Review Detail

Furious edit of Stone’s Killers slices away all lulls, dream sequences, and moralizing. This is a blistering grinder of Tarantino’s original script (which I have not read) that hurtles ahead like the running of the bulls in Pamplona. thecuddlyninja’s version does not resemble a Stone film, nor one of Tarantino’s knockoffs. Instead, this reminds me of full bore Takashi Miike. I mean that as high praise.

Video - 720 video stream. Outstanding mix of black n white, distortion, inappropriate zooms, hard cuts, etc ... Many, many visual tricks and changes keep this film popping. Even what could have been mistakes work well and look amazing in a down n dirty, drive-in thrasher.

Audio - 2 channel, 192K AC3. Sound was very good, though suffered occasionally when original score was wiped. Dialogue not always clear. No subs.

I had a real problem with new song selection, which Neglify touched on. I dislike Tarantino, but still, every time I heard a familiar cue, I cross checked it in my memory. Reservoir Dogs - Kill Bill - Pulp Fiction - Death Proof - Pulp Fiction again ... It was distracting and yanked me straight out of cuddly’s edit, especially when I got stuck trying to recall which QT film the cue was from.

To my mind, it takes a certain amount of balls and chutzpah to reedit a film. I find it sad when a fan-editor shrinks back from displaying their own musical taste and knowledge, and instead apes Mr QT. Come on, be original with reconstruction. New tunes! That said, all of us have viewed fanedits and studio releases marred by unfortunate song selection. The line between cool and fool is a thin line. Tarantino’s idiosyncratic musical taste is easy to decipher, however. Blaxsploitation, 70s Nikkatsu, surf guitar, literally hundreds of selections are viable. If nothing else, ask fellow members for suggestions next time.

Narrative - With so much footage sheared, coherency suffers. Example: when Mickey is in Drug Zone we figure out he needs anti-snake medicine. How and when he was bitten ought to have shown. Another mystery: how did that Botango riot start? Throughout the story, I always knew what was occurring, but I think 5 minutes of bits here and there would have clarified any confusion caused by wholesale cutting.

Enjoyment - I had to think about this. I enjoyed, still enjoy, and rewatch Natural Born Killers every couple of years. cuddlyninja has studied QT’s script (Director Tarantino I view as borderline plagiarist, by the way, with few original ideas) and given NBK the Swisha House treatment - chopped and screwed - to remarkable effect. This is a delicious, in many ways authentic, companion to the original. In another world, I could envision this being included in the DVD box as the “storyboard print.”

Recommend this? Absolutely. This is pedal down, all the way.