Natural Born Killers (1994) is by far one of the best films ever made. Written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Oliver Stone, this controversial film still to this day remains infamous for it's message and the extreme graphic violence. But that shouldn't stray you away from watching it. It actually has an interesting love story in the center of all the carnage. The story:<br /><br />The film opens at a dinner in the middle of nowhere. Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis) Knox are relaxing there with six other people. Well, it doesn't take long before they kill everybody except one person, whose mission is to tell everybody that Mickey and Mallory Knox did it. Cue the opening credits. From here on out we are thrust into the Knox's world. They soon become notorious for their killings, with a body count of about 52. This catches the attention of an ultra-sleazy Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr.), a reporter for the show "American Maniacs". Finally, Mickey and Mallory are caught and sent to prison under the supervision of warden McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones) and psychotic Detective Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore). But the film doesn't end there. The ultimate climax includes an interview with Mickey gone horribly wrong and a massive prison riot.<br /><br />Natural Born Killers created a giant ripple throughout Hollywood for a lot of reasons, especially the film's violence. Now I must admit, even though the violence is brutal and gory, the filmmakers don't glamorize it. As a matter of fact, I give a standing ovation to Oliver Stone for showing violence in all of it's ugliness. I'm sick of seeing people in other films getting shot and showing very little, if any, blood. When you get shot or tortured, it not only hurts but it gets quite bloody. At least Natural Born Killers shows it unflinchingly.<br /><br />The story, amongst all of the mayhem, manages to tell a touching love story between Mickey and Mallory. These two are only killing because it's what they grew up with. They had very messed up childhoods and they lashed out in the only way they knew: violence. Amidst all of the pain and suffering, they found love with each other. And their love isn't just a one night stand type of "love". No, their love is the kind that lasts forever, where love can overcome anything. This is why the ending is gory yet touching at the same time.<br /><br />The acting is top notch. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis both should have received awards for their performances. Only real actors do something out of the ordinary and take a risk with a role. That's why teeny-bopper movies are all pointless and stupid: because the audience has already seen the same actor(s) do the same performances. Harrelson and Lewis capture the essence of Mickey and Mallory expertly. It's great to see actors display such a wide range of emotions: fear, love, hate, violent, isolated, depressed, e.t.c... All the other actors perfectly play their characters with enough reality to turn in believable performances. You know, throughout the film I always thought that Mickey and Mallory were the only sane people. Everybody else around them were just psychos and nutcases. When I first saw Natural Born Killers, I thought there was something wrong with the movie because of the editing. But after I figured out it was all part of the movie, I became convinced that NBK is in fact, a masterpiece. The film changes narratives from black and white to documentary to animation to surrealistic. With each different narrative, the viewer sees the characters for who they really are or what they are really thinking. It's great.<br /><br />If you can, see Natural Born Killers in it's full entirety with the director's cut DVD. It will add more depth to the story and characters. Everybody should see this movie: it's a classic. I give Natural Born Killers a full 10 out of 10.