THE MEDIA MADE THEM SUPERSTARS.

"Mickey and Mallory know the difference between right and wrong. They just don’t give a damn."

A 1994 satirical crime film directed by Oliver Stone following Mickey and Mallory Knox, a young couple who embark on a killing spree across the American Southwest. Their violent exploits attract media attention, turning them into infamous celebrities. The film explores themes of media sensationalism, celebrity culture, and societal violence. With a distinctive visual style and a nonlinear narrative, it critiques the media's role in glorifying crime and violence in society.

Originally based on a screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino, in which a married couple suddenly decide to go on a killing spree. Stone rewrote Tarantino's script, keeping much of the dialogue but changing the focus of the film from journalist Wayne Gale to Mickey and Mallory.

As the project developed, incidents such as the O. J. Simpson case, the Menéndez brothers case, the Tonya Harding incident, the Rodney King incident, and the Federal assault of the Branch Davidian sect all took place. Stone came to feel that the media was heavily involved in the outcome of all of these cases, and that the media had become an all-pervasive entity which marketed violence and suffering for the good of ratings. As such, he changed the tone of the film from one of purely action to a "vicious, coldhearted farce" on the media.

Editing of the film lasted approximately 11 months, with the final film containing almost 3,000 cuts (most films have 600–700). 

Because the film is thematically preoccupied with media, Stone sought to implement visual elements of popular television into the film's visual tableau: "It had never quite been done before – a mixture of stocks and styles. I was influenced, I have to say, by MTV and some of the styles I saw in the early '80s and '90s on television. But no one had tried that style over the course of 90, 100 minutes." Commercials which were commonly on the air at the time of the film's release make brief, intermittent appearances as well.

The famous Coca-Cola polar bear ad is seen twice during the film. According to Stone, Coca-Cola approved the use of the ad without having a full idea of what the film was about. When they saw the completed film, they were furious.