True Romance: Director's Cut (Blu-ray)

This movie, scripted by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Ridley's brother, is the sharply scripted, periodically funny, violent, and slightly romantic adventure of a comic store assistant and his hooker girlfriend as they accidentally acquire a case full of cocaine and subsequently try to offload it for enough money to relax with for a few years. It's a great film, possibly with an excess of bad language (but what do you expect from 90s Tarantino?), plenty of superbly memorable moments (Dennis Hopper's 'death scene' is a personal favourite of mine), and a plethora of cool performances throughout.

Contrary to what a couple of previous reviewers have said I can see no difference in the film between this UK Blu-ray and the US 'Director's cut' that I acquired on DVD 10 years ago. I think the misunderstanding occurs because this is the same cut that's been available in the UK for some time, therefore people assume this disc is not the director's cut. It's the full 121 minute version of the film and not the 113 minute re-edited monstrosity that we were forced to endure when it first appeared on home video in the 90s.

The Blu-ray transfer is not on par with modern films, however it does come across as film-like, frequently very colourful, and quite a bit more detailed than how it was represented on DVD. The darker scenes are murkier than I would like but I suspect this is a product of the source, not the transfer. The Dolby True HD track is much more alive than that of the DVD, although (as can be expected for a film of this vintage) there is not a massive amount going on in the surrounds. The disc looks and sounds very nice.

Three audio commentaries come from Tony Scott, Tarantino and others. The Tarantino track sounds very interesting from the portion I sampled so I'll be listening to that as soon as possible. There are plenty of deleted scenes and alternative endings too, generally with commentaries as options, plus a featurette - the disc is well padded with extras.

Overall I was very pleased to upgrade my old R1 DVD for this superior Blu-ray, especially at the very decent price it's currently available.

Quentin Tarantino did the screen-play for True Romance and Tony Scott directed, together they made one of the best films from the 1990's. The cast is amazing which includes "Christian Slater", "Dennis Hopper", "Val Kilmer", "Gary Oldman", "Brad Pitt", "Christopher Walken" and "Patricia Arquette". The story is very well written and as you would expect from all those top actors the acting is top notch.
Clarence who is played by "Slater" is on the run with Alabama (Patricia Arquette) from the mob because they have stolen a shed load of coke which they want to sell in L.A. Tony Scott directs at a fast pace with lots of gritty action and there is some witty humour. If you want to see a film with a brilliant story, cast and acting then True Romance really hits the sweet spot on so many different levels and the blu-ray transfar is very good too.

What a classic, enjoyed every minute of it.well worth adding to your blu ray collection,for an older film they have managed to get a descent hd picture and sound.slater and arquette are brilliant in this movie!

Slater has never been better and with a host of famous faces surrounding him, True Romance is unmissable.

A fantastic film in all parts. Beware that this is not the same as the Region 1 DVD "True Romance Unrated Director's Cut" or region 2 of the same title.