Matador: Limited Edition – Radiance Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1986
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Writers: Pedro Almodóvar, Jesús Ferrero
Cast: Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez, Eva Cobo, Julieta Serrano, Chus Lampreave, Carmen Maura, Eusebio Poncela, Bibiana Fernández, Luis Ciges

Release Date: April 20th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 106 minutes 32 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), A,B (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK)

"When a young torero confesses to a series of violent crimes he hasn’t committed, secret kinks and desires come to light, sparking dangerous new connections between a bullfighting teacher, a powerful female lawyer, an overprotected actress, and a well-meaning psychiatrist." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Matador was restored in 4K in June 2025 by Cherry Towers Laboratory, Madrid, from a 4K scan of the original negative and supervised by Agustin Almodóvar. The restoration was approved by Pedro Almodóvar." 

Matador comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.8 GB

Feature: 61.5 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy; color saturation, contrast, black levels, image clarity, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Matador comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 39.1 GB

Feature: 27.9 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish with removable English subtitles. The audio quality is impressive; the dialogue is clear, the overall sound is well balanced, and both the score and ambient sounds are effectively represented.

Extras:

There are no extras on the 4K UHD disc.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an interview with Pedro Almodóvar expert José Arroyo (29 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and a ‘Jonathan Ross Presents For One Week Only’ episode on Almodóvar’s cinema, featuring interviews with Pedro Almodóvar, producer Agustín Almodóvar, stars Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura, and more (53 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Spanish with burnt-in English subtitles for Spanish).

Other extras include reversible cover art, a removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings, and a 28-page book with cast & crew information, Red or Dead: Matador and the Almodóvar Pleasure Principle written by Guy Lodge, an archival interview with Pedro Almodóvar conducted by Frédéric Strauss, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

A young man with a strict religious upbringing turns himself in to the police after he sexually assaults his neighbor. Wanting to absolve himself of guilt, when the woman refuses to press charges, he admits to a series of killings he did not commit.

When compared to Pedro Almodóvar’s first film, Matador was a dramatic shift from those comedies and melodramas. Matador is also significant in Pedro Almodóvar's evolution as a filmmaker, as it incorporates psychological elements along with his subversive humor and flair for melodrama. In many ways, Matador serves as the starting point for the core elements of Pedro Almodóvar's cinema.

Immediately, Matador pulls you in with a provocative opening credits sequence where a character pleasures themselves while watching horror films. The moment is key to understanding the killer's identity and motives, even if it's not yet known. The horror films being watched in this opening sequence are Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace and Jess Franco’s Bloody Moon. That said, the opening sequence and the events that follow fit firmly into the cinema of transgression.

After a provocative opening credits sequence, Matador does not let up; its narrative does an exemplary job establishing the main characters and their motivations. From there, the narrative is a labyrinth of twists and turns that build to a tense twist finale that culminates with a murder/suicide. Another strength of the narrative is how it blends its three main characters' stories.

Although Antonio Banderas (Desperado) had previously worked with Pedro Almodóvar on Labyrinth of Passion, his role in Matador is substantially larger. Matador was Antonio Banderas's second of eight films he made with Pedro Almodóvar. Their collaboration includes some of the director's most acclaimed films, including Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. For Matador, Antonio Banderas portrays Ángel, a young man who suffers from vertigo who lives with his domineering, religious, strict mother.

While Antonio Banderas delivers an excellent performance, it is Nacho Martínez (Law of Desire) in the role of Diego, a former bullfighter who can only become aroused through acts of carnage, and Assumpta Serna (Wild Orchid) in the role of Maria, a lawyer who represents Ángel. Maria, like Diego, has a sexual fetish where she climaxes as she kills her lover. That said, their tremendous amount of onscreen chemistry greatly aids their outstanding performances.

Matador is a perfectly crafted film; Pedro Almodóvar’s direction is overflowing with cinematic flourishes that heighten the mood. While all of the death scenes are striking, the most memorable moment is a scene where Ángel’s mother looks through a distorted glass window while he's inside the bathroom. That said, Matador is a film filled with symbolism; it is notable how it weaves the bullfighting rituals with the killers' rituals. Ultimately, Matador is an extraordinary film that provokes the viewer and its finale stays with you.

Matador gets an exceptional release from Radiance Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras. 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 MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer