracy, but many of these men are dead now and cannot be brought to trial. No one except New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison has tried anyone concerning the JFK assassination. This is why his case against business magnet Claw Shaw is so important. Not that Shaw might have been involved in the assassination somehow, but that the case brought attention to the possibility of conspiracy.
People waiting for the day when we will see irrefutable evidence for assassination conspiracy made public, are, I believe, misled. That day will probably never come. One can imagine how the decision to murder President Kennedy was concocted in someone's hunting cabin in the middle of nowhere, and surely was made by only a few, very influential men. These are men who have been dictating American policy since the economic successes of World War II. I think they call it "The Military-Industrial Complex", or sometimes, "The Power-Elite". Certainly, wars had been alive and well between corporations in America for many years prior to World War II. But the vying and maneuvering by industrial giants really got under way during the war, and after. Leaning toward the notion of "Social Darwinism", we see that the bounty goes to those who are most aggressive and controlling...amid liberal contrivances of political ideology...it's still "survival of the fittest", according to many moguls.
Of paramount importance is understanding that JFK had thousands of ardent enemies, some with formidable power and the means to carry out the murder. Imagine, if you will, in that hypothetical lonely cabin in the woods, the decision was made for a coup d'etat, and on November 22, 1963, in the course of about 8 seconds on a sunny day in Dallas, Texas, our government was realigned. Someone felt that John F. Kennedy was not only a threat to national security, but also a threat to continued economic growth. War might be "hell" for some, but for others, war is a way to make an enormous amount of money. I suppose I do not need to say that "money is power". The men who made this decision probably feel that they have been correct so far, but the new "American Empire" is becoming strained, and ultimately it might collapse, depending upon decisions made by the Bush Administration. But the real issue that came to bear upon the decision to murder JFK probably had more to do with Kennedy's insistence of diminishing troop presence in Vietnam than anything else. This is true even if a US military presence existed only in an advisory capacity. It is interesting to note that there were more bombs dropped on North Vietnam than all the bombs dropped during World War II, but the war industry requires soldiers, as well. Who had the most to lose from Kennedy's Vietnam warfare policy, which proclaimed the president's wishes for a large reduction in US presence throughout 1964, and almost all advisory troops being removed by the end of 1965? Obviously, the individuals who make money by funding warfare had the most to lose. Still, there were many discrepancies and contradictions in President Kennedy's Vietnam policy. Many were unsure exactly where he stood, and a few wondered if the president himself knew where he was supposed to stand. In the interim, a machination was launched by the Power-Elite to remove John Kennedy from office. But here again, I think it unlikely that these men acted alone. They simply couldn't. They had to have ruthless, nameless, stateless, and faceless individuals to pull off the assassination. In a nutshell...enter Organized Crime.
I still believe that the Mafia made it happen, but the decision was one of collective, conscious agreement between parties participating in the assassination. The CIA could not risk the chance of a government agent being implicated. Ironically, Lee Harvey Oswald had major connections with the CIA (he was known as an "asset" to intelligence officials). But Lee Oswald was considered a double-agent, in that, he was a deep undercover counter-intelligence operative, and was purportedly working in a systematic intelligence operation engendered to attract KGB spies toward himself and his wife. Would a true defector who lived in the USSR for an extended period be allowed to come back to the United States and work in a specialty photographic studio that developed and analyzed U-2 spy plane images? Again, he was there to attract Soviet agents. He was under orders to present contradictory personalities, sometimes being pro-Cuban, and sometimes being anti-Cuban. But Lee Oswald was never a communist. That was his cover. The intelligence community wanted him to appear as two different individuals. He most likely had several designations within the intelligence community, but one final mark became imprinted on his forehead: EXPENDABLE.
The Mafia (primarily Carlos Marcello and Santos Trafficante) knew of the Kennedy brothers' plan to invade Cuba and kill Castro in December, 1963, and they used this as a way to keep the government from putting the blame on them. Through their connections in New Orleans with ex-FBI agent Guy Bannister and CIA agents, David Ferrie (Carlos Marcello's personal pilot) and Clay Shaw, they also knew of Oswald and his intelligence orders. Interestingly, the shadow government's complicity in the matter was orchestrated by individuals who were also expendable...characters with much to hide, and many reasons to hold to their Mafia loyalties. Another misconception many people have is that Jack Ruby's murder of Oswald was an impulsive act. The truth is that this lowly figure in the underworld (a drug and gun-runner for Trafficante with ties to Cuba) was also expendable, and more so, since he was suicidal. He wanted to be known for something, maybe loved for something more, but his legacy is now shrouded in the darkest recesses of American history. Jack Ruby was the "other" patsy in Dallas, but contrary to Oswald, he was aware of his duty. He also knew that the failure to carry out his duty to his "mob" bosses would place himself and his siblings in grave danger. Jack Ruby was always concerned with the welfare of his family. While in prison, Ruby became paranoid, and truly began going insane, but on several occasions intimated to his involvement in a "conspiracy", and he begged Earl Warren to allow him to go to Washington to offer testimony involving the Kennedy assassination. One other individual who might have known "too much" was officer Tippit, supposedly gunned down by Oswald, however, the assertion that Oswald was involved in this crime is now overwhelmingly contested.
To simply blame the killing on the so-called "Power-Elite" or the Mafia is incomplete. In my opinion, it's impossible for either group to have acted alone. They needed each other. This is how I think it happened: When the Power Elite decided that Kennedy had to be removed, they began asking, "how?" Since the Mafia had already done assassinations for the CIA, they would be the logical choice; it was well known that the Mob brotherhood (Marcello, Trafficante, Giancana, Rosselli, Hoffa, et. al.) hated the Kennedy brothers, and they were given free rein to carry out the deed. But the Godfathers could not use professional assassins from the US...at least not those who were known by citizenship. They had to have men outside the circle. This is why Trafficante utilized his connections with the Marseilles Mafia (French Connection heroin cartel originally based in Havana); it eliminated any connection to the US Mafia (or CIA) with the killing, just in case anything terribly wrong occurred during the assassination attempt. These professional "killers" floated effortlessly around the world with false passports and bogus identities under the auspices of their drug-trade leaders, and the secret, even if shameless, blessings of the CIA men who were involved. Many assassinations worldwide have been undertaken and carried out by these faceless killers. And this is still going on today...not a pleasant thought. Lee Oswald was necessary to cover the "investigation" long enough for the true killers to make their escape, and to lend support for Lyndon Johnson's and J. Edgar Hoover's assessment of the crime. The conspiracy trickled from the Power-Elite through the middle-men, and finally to the nefarious individuals who made their living by smuggling drugs and murdering people.
From an alternative viewpoint, it's important to understand that assassination is an important regulator of government bodies worldwide. Hundreds if not thousands of political elites and their affiliates were executed during the 20th Century, not to mention those murdered in the USSR and Germany. How many people did Stalin murder? It is a known fact that he killed upwards of 30 million people, but many thousands of top political adversaries were rubbed out in the name of Stalin's brand of communism. Hitler came to power by the same means. It is important to remember the political ideology belonging to Hitler and Mussolini; it was called Fascism, and yes, it utilized assassination as it's main impetus for change.
Some researchers speculate that the CIA had something to do with the murder of South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem in Saigon on November 1, 1963, but that later, through an illegal alteration of certain documents, it might be investigated and found that the JFK administration had the Vietnamese leader murdered. In truth, the Kennedy administration had planned to fly Diem and his family out of Vietnam to Europe, but this failed and the coup became history. What other documents have been forged in order to implicate John F. Kennedy's malfeasance in both domestic and foreign affairs? This is why, for the CIA to make certain documents available for the public's scrutiny, may or may not be helpful in solving the mystery of the JFK assassination. This is because if "Top Secret" documents are not redacted to the point of being unreadable, then they can certainly be altered to change history. In reality, many CIA and intelligence documents probably have been altered to "create history" to the tune of the Power-Elites' selective agenda. Does this agenda reflect the attitudes and values of most Americans? The sad truth is that most Americans are clueless toward the inner workings of their government.
New evidence suggests that the Kennedy's were secretly carrying out a plan to assassinate Fidel Castro in December, 1963, and the fact that they were doing this outside the auspices of the "Power-Elite", and the major branch of the CIA and the joint chiefs, again lends credence to the possibility that someone (or group of individuals) decided JFK was a true security risk, since this deeply covered invasion might have easily propelled the USA into a nuclear conflict with Cuba and the USSR. Under the rules of the disarmament of Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis), agreed to by Kennedy and Khrushchev in October, 1962, all thermonuclear, intermediate range ballistic missiles were to be removed from Castro's island, and the USA was to be allowed an opportunity for weapons inspections. These inspections never came into being, and for this reason, John and Bobby Kennedy continued with their plans to assassinate Cuba's leader. The Mafia was not included in this plan, but because of the mob's intimate connections with individuals within the CIA, they became aware of the secret plan, and used it to pull off their ultimate intended "hit". The Kennedy brothers had tirelessly pursued the Mafia dons and godfathers for years, but after John Kennedy's murder, most of Bobby Kennedy's aims ceased. The mobsters were free again. Interesting.
I believe that the conspiracy, in the end, will be shown to be extremely complex. Intelligence officials became aware of the possibility of assassination attempts on the president while he was campaigning in Chicago and especially in Tampa, Florida, but for some unknown reason presidential security was drastically reduced for the Dallas motorcade. Some secret service personnel were even told to "stand down", as another group would assume their roles. However, that other group of security personnel was not present on November 22. It is unlikely that Lyndon Johnson and/or J. Edgar Hoover were instruments for decision on the murder of JFK, but the fact that security for the president on that day in Dallas had been significantly reduced, and in some areas eliminated, points to the notion of high-level government involvement. If Hoover had caught wind of an impending assassination in Dallas, then here is where a seriously sinister aspect of the conspiracy kicked into gear. Reducing security simply allowed the murder that would not have otherwise been carried out. Are you with me? With JFK eliminated, Hoover once again had control of the FBI, and Lyndon Johnson became president. Four days after Kennedy's death, LBJ signed the authorization to escalate US activities in Vietnam, and nine months later the "Gulf of Tonkin Resolution" was passed by Congress. Although involved with Indochina's affairs since September, 1945...it was in August 1964 that the United States' Vietnam war began in earnest with operation "Flaming Dirt", a serious air strike against targets in North Vietnam. In another seven months, General Westmoreland's Marines were deployed in force to Da Nang (March 8, 1965). And, at this time, the CIA's role as the operational command in Vietnam was being shared with the military. Soon there would be over 500,000 American troops in-country, in Vietnam and surrounding regions, and "before that `no-win' conflict would end, more than $220 billion would be poured into the coffers of the war makers"
[ 1996, Prouty, L. Fletcher; JFK, The CIA, Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy ]
But who was at the top of the pyramid, and why was John F. Kennedy murdered? That's the big one...we will probably never know. The only question left to all Americans to ponder is whether or not the assassination of JFK ultimately was advantageous or detrimental to America. How can we ever really know this truth? Maybe the truth lies within the hearts and minds of the people, and that is where it should stay. The Warren Commission stated that Lee Oswald was the lone "nut" assassin of president Kennedy. Here in lies the crux of the matter vis-a-vis the sentiment of the American public before conspiracy became a household word. Any other truth is simply too terrible to consider. But we must keep open minds that do consider the possibilities, and no matter how dark the forces, they must be confronted publicly with determination and courage. America belongs to us, the people, and so do our leaders.
Oliver Stone's movie, JFK, will help to bring some of these issues to light. Recommended.
Summary of JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
A film that chronicles New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison's investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It explores all the credible assassination theories that have raised the nation's persistent questions, doubts and suspicions.Director Oliver Stone added 17 minutes of previously unseen footage for the "director's cut" edition of his hypnotic courtroom epic about the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. That fateful day in Dallas set in motion a sequence of events that would only intensify the mystery behind Kennedy's death, causing New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) to begin an investigation that would gradually become a personal obsession. Bravura filmmaking combined with controversial treatment of historical facts and audacious speculation, this breathtaking revision of history presents a mesmerizing parade of shady figures and conspiracy theories, unfolding like a classic mystery based on history's greatest unsolved crime. A technical triumph boasting Oscar-winning cinematography and editing, Stone's film is guaranteed to grab the viewer's attention with its daring take on the JFK controversy. The stellar supporting cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. --Jeff Shannon
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