'True Romance' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Drew has reviewed 'True Romance.' He says this is one of his favorites. This Blu-ray has somewhat problematic video, more impressive audio, and some fun, but somewhat dated extras. Still, fans will want to pick this one up, since they've probably never seen the movie looking better than it does here. Recommended.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2128/trueromance.html

[horrorbusiness]

Man it's too bad the PQ isn't great on this. I really wanted to upgrade my DVD to Blu on this and I'm sure I will end up doing it anyway, it just sucks they didn't do a good job with this.

[mrdario64]

This a great movie in its uncut form. Drew stated that he was unsure as to the differences between the unrated and theatrical version. The cuts were massive, and altered the ending of the movie. Below, taken from melonfarmers.co.uk, are the cuts.

CONTAINS SPOILERS AND STRONG LANGUAGE

Spoiler:

1. Drug deal in motel room: cut: several violent shots missing and dialogue about "eating p***y". Also cut Samuel Jackson telling Floyd that if he smokes enough sherm he'll be up there suckin' n***ers d**ks.
2. Clearance's murder of Drexl: cut: some preamble and several shots including the bullet hitting Drexl in the groin.
3. Hit man Virgil beating up Alabama in hotel room: major cuts: After 1st blow, 47secs cut Alabama gestures to Virgil that she will tell him where the coke is, Virgil approaches and Alabama spits at him. In response Virgil punches her in the stomach. Shots of Alabama observing her bruised body whilst lying on the floor are deleted.The scene ends on video when Alabama kills Virgil with her 1st shot. The original has her shooting 4 more times and then beating his dead body with the gun.
4. Shootout at the hotel: heavily cut: numerous shots of bodies riddled with bullets along with the dialogue "Take your f***ing SA card and burn it you little c*******er". Most notably the shot of Alabama killing the cop has been replaced by a Mafioso doing the dirty deed. Clearly it was felt that the heroine should not kill anyone and get away with it.

Pretty major I think you'll agree.

[CaptainArcher]

Originally Posted by horrorbusiness

Man it's too bad the PQ isn't great on this. I really wanted to upgrade my DVD to Blu on this and I'm sure I will end up doing it anyway, it just sucks they didn't do a good job with this.

Remember not to take everything you read here in reviews to heart... the pic quality on this imo is easily a 4 out of 5.

[joeymac]

(even if these stars seem somewhat faded today, think of their wattage back in 1993)

Errrr not much wattage in 1993 actually... the wattage has gone up by several orders of magnitude.

Patricia Arquette - Nobody, her sister was the famous one then.
Val Kilmer - Meaningless for marketing the film due to the fact you never see him
Michael Rapaport - Nobody
Tom Sizemore - Nobody... pre Heat, Strange Days, Natural Born Killers, Wyatt Earp
Brad Pitt - Semi nobody/Bit part actor or "that guy from Thelma and Louise" and Kalifornia had only just come out that same month
James Gandolfini - Nobody
Samuel L. Jackson - Nobody.. bit part actor.

Christian Slater - Yes
Dennis Hopper - Yes.. however he had just done the Super Mario Bros earlier that year
Bronson Pinchot - Meh.. not exactly a box draw is he.
Chris Penn - Meh.. again not a box office draw
Christopher Walken - Yes

So basically the film was ridding off the back of Christian "Kuffs" Slater.. he hadn't fully shed his younger 80's persona.

[CaptainArcher]

Thats funny.. I thought his name was Christian "I'm trying to channel Jack Nicholson" Slater..

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by CaptainArcher

Remember not to take everything you read here in reviews to heart... the pic quality on this imo is easily a 4 out of 5.

For what it's worth, I'm right there with the reviewer--3 out of 5 stars for image. It's been DNR'd and is missing too much intended grit to the image. Blows both prior SD-DVDs out of the water, though...

[CriticalMass]

To quote from the review:
"Couldn't Warner Brothers have put up the money to strike a new transfer from a fresh print and really make this Blu-ray release an event for its legion of fans, instead of giving us this sloppy, half-assed rehash?"

But that's what Warner's do! I seem to be in the minority, but I find most of Warner's catalog releases to be of very average quality. And yet we must endure the ranting of impatient fanboys who demand to know why Heat isn't coming out before Catwoman. I would rather wait two years for a transfer to be created with care and passion as the main drive, as opposed to budgets and deadlines.

[Emoney7]

One of the best True Romance reviews I have read. Definitely a great flick, couldn't agree more. One of my fav flicks of all time.

The feather scene at the end though I will say is a nod to John Woo's HK movies ( A Better Tommorrow, Hard Boiled, The Killer). I got the nod, but for some people I guess it would feel a bit much (my girlfriend got a laugh out of it).

The PQ IMO isn't that bad, honestly I think the softness is part of the photography. But it looked pretty good for me, best I have ever seen it.

I really need to dig through these bonus features, QT commentary sounds good.

My one complaint is the cover, the Special Edition cover is soooo badass. And this cover is sooo generic and lame. which leads me to believe their will Probably be a double dip.....

[RoadLizard]

Originally Posted by joeymac

Errrr not much wattage in 1993 actually... the wattage has gone up by several orders of magnitude.

Patricia Arquette - Nobody, her sister was the famous one then.
Val Kilmer - Meaningless for marketing the film due to the fact you never see him
Michael Rapaport - Nobody
Tom Sizemore - Nobody... pre Heat, Strange Days, Natural Born Killers, Wyatt Earp
Brad Pitt - Semi nobody/Bit part actor or "that guy from Thelma and Louise" and Kalifornia had only just come out that same month
James Gandolfini - Nobody
Samuel L. Jackson - Nobody.. bit part actor.

Christian Slater - Yes
Dennis Hopper - Yes.. however he had just done the Super Mario Bros earlier that year
Bronson Pinchot - Meh.. not exactly a box draw is he.
Chris Penn - Meh.. again not a box office draw
Christopher Walken - Yes

So basically the film was ridding off the back of Christian "Kuffs" Slater.. he hadn't fully shed his younger 80's persona.

Interestingly, many of the "stars" listed there are now complete turds and are being cast in off-night NBC shows. Funny how it wll works out, huh?

As for the film itself.... I had never seen it before and watched it with my neighbor. I couldnt stand it. Obnoxious & adolescently charged to the max and how can you not want to kill Christian Slater? Worst. Actor. Ever.

Glad the blu-ray at least came out. It gives hope to other titles to come out on BD.

[BostonMA]

Originally Posted by joeymac

Errrr not much wattage in 1993 actually... the wattage has gone up by several orders of magnitude.

Patricia Arquette - Nobody, her sister was the famous one then.
Val Kilmer - Meaningless for marketing the film due to the fact you never see him
Michael Rapaport - Nobody
Tom Sizemore - Nobody... pre Heat, Strange Days, Natural Born Killers, Wyatt Earp
Brad Pitt - Semi nobody/Bit part actor or "that guy from Thelma and Louise" and Kalifornia had only just come out that same month
James Gandolfini - Nobody
Samuel L. Jackson - Nobody.. bit part actor.

Christian Slater - Yes
Dennis Hopper - Yes.. however he had just done the Super Mario Bros earlier that year
Bronson Pinchot - Meh.. not exactly a box draw is he.
Chris Penn - Meh.. again not a box office draw
Christopher Walken - Yes

So basically the film was ridding off the back of Christian "Kuffs" Slater.. he hadn't fully shed his younger 80's persona.

how can both you and the reviewer nate not add in gary oldman, who was arguably the biggest actor then with already completing sid and nancy, state of grace, dracula, and jfk. his performance was a great example of method acting at it's finest, all of my friends who only know him from batman and maybe harry potter laughed and thought it was crazy when i told them that he plays a pimp in this. the scene where he asks for the shotgun by saying "pass me the burna" and winking was incredible. also the actors that werent big back then like kilmer, sizemore, gandolphini, sljackson, and even pitt make it that much more of a cult film today with there status now.

[vikingfan]

Originally Posted by RoadLizard

Interestingly, many of the "stars" listed there are now complete turds and are being cast in off-night NBC shows. Funny how it wll works out, huh?

Since they can easily buy and sell haters such as yourself, I guess it worked out fine.

[Out_for_Justice]

Originally Posted by BostonMA

how can both you and the reviewer nate not add in gary oldman, who was arguably the biggest actor then with already completing sid and nancy, state of grace, dracula, and jfk. his performance was a great example of method acting at it's finest, all of my friends who only know him from batman and maybe harry potter laughed and thought it was crazy when i told them that he plays a pimp in this. the scene where he asks for the shotgun by saying "pass me the burna" and winking was incredible. also the actors that werent big back then like kilmer, sizemore, gandolphini, sljackson, and even pitt make it that much more of a cult film today with there status now.

I agree with BostonMA 100%, not mentioning Oldman is a ridiculous oversight. (Especially after something as excellent as State of Grace)

True Romance is solid but nowhere near a 4 1/2 out of 5 star film, it's pure entertainment and not much more. Regardless, Gandolfini, Walken, Oldman Hopper and Kilmer all have classic roles. Their characters alone make it worth owning.

[Emoney7]

Originally Posted by RoadLizard

Interestingly, many of the "stars" listed there are now complete turds and are being cast in off-night NBC shows. Funny how it wll works out, huh?

As for the film itself.... I had never seen it before and watched it with my neighbor. I couldnt stand it. Obnoxious & adolescently charged to the max and how can you not want to kill Christian Slater? Worst. Actor. Ever.

Glad the blu-ray at least came out. It gives hope to other titles to come out on BD.

Coming from a middle aged man that loves Twilight. Thats classic.

I wonder what other great movie thread you're going to come in and spout inane nonsense at, guess I'll see you there.

[knuckles]

Yeah, I picked this up before reading any reviews just because I was excited to own it on Blu.

It's not the most regrettable upgrade I've ever made but, had I seen the reviews or the PQ itself, I would've saved my money for a more deserving title.

I'd already conceded to the fact that the packaging is dismal even compared to the bare-bones SD release a decade ago, let alone to the fantastic 2 disc SD already on the market.

In my formative years as a budding film geek, I really fell in love with this film. I was way too young to realize it was kinda cobbled together from other, better films and was enamored with the violence, dialogue and, yes, true romance of it all.

So many years later, it's weaknesses are more evident but it's strengths are still there.. Walken and Hoppers scene in the trailer is not only one of Tarantino's finest moments, Hopper and Walken's as well. In fact, nearly everyone delivers a larger-than-life performance in this film without seeming distracting or obnoxious (special shout out to Gary Oldman, of course)

It really does seem like Tarantino's screenplay is a bit at odd's with Tony Scott's direction... their sensibilities, while easily appreciative of each other, are a bit at odds and there are plenty of times where Scott's overly slick bombast and lack of subtlety seems dangerously close to ruining what a great, sweet, violent world Tarantino has created.