6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Based on Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard's best seller comes this shocking thriller starring Rob Lowe and Ginnifer Goodwin. As John F. Kennedy (Lowe) rises to become U.S. president, a former Marine grows disillusioned with America. When their paths ultimately cross, the course of history is changed forever as seen in this mesmerizing film about the assassination of JFK -- and its chilling aftermath.
Starring: Rob Lowe, Will Rothhaar, Ginnifer Goodwin, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jack NoseworthyHistory | 100% |
Drama | 48% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The 20th century had a number of epochal events which not only consumed copious newsprint, but which also provided
fodder for a number of other media. The sinking of the Titanic, the two World Wars, the Russian Revolution, the
Depression, the Cold War, the Atom Bomb, Watergate—so many incredible stories, all of them dutifully written up not
just in daily newspapers, but also magazines, scholarly articles, and of course tons of books, radio and television
programs and, yes, films. But I’d wager a bet that the Kennedy assassination is, if not the single most
investigated event of the century (in any given medium), certainly in the top five or so. It’s been said that Kennedy was
the first “television President”, and that phenomenon spilled over into his tragic death, as anyone who was alive and old
enough to remember November 22, 1963 will attest. Broadcast television indulged in one of its first round the clock
reporting situations, something that stretched from the day Kennedy was shot in Dallas to the weekend where Lee
Harvey Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, and then on to the national day of mourning and the unbelievably
moving funeral procession through Washington, D.C., with those indelible images of the resolute and stoic Jackie leading
her beautiful young children through the pomp and pageantry.
One might think that such epic tomes as William
Manchester’s The Death of a President or even the Warren Report (as lambasted as that report has been in
certain circles) might have already described nearly everything that occurred on those fateful days, but (aside from the
ubiquitous “conspiracy” books that seem to sprout like weeds, even to this day) evidently noted reporters and
researchers missed enough of the story for Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly to enter the fray and write his account of the
tragedy, Killing Kennedy, the second in what has been a kind of disturbing franchise of “Killing” books by the
pundit. (Martin Dugard is listed as co-author, and one suspects he probably does a lot of the actual writing, though a
mere look at any of the collaborators’ dust jackets and the clearly disparate size of the fonts displaying the authors’
names reveals the relative importance O’Reilly is thought to have, perhaps even by O’Reilly himself.) For those who have
long been fascinated by the assassination story (whether or not they believe in any of the many conspiracy theories),
there’s probably not much new that this National Geographic television adaptation of Killing Kennedy offers.
Because of all of the reams of newsprint and typeface that have been devoted to this subject, not to mention a glut of
other tangentially related outings like Oliver Stone’s
JFK, even those without an overt interest in the story probably know at the very least the broad
outlines of the story. Those outlines are certainly here in Killing Kennedy, but the entire telefilm often plays like a
kind of Reader’s Digest redaction of the tale, with simultaneously unfolding biographies of Kennedy (Rob Lowe)
and Lee Harvey Oswald (Will Rothaar).
Killing Kennedy is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a solid enough looking high definition presentation, even if it rarely pops in any meaningful way. Colors are accurate looking and nicely suffused, and close-ups reveal some excellent levels of fine detail (see screenshots 2 and 7 for good examples). Contrast is dialed a bit low throughout portions of the film, making occasional sequences slightly muddy looking. There are a couple of oddly soft looking moments (when Lee and Marina arrive at an émigré's house is especially noticeable). A couple of sequences, including the factory scene in Russia, have been oddly color graded, which diminishes fine detail somewhat. The film also utilizes various pieces of archival footage, some of which has been anamorphically stretched to fit the widescreen format. This footage varies widely in quality, as should be expected. (It's a bit odd that this approach was taken, as the film's faux "home movies" of the Kennedys are framed at around 1.33:1.) No obvious compression artifacts are apparent in this release.
Killing Kennedy's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is similarly proficient, if also similarly less than completely impressive. Surround activity is limited mostly to ambient environmental noises and the occasional brooding music cue. Otherwise, dialogue is not especially directional, anchored mostly front and center. There are a couple of nice moments of LFE when Oswald first shoots the President and then, a bit later, Officer Tippit. Fidelity is just fine on this track, and there are no hiccups of any kind to address.
Without putting too fine a point on it, you could probably dredge up as much material as Killing Kennedy offers with a more or less random accessing of clips on YouTube. This is a fairly by the numbers approach, offering little in the way of insight or even perspective. The best part of this telefilm is Lowe's rather uncanny impersonation of President Kennedy. Bill O'Reilly is famous for insisting "the spin stops here", but not even copious amounts of spin could make Killing Kennedy seem anything other than the mediocre, lackluster outing it is.
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