There have only been a few directors other than Quentin Tarantino himself who has tackled one of his scripts. There was Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers), Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn), and Tony Scott, who, in my opinion, stands at the top of the heap. While those other films are certainly great in their own right, True Romance is a nearly perfect film. It’s an excellent swirl of what audiences expect from Tarantino, as well as Scott. Tarantino was riding high on the moderate success of Reservoir Dogs when he sold his True Romance script, which would become his first major motion picture.
Tarantino was happy with the final product, and Scott stayed relatively true to the original script. There were a few minor changes, most notably that Tarantino’s version was told in a non-linear style, which has essentially become a part of his style. The final film was much more linear. Arrow Video once again proves why they’re the big dogs in the boutique label market and have released a stunning 4K UltraHD set with an amazing amount of extras.
For the few who have never seen it, True Romance tells the story of Clarence Worley (Christian Slater), who works in a comic book store and is about to celebrate his birthday alone at a Sonny Chiba triple feature. He wasn’t expecting to meet anyone, but Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) walks into his life. The two instantly fell in love, and it only took them 24 hours to tie the knot. It isn’t exactly the perfect honeymoon when they find themselves on the run with a bag full of cocaine and a dead drug-dealing pimp left in their wake. The plan is to head out to California, sell the drugs, and live happily ever after, but with all these people on their tails, maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
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I’ll keep the actual review of the film brief; True Romance has aged incredibly well. It’s still a tightly-wound action thriller with a whirlwind romance at the center of its tale. It’s hysterically funny at times, gut-wrenching, and even thrilling. Every single cast member brilliantly captures their character and delivers the dialogue with that particular rhythm that audiences have come to expect from a Tarantino script.
Slater and Arquette are a perfect on-screen match, and from the first few moments after they meet, you immediately want them to succeed in whatever adventure they’re about to embark on. Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Michael Rapaport, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, and Tom Sizemore are just a few of the massive names associated with this impressive cast. After all these years, True Romance has held up incredibly well, unscathed by the passage of time.
Arrow Video painstakingly did 4K restorations of both the theatrical and unrated versions of the film from the original camera negatives. It really shows just how much time and effort was put into this restoration since the picture is just ridiculously crisp and colorful. The sound, when listened to through the proper home theater, really thumps the chest and draws you deeper into the film.
The disc is loaded with extras, but most of them have been seen in previous releases. The packaging is beautiful, with newly-commissioned artwork from Sara Deck. The set includes a great 60-page, perfect-bound collector’s booklet, with new writing on the film by Kim Morgan and Nicholas Clement; a 2008 history from Maxim with interviews from the cast and crew; and Edgar Wright’s eulogy for Tony Scott. There’s also a set of six double-sided postcard-sized lobby card reproductions. I wouldn’t waste any time running out and grabbing this bonafide modern classic in 4K UltraHD.
