Love Gets Savage in Oliver Stone's Latest Thriller

Causing a series of high octane bleeps on the radar this week is Oliver Stone's new thriller Savages, based on the best selling book by Don Winslow. Boasting an all star cast of babes and bad-ass'- this looks set to be the most exciting crime flick of the summer. So lets look at the talent first of all shall we? When a multi-award winning director assembles a cast including Salma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively and Aaron Johnson you know you are going to be in for a great ride. Could this be a return to form for Oliver Stone as he boldly ventures back into crime thriller territory? Does John Travolta still have what it takes to play a wise-talking federal agent? Is it every girls dream to be bedding both Kitsch and Johnson and have them take on Mexican drug lords to rescue you? The trailer seems to provide a resounding yes to all of those questions and more. Hayek and Del Toro make a tasty (if not slightly type-cast) couple as the matriarch and chief minion of the Baja drug cartel, hellbent on partnering with Ben (Johnson) and Chon (Kitsch) when they discover the secret to the best cannabis in the world. When the Laguna Beach buddies refuse to strike a deal the Mexicans kidnap the third wheel of their sexy little machine in the form of Blake Lively- the lucky so and so that has been until now living the life of luxury as partner (in every imaginable way) to the two dealers. What ensues is scheming, double crossing and torture in a bid to keep their well earned cash and of course rescue the girl of their dreams from the ruthless and extremely powerful Elena (Hayek). Interestingly, although she is credited, Thurman, who plays Lively's mum, is not featured on any of the promotional material. Any Tarantino fan would be intrigued to see her billed alongside Travolta especially in a crime thriller film with potential for some wry black humour and gun wielding madness but some sources suggest that her character has been completely cut from the film. Funnily enough Stone originally had Jennifer Lawrence down to play the drug dealers kidnapped accomplice Ophelia but she had to pull out to star in one of the highest grossing movies of the year (Hunger Games)- But I think that Blake Lively will do just as well in the role. Click "next" below for part 2...