True Romance: Limited Edition – Arrow Video (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1993
Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Bronson Pinchot, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, Saul Rubinek, Conchata Ferrell, James Gandolfini, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore

Release Date: June 28th, 2022
Approximate Running Times: 118 minutes 14 Seconds (Theatrical Cut), 120 minutes 36 Seconds (Director’s Cut)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10 (Both Versions)
Rating: R (Theatrical Cut), NR (Director’s Cut)
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $59.95

"Elvis-worshipping comic book store employee Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is minding his own business at a Sonny Chiba triple bill when Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) walks into his life - and from then on, the two are inseparable. Within 24 hours, they're married and on the run after Clarence is forced to kill Alabama's possessive, psychopathic pimp. Driving a Cadillac across the country from Detroit to Hollywood, the newlyweds plan to sell off a suitcase full of stolen drugs to fund a new life for themselves... but little do they suspect that the cops and the Mafia are closing in on them. Will they escape and make their dream of a happy ending come true?." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (Theatrical Cut), 4.75/5 (Director’s Cut)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “The original 35mm negative and 35mm intermediary elements were scanned in 4K resolution at Illuminate Labs, Hollywood. The film was restored and graded in 4K HDR/Dolby Vision at Silver Salt Restoration, London.

All original materials supplied for this restoration were made available by Revolution via Park Circus.” 

True Romance comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 87.2 GB

Feature: 73.2 GB

The sources for the theatrical cut and the director’s cut both look excellent. The transfers for the theatrical cut and the director’s cut look identical, except for the footage that’s been added to the director’s cut, which still looks great. Color saturation, image clarity, contrast, and shadow detail are solid; there are no issues with compression, and grain remains intact.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English)

This release comes with two audio options: a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a DTS-HD stereo mix in English. Both audio tracks sound great; dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds and the soundtrack/score are well-represented, and range-wise, both audio tracks sound robust when they should. Also, the differences between the DTS-HD 5.1 track and the DTS-HD stereo track are minimal. Included with this release are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for this release include image galleries: production stills (72 images), and poster & video art (17 images), US theatrical trailer (2 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), two US TV spots (1 minute 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), International theatrical trailer (2 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival section of extras titled Electronic Press Kit: US featurette 1 (5 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), US featurette 2 (5 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), International featurette (7 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Behind the Scenes (15 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Tony Scott (4 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Christian Slater (1 minute 52 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Patricia Arquette (2 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Dennis Hopper (1 minute 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an interview with actor Gary Oldman (3 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an alternate ending with optional audio commentary by Tony Scott, and optional audio commentary by screenwriter Quentin Tarantino (6 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), deleted and extended scenes with optional audio commentary by Tony Scott: At the Movies (3 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Heroes for Sale (2 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), He Really Love Her (1 minute 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Coming Clean (5 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Drexl Does Business (3 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), An Amazing Girl (1 minute 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), No cheers (4 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Vincenzo’s Vendetta (1 minute 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), “We know what we're doing” (2 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Playing “What if?” (2 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and Elliot’s Motivation (1 minute 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with costume designer Susan Becker titled You’re So Cool (9 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with co-editor Michael Tronick titled Relentless Romance (11 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with co-composers Mark Mancina and John Van Tongeren titled Amid the Chorus of the Day (11 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Larry Taylor, author of Tony Scott: A Filmmaker on Fire titled A Hunger for Mayhem (6 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), scene select audio commentary: Dennis Hopper (11 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Val Kilmer (4 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), actor Brad Pitt (5 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), actor Michael Rapaport (34 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), actor Bronson Pinchot (15 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and actor Saul Rubinek (6 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Tony Scott, an archival audio commentary with Quentin Tarantino, an archival audio commentary with Christian Slater andPatricia Arquette, an audio commentary with film critic Tim Lucas, reversible cover art, six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions, a double-sided poster, and a 60-page perfect-bound book with cast & crew information, an essay titled I Love I Love You written by Kim Morgan, an essay titled Tony Scott, You’re So Cool written by Nicholas Clement,  an oral history featuring interviews with cast and crew that originally appeared in Maxim in 2008 titled True Romance: 15 Years Later written by Marc Spitz, a 2012 eulogy for Tony Scott titled The Great Tony Scott written by Edgar Wright, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

True Romance is the fusion of two visionary filmmakers, Tony Scott (Revenge, Man on Fire) and Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill). And though True Romance is a perfect combination of these two filmmakers, there are many elements in True Romance that are now regarded as part of Tarantino’s cinema language.

There’s no denying Quentin Tarantino’s fingerprints are all over True Romance. And yet one must not overlook or understate Tony Scott’s interpretation of the screenplay. There is no doubt that True Romance would have been a different film in the hands of another filmmaker, even Quentin Tarantino. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to True Romance’s ending.

Content-wise, True Romance has many elements that are synonymous with Neo-noir. Most notably, its stylish cinematography and how it blurs the line between good and evil. And not to be overlooked when discussing True Romance, it is an exceptional dialog which is overflowing with pop culture and movie references.

When it comes to the cast, it is filled with so many recognizable faces that it is hard to keep track. And though many of these well-known faces are not much more than cameos, their limited screen time does not lessen their characters' impact. That said, when discussing the performances, everything hinges on Christian Slater’s (Heathers) and Patricia Arquette’s (Lost Highway) enthusiastic portrayals of star-crossed lovers Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman.

Other performances of note include Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet) and Christopher Walken (King of New York), who share what is arguably True Romance’s most memorable dialog scene; and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), who portrays a mafia hitman whose torture of Alabama is easily True Romance’s most brutal moment.

From a production standpoint, True Romance is an exceptional piece of filmmaking where everything perfectly falls into place. The premise is superbly realized, and a tension-filled narrative builds to a fever pitch with a Mexican standoff finale. And last but not least, True Romance greatly benefits from Tony Scott’s knack for creating intense, violent set pieces.

True Romance makes its way to 4K UHD via an exceptional release from True Romance that comes with a solid audio and video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras, most notably an audio commentary with Quentin Tarantino, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer