Quentin Tarantino – Natural Born Killers
Screenplay – 120 pages – my copy (paperback; 1995) a present from my sister at Xmas 1996
- 3 nods out of 5 -
Natural Born Killers was an early Quentin Tarantino script, written before Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, this is Tarantino at his bloodiest and most perverse. The story follows the love of Mickey and Mallory – a modern Bonnie and Clyde – but with modern guns and more guts. Their attachment to one another brings them against the world in a gun shooting and knife slashing bender of mayhem.
The script was picked up by Oliver Stone, who filmed what many consider a cult classic; but such are the differences between script and movie that it allows Tarantino’s script to remain as a standalone read. Yes, the film kept the essence of Mickey and Mallory alive, but it also lost much of Tarantino’s earlier message: of the underestimation of dedication, and the shaky hyperbole of the modern media.
Of course, at no point does Tarantino get “that deep.” Natural Born Killers is a shoot ‘em flick, first and foremost. But his showing of America’s fascination with the couple’s murderous rampage and their deification in the eyes of even their victims satirises modern TV and shows Tarantino’s love and repulsion of today’s culture.
The script holds a certain charm. This is before Tarantino’s fame and before his later off boil films (Death Proof anyone?). Here is the usual flaring of pop cultural references, of music and of film; the burger bars and the eating of pies; of Mexican shoot-outs and indiscriminate deaths. And along with this is the slick dialogue that made Tarantino’s early films so unique and loved by quoters everywhere.
A filmed version in Tarantino’s mode could have brought greater results than Stone’s finalisation. More than likely it would not be considered a classic; but rather more of a comment of today’s culture, all the while satisfying the blood lust of the average cinema goer. As it remains, Tarantino’s vision is kept bound in script form: a fix for the fan who is left empty by the director’s recent releases.
Read the script here today:
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/killers.shtml
Screenplay – 120 pages – my copy (paperback; 1995) a present from my sister at Xmas 1996
- 3 nods out of 5 -
Natural Born Killers was an early Quentin Tarantino script, written before Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, this is Tarantino at his bloodiest and most perverse. The story follows the love of Mickey and Mallory – a modern Bonnie and Clyde – but with modern guns and more guts. Their attachment to one another brings them against the world in a gun shooting and knife slashing bender of mayhem.
The script was picked up by Oliver Stone, who filmed what many consider a cult classic; but such are the differences between script and movie that it allows Tarantino’s script to remain as a standalone read. Yes, the film kept the essence of Mickey and Mallory alive, but it also lost much of Tarantino’s earlier message: of the underestimation of dedication, and the shaky hyperbole of the modern media.
Of course, at no point does Tarantino get “that deep.” Natural Born Killers is a shoot ‘em flick, first and foremost. But his showing of America’s fascination with the couple’s murderous rampage and their deification in the eyes of even their victims satirises modern TV and shows Tarantino’s love and repulsion of today’s culture.
The script holds a certain charm. This is before Tarantino’s fame and before his later off boil films (Death Proof anyone?). Here is the usual flaring of pop cultural references, of music and of film; the burger bars and the eating of pies; of Mexican shoot-outs and indiscriminate deaths. And along with this is the slick dialogue that made Tarantino’s early films so unique and loved by quoters everywhere.
A filmed version in Tarantino’s mode could have brought greater results than Stone’s finalisation. More than likely it would not be considered a classic; but rather more of a comment of today’s culture, all the while satisfying the blood lust of the average cinema goer. As it remains, Tarantino’s vision is kept bound in script form: a fix for the fan who is left empty by the director’s recent releases.
Read the script here today:
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/killers.shtml
