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The two-terms long Presidential Administration of George W. Bush, Jr., was among the most iniquitous political broods of vipers in history postdating the First World War, in the U. S. of A. or elsewhere. Because of that, it is hard to evaluate a film about Bush without it becoming a Rorschach blot for one`s own sensibilities concerning that brutish quasi-troglodyte himself and, as well, his malevolent Svengali-like chief accomplice, Vice-President Dick Cheney, who was even more mendaciously cynical and venile than the other members of Bush`s cabinet; as well to account for, as Oliver Stone`s film does so to too slight extent, is the equally trigger-happy, pro-Zionist, and profiteering innermost coterie within the Pentagon during Bush`s time as president.

Such coteries, of course, burrowed themselves elsewhere into the various branches of U.S. goverment and within the Civil Service, often establishing therein platforms for private gain (when "conflicts of interest" too seldom even were acknowledged), for suppressing competition, for "neo-con" manipulation of information, for circumvention or even outright elimination of publicly beneficial regulation (especially of financial institutions), and for skewing policy and its enforcement to their own favour and to the political, diplomatic, and military fortunes of their neo-con ideology. Stone alights fleetingly and obliquely upon some aspects of this here and there in his film, which, however, is far from emphasising the motives of personal enrichment as, under Bush Jr. and under Obama, the U.S. has been morphing into militaristic, autocratic kleptocracy. The film treats at considerable length many of these matters, for example and importantly, the Bush Administration`s deeply entrenched connexions in, and profits from, the petroleum industry in the U.S. and in the Middle East (which the film and its special features, indeed, do emphasise but don`t note explicitly enough the orgy of profiteering greed and partiality which that engendered among the Republican super-rich oil barons). Furthermore, there is dealing with such matters, too, but still rather cautiously, among what "W., the Official Film Guide", the DVD-Rom special feature on this DVD of the film, amplifies in words. The film itself attempted to touch upon these matters with subtlety (perhaps too much so for optimal effectiveness) rather than with hard-hitting explicitness. Neo-con zealots who make their own deluded projections upon the central figure of his time and of this film as somehow being of heroic stature only show what fools that they can be.

All of that said, it would have been better for this viewer, maybe for others, also, to see the special features documenting this film. They are really excellent and "Dangerous Dynasty: the Bush Presidency", the apt title of the special feature that conveys the message very tellingly, presents some of the best scholars and public figures of the American political Left and Centre commenting upon the harm that presidents from Nixon and Reagan onwards have done to undermine American consitutional rule. One begins to realise that the director was much more grimly critical of Bush than may seem to be the case at first exposure to the film itself. The DVD would be worth having for this feature alone, but the movie does happen to be a good one.

Bush was far more of an hypocrite, along with his other odious qualities (which Stone conveys well), than Oliver Stone seems to want to admit. As unintelligent and vulgar as the barbarian was, Bush knew how to manipulate the public and how to pose. It is well known, despite Stone`s acceptance of Bush Jr.`s religious posturing, that the scope and kind this rogue president`s religiosity has been little more than a thin veneer, far from being genuinely evangelical or sincerely pious. (The man is a believer of some sort, a Christian loosely speaking, more or less akin doctrinally to a "skin-deep" moderate mainline Protestant with pietist veneer, whatever Bush`s varying denominational affiliation at any particular time, but that does NOT make him any kind of evangelical zealot, indeed, very evidently not that, judging from many of his reported statements in public and in private.) Secular culture, such as Stone`s, tends to differentiate such matters quite inadequately, lumping Christian believers into a fictive "Religious Right" that is more broadly inclusive and more seemingly cohesive than that elusive movement is in reality. It is hard to accept, too, that Bush really was taken by surprise at the revelations of the dishonesty of his own and his cronies` war-mongering campaign to involve the U.S. militarily in Iraq. The man certainly played his own part in fobbing off intentionally such deceptions upon the gullible American public.

Enough said. The man was and is loathsome, even more so than as Stone depicts him. The film is well made and effective in its own way, but, egad, what an unworthy subject Bush Jr. (and even Bush Sr., whose role in the film and in the infamous son`s life receives lots of attention) makes for an artist of Oliver Stone`s cinematic stature!

I had a preconceived conception of George W Bush before I saw the movie. Who doesn't? Son of a rich man from a rich family, a slacker, a drunk, a failed business man etc. etc.
However, as I watched the movie I was encouraged to delve a little deeper into the man's inner being. What I saw there was a boy of whom not much was expected, an accomplished family joker looking for attention, and who grew up and became the President - against all the odds against him - and used his newly found power of the Office to do whatever he wanted. No one could tell him what to do!!! Finally!!!
This is another of Oliver Stone's thought-provoking, and phsycological biographical epics, and definitely worth the time to watch it!
Well done, Mr. Stone

Josh Brolin is uncanny in the title role and leads an impressive list of excellent performances in W (including Richard Dreyfuss, Jeffrey Wright, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn etc.). The portrayal itself may be a touch sympathetic, and the film unfortunately doesn't offer anything new for those familiar with the media hypothesis. Similarly, Oliver Stone's flashback style is utilized to blatantly explain the character. The blu-ray is fine with extras that include deleted scenes, director's commentary, a couple of interesting featurettes (especially Dangerous Dynasty: The Bush Presidency), and the filmmaker's research guide. Anyone with an interest in this era of political history might better appreciate the extras over the film.

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