JFK Revisited: The Complete Collection

Summary

“Did your people conduct this horror?”

When I was about ten years old, my parents allowed me to watch the edited-for-television version of Oliver Stone’s incendiary work JFK. I remember that I could feel my preconceived notions of American history crumbling in the back of my mind. What I was being taught in my history books didn’t seem to match up with the story that was unfurling. I can honestly say that singular viewing experience completely changed my perspective on a number of things. The film gave me good reason to believe that paranoia is not only acceptable when viewing the stories fed to us, but paranoia might be the only safe option. I have been intrigued by the JFK assassination since viewing the film. I have visited Dealey plaza and the book depository a number of times and a couple years ago I dove into Jim Garrison’s book On the Trail of the Assassins. Since the release of JFK, there have been thousands of documents that have been declassified which have shed much more light on how and why John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. 

Oliver Stone has worked with writer James DiEugenio, the author of Destiny Betrayed, to create an absolutely spellbinding tour de force documentary. Shout! Factory has included both JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass and JFK Revisited: Destiny Betrayed in this set. Through the Looking Glass is a more condensed version of the longer documentary Destiny Betrayed which is divided into four hour long episodes. I did not realize that Destiny Betrayed is essentially a much more thorough version of Through the Looking Glass when I popped in the discs, so I would definitely recommend watching Destiny Betrayed for the extended interviews and more through information. Aside from being shorter than Destiny Betrayed, Through the Looking Glass opens with roughly fifteen minutes of news footage that helps set the scene for the assassination. I think watching this fifteen minutes and then switching over to Destiny Betrayed would probably be the best way to encompass all the material in the set.

The films are narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and Donald Sutherland. I was not extremely enthused about Whoopi as a potential narrator, but I actually thought she did a fantastic job. The interview subjects are incredibly knowledgeable about the assassination and include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Robert Rakove (author of Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World,) Philip Muehlenbeck (author of Betting on the Africans,) John K. Galbraith, Richard Mahoney (author, JFK: Ordeal in Africa,) David Talbot (author, Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years,) Paul Bleau, John R. Tunheim (Chair – Assassination Records Review Board,) Lisa Pease (author, A Lie Too Big to Fail: The Real History of the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy,) John M. Newman (author, Oswald and the CIA,) Douglas Horne (author, Inside the Assassination Records Review Board,) and more. Oliver Stone filmed the interviews with legendary cinematographer Robert Richardson. The score by Jeff Beal is very good. It helps to amplify the suspenseful elements of the conspiracy that the film lays out.

I can not recall watching any documentary on the Kennedy assassination that was this revelatory. This film is one hell of a wake up call. It is safe to say that the American people have been misled repeatedly about who, how, and WHY, John F. Kennedy was killed. People interested in finding out the truth should watch this documentary as soon as possible. I hope that in the near future the rest of the documents that have been held back from declassification will be released so that the truth can be fully revealed and our nation can begin healing from the lie that has been perpetrated.

Video

Shout! Factory delivers JFK Revisited: The Complete Collection on Blu-ray with a reference quality transfer in 1080p using an MPEG-4 AVC codec. The archival footage is largely in 1:33:1 frame, whereas the interview footage from 2019 is presented in 1.77:1. Like all documentaries, the footage varies in quality, but overall the film looks fantastic. Stone enlisted legendary cinematographer Robert Richardson for all the interview footage, so it is well lit and looks great. I have no complaints whatsoever about how this film looks.

Audio

Shout! Factory has provided a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track and a DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track. Both tracks sounds very good. The score by Jeff Beal fits the film perfectly. This is a dialogue heavy affair (as one would expect,) but the audio field comes across very well with clear dialogue and sound effects.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary for Through the Looking Glass by Director Oliver Stone and Writer James DiEugenio 
• Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 2.5/5

Overall – 5/5

JFK Revisited: Destiny Betrayed is one of the best documentary films I have ever seen in my life. The American public deserve to know more about why John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated on that fateful day of November 22, 1963 in Dallas, and why so many people in power went out of their way to cover up information regarding the assassination. This film lays out the most compelling and thorough case yet for a conspiracy to assassinate the President. Whether new to the case or extremely familiar, the film lays out new information that is as fascinating as it is disturbing. The evidence presented in this film is absolutely damning. We have been misled repeatedly by people in power to throw us off the trail of the assassins. We are lucky to live in a country where investigative filmmakers like Oliver Stone are allowed to seek the truth and present their findings without being silenced. The truth he is presenting here is frightening as Hell. I hope that the rest of the documents surrounding the assassination will be declassified soon. Shout! Factory’s release that gathers both Destiny Betrayed and Through the Looking Glass earns my absolute highest recommendation.