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True Romance (2-Disc Deluxe Limited Edition)
(Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer, et al / 2-Disc Blu-ray / R / (1993) 2022 / Arrow Films - MVD Visual)

Overview: In 1993, action movie supremo Tony Scott teamed up with a hot new screenwriter named Quentin Tarantino to bring True Romance to the screen, one of the most beloved and widely-quoted films of the decade.

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?

Breathtaking action set pieces and unforgettably snappy dialogue combine with a murderers’ row of sensational performances from a stunning ensemble cast in Scott and Tarantino’s blood-soaked, bullet-riddled valentine, finally restored in dazzling 4K with hours of brilliant bonus features.

Blu-ray Verdict: The title sequence for True Romance magically conveys us to the bleak cold desolate vortex of the Rust Belt 1990’s Detroit, but also back a million plus years to the time when fantastic tales were spun by ancient man around the first campfire.

Only in the here and now, the fire is scrap wood fed and in an oil drum in a vacant lot surrounded by hobos, outcasts, and scavengers and the fantastic tale is offered with rising sparks and smoke up to the eternal night. A Neo Noir tale.

Very few of the classic noirs used the female voice over, one that readily comes to mind is Claire Trevor’s in Raw Deal. This neo noir story is triggered in one long flashback by a voice over narration by ex-call girl femme fatale Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette). Arquette here is downright outstanding, if ever there was a character that captured that effervescent spirit of Marilyn Monroe’s various characters (and updates that quality to the ’90s and makes it her own) in a film it’s Arquette’s Alabama in True Romance.

She is a blond, buxom, bombshell, a firecracker the shot from the front sequence where she jiggles down the courthouse steps rivals Marilyn’s classic shot from behind wiggles from Some Like It Hot and Niagara. You just sense that if this were still the big studio days and she was under contract she would have been typecast into many of these kind of parts in quick succession at the peak of that phase of her beauty, Arquette might have become iconic but would the price have been tragedy as it was for Marilyn?

As it is her performance is just a one off. The studio days are long gone and the atmosphere is catch-as-catch-can and Arquette did not get another similar Neo Noir role until her double parts as Alice & Rene in Lost Highway. I guess time will be the judge if contract stars of the Studios or those of the new corporate deal system will be best remembered in the long run. Arquette here ranges from sweet and coy, to desperate and deadly, her transformation into Athena with her Amazonian like war scream is chilling.

The tale unfolds as quasi comic book/martial arts/Elvis geek Clarence gets shot out of the saddle by a B-girl at a local tavern. Later at a late-night triple bill Sonny Chiba show, Alabama, in a contrived maneuver spills her popcorn over the seat on Clarence. She expresses her dismay in an instantly lovable cutesy/ditzy manor and is soon climbing over the seat and settling in beside him. They soon connect and later over pie and coffee in a diner begin to fall for each other.

Clarence takes her back to his pad above the comic book store where they make love. Later Alabama confesses that she is a call girl and was paid and sent by Clarence’s boss as his birthday present. Clarence is not mad at all says it’s the best present he ever had and that it was not just the physical part but he never had so much fun with a girl ever before in his life. They pledge their love for each other and get married. The whole sequence is wonderfully written and rings so true that you suspect it is somewhat biographical.

Clarence, (Christian Slater) in probably his best role, watch his dialogs with Alabama and his father. He is cooler than cool as he follows his personal rockabilly Espírito Elvis in the way he deals with situations and travels life’s highways. Elvis tells him to confront Alabama’s pimp Drexl and it’s this meeting that sends the tale spiraling into Noirsville.

The rest of the cast is superb, Michael Rapaport as Dick Ritchie a struggling numb nuts want to be actor who lives with stoner Floyd (Brad Pitt) who has a plastic honey bear bong. Bronson Pinchot is the weasel Hollywood yes man Elliot Blitzer to producer Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek).

Dennis Hopper is Clifford Worley, Clarence’s security guard father who sings Country Western songs while making his rounds and lives in a trailer park wedged between the river and the railroad tracks. Mafioso Don Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken ) is a capo for Blue Lou Boyle. Virgil (James Gandolfini ) is a reflective hit-man.

Gary Oldman is delightfully over the top as courier and pimp Drexl Spivey. Chris Penn as Detective Nicky Dimes and Tom Sizemore as Detective Cody Nicholson are Gung ho LA cops. Samuel L. Jackson is Big Don a spastic druggie with some memorable lines, and Val Kilmer is Mentor (Elvis).

Ably directed by Tony Scott with beautiful cinematography by Jeffrey L. Kimball it also has a rather great soundtrack by Hans Zimmer which stitches all the segments nicely together.

In closing, True Romance is one of those films that prove that every once in a while Noir has a pulse. A fun flick with abundant eye candy which you can now rewatch via this lush 4K Blu-ray Steelbook Limited Edition. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the 4K DUAL FORMAT DELUXE STEELBOOK EDITION CONTENTS of:

New 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and the Director’s Cut from the original camera negatives by Arrow Films
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) and High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of both cuts
Limited Edition SteelBook housed in Deluxe rigid packaging, both with newly commissioned artwork by Sam Gilbey
60-page perfect-bound collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kim Morgan and Nicholas Clement, a 2008 Maxim oral history featuring interviews with cast and crew, and Edgar Wright’s 2012 eulogy for Tony Scott
Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Gilbey
Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
Coming Home In A Body Bag poster newly illustrated by Matthew Griffin
Hollywood postcard illustrated by Raffi Antounian, originally commissioned for True Romance Fest
“Clarence/Alabama” tattoo design sticker
Original uncompressed stereo audio and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Audio commentary by director Tony Scott
Audio commentary by writer Quentin Tarantino
Audio commentary by stars Christian Slater & Patricia Arquette
Audio commentary by critic Tim Lucas
Select scene commentaries by stars Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt and Michael Rapaport
Brand new select scene commentary by stars Bronson Pinchot and Saul Rubinek
New interview with costume designer Susan Becker
New interview with co-editor Michael Tronick
New interview with co-composers Mark Mancina and John Van Tongeren
New interview with Larry Taylor, author of Tony Scott: A Filmmaker on Fire
Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Tony Scott
Alternate ending with optional commentaries by Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino
Electronic press kit featurettes, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Tony Scott, Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper and Gary Oldman
Trailers and TV spots
Image galleries

www.MVDvisual.com





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