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Was it a conspiracy? If it wasn't, Oliver Stone wouldn't have made a 3 hour movie about it. JFK, his exhaustive and exhausting take on the Kennedy assassination hyperventilates as times, but it is credible as theory and riveting as cinema. Is he entirely factual? Not always, but he does bring forward enough questions to make anyone wonder what our government actually does. Why, for instance, are the file sealed until 2029? Why can't we see them if they're just going to confirm the fact that Oswald acted alone? Is it maybe because they might reveal involvement by people still expected to be living until then, therefore giving these people a get out of jail free card?

These are all intriguing questions that Stone pushes to the forefront with the help of Jim Garrison, the New Orleans district attorney who unsuccessfully attempted to prosecute a case in the Kennedy assassination. Garrison's investigation and subsequent book are the bones of JFK. And while some may dismiss Garrison and Stone as conspiracy theorists who are simply swinging at air, it's impossible to deny that there's something of substance behind there.

And within the framework of this film might possibly be the most renowned cast to ever assemble for anything outside of a Love Boat episode. Kevin Costner does his monotone best as Garrison and although a few of his line deliveries come through with all the credibility of a Roger Corman player, this is one of his best roles. Tommy Lee Jones earned an Oscar nomination for his role as Clay Shaw, the man tried and acquitted for the assassination. And Gary Oldman is at his creepy best as Lee Harvey Oswald, the "patsy" and government appointed single mind behind the assassination. Other players in JFK include Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, Ed Asner, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemon, Michael Rooker, Wayne Knight, Donald Sutherland, Joe Pesci, Sally Kirkland, Vincent D'Onofrio, Brian Doyle-Murray, the late John Candy, Frank Whaley and even Jim Garrison himself as Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Forty years down the road, revisionist historians have begun chipping away at the Kennedy legacy. Recent JFK books have focused on the president's Clintonesque libido, his health problems, his policies on Vietnam and a civil rights record spottier than originally thought. However, JFK's vitality and youth (especially coming after the wizened Eisenhower) ushered in the 60s. His death ushered out the American innocence.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

For JFK's third DVD go-around, Warner has carted out the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer from the second release, which was an improvement over the first release (at this rate, JFK's 18th release will be the greatest DVD ever made). Director of photography Robert Richardson really mixed it up here, employing differing styles and film stocks on his way to an Academy Award for cinematography. And all of it is rendered beautifully, with very little dirt or print flaws. The heavy filtering gives many shots a warm, white glow. Colors are strong and clean, regardless of Richardson's stylistic choice: vibrant or desaturated, it all looks great. Overall picture can be a tad soft, although only the most attentive DVD lovers will notice. Shadow detail and black levels seem equivalent to the previous release. In all, Warner has done a good job with a difficult transfer.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

This third JFK DVD release also features the same remixed English 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Dolby Surround track from the second release (which was, say it with me, “an improvement over the first release.”). The surrounds are employed to dramatic effect for gunshots, music stings and other sound-effect trickery. Lefts and rights also sound aggressive when necessary. John William's score sounds particularly warm. Dialog is clean, however effects like background TV noise occasionally render the dialogue hard to discern.

A French 5.1 dub is also included, as are English Closed Captions and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

As part of an obvious conspiracy to wring more money out of JFK fans, Warner is re-issuing the film as a full-blown, two- disc set with some old and new extras.

Disc one contains the same Oliver Stone screen-specific audio commentary from the previous release. This rates up with most of the tracks Stone has recorded lately, and as usual he is well-spoken, intelligent and always articulate. Surprising to some, he is not some irate conspiracy theory nut foaming at the mouth; rather, he methodically discusses the intricacies of the plot, the assassination and of course the controversy that greeted the film. A very good track and a must for Stone fans.

Onto disc two and a big new supplement that's actually worth the price of the new disc. It's Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy, a comprehensive and fascinating documentary co-directed by Danny Schechter and Barbara Kopple. Produced in 1992, the film uses Oliver Stone's JFK as a jumping off point to explore the president's death and the various theories surrounding it. Schechter and Kopple utilize mountains of archive footage and interviews, which are combined with plenty of new interviews. In fact, it seems everyone who ever arranged the letters J, F and K in a sentence is included. And there's some great stuff, including an archival sound bite from Cuban president Fidel Castro. After reconstructing the events of November 22, as well as Lee Oswald's assassination two days later, the doc spends most of its 90- minute running time discussing the most plausible conspiracy theories. CBS newsman Walter Cronkite is the most notable participant who believes Oswald acted alone, end of story. Most others are at least willing to entertain the idea that other forces were at work. JFK's stance on Vietnam raises the most eyebrows: some believe Kennedy was killed by the always-ominous sounding military-industrial complex because he was getting ready to pull troops from Vietnam. The documentary also focuses on the many JFK assassination buffs, who make roadtrips, build models and hold conventions to discuss their almost fetishistic interest in Kennedy's death. One leaves Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy fairly convinced that Kennedy's murder was not a one-man operation. How far the tentacles reached will always be in question, but it seems obvious that something was very rotten in Dealey Plaza. The doc is presented in full frame and the audio is a boring two-channel affair that requires an upward volume adjustment. Still, no one is watching this for the audio quality.

This new DVD release carts out the 45 minutes of deleted scenes from the previous release. They can be played with or without instructive audio commentary from Oliver Stone, who provides more pertinent information here, as he discusses Jack Ruby's death from pancreatic cancer and other interesting JFK minutia. Thankfully, included in the menu for the deleted scenes is a notation of whether the scene is an extension of an existing scene or if it was totally deleted.

The second disc also includes an anamorphic 1.85:1 theatrical trailer, and two multimedia essays, "Assassination Update - The new Documents" and "Meet Mr. X: The Personality and thoughts of Fletcher Prouty." Oddly, neither of these extras are "multimedia," nor are they really “essays.” Maybe Oliver Stone can investigate that. The Mr. X segment is a collection of three video interviews with Fletcher Prouty running 15-minutes, while the Assassination Update is really a 30-minute featurette on the post-film controversy and release of new assassination documents. This featurette is a narrated montage of film clips, text from the documents and other photos.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Finally, along with the usual cast bios, Warner has included some additional PC-enhanced . There are a number of Collected Reviews from the time of the film's release (and despite its Oscar nomination for Best Picture, JFK was not unanimously praised at the time of its release), a theatrical trailer sampler with previews of other Oliver Stone films, and weblinks to various Oliver Stone-related web sites including the director's own official site.

Parting Thoughts