Stars:
Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman,
Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Michael Rapaport, Samuel L. Jackson, Saul
Rubineck, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Bronson Pinchot, James Gandolfini, Victor
Argo, Paul Bates, Frank Adonis, Paul Ben-Victor, Gregory Sporleder, and Maria
Pitillo
Writer:
Quentin Tarantino
Director:
Tony Scott
Feature
length: 121 minutes
Extras:
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Stars Christian Slater and Patricia
Arquette, Feature Length Audio Commentary With Director Tony Scott, Feature
Length Audio Commentary With Writer Quentin Tarantino, Feature Length
Director’s Storyboard Commentary Comparison, Deleted and Extended Scenes With
Optional Director Commentary, Alternate Ending With Optional Director’s and
Optional Writer’s Commentary Tracks, Selective Commentaries With Dennis
Hopper, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, and Michael Rapaport, Animated Photo Gallery,
Vintage 1993 Featurette With Bonus Behind-The-Scenes Footage, Theatrical
Trailer, TV Spots, Cast & Crew Film Highlights, Bonus Trailers
DVD-ROM
Extras: Screenplay Viewer With Storyboards, Original Production Notes, and Web
Links
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound, and Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Two-Disc Gatefold Within A Cardboard Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 34
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and
Dolby Surround 2.0
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1993/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Well
I have to say that I have friends who told me that their favorite Quentin
Tarantino film was “True Romance” and I find it ironic because he did not
direct it. However the fusion between the stylized slick and smoky look Director
Tony Scott puts into his films and Quentin Tarantino’s witty writing make for
perhaps the best film with a screenplay written by Tarantino, but not directed
by Tarantino. As Tarantino film fans and DVD buyers already know, there have
already been three two-disc DVD-Video sets released in the last six weeks with
Warner Home Video’s “True Romance: Unrated Director’s Cut: Two-Disc
Special Edition” being the fourth and final release this year as Tarantino’s
new film “Kill Bill” goes through production even as I am writing this DVD
review.
You
know I have to say that after watching and reviewing the recent releases of
“Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Jackie Brown,” I feel that I
see his work in a whole different light and watching “True Romance” was
suddenly a very different experience because in hindsight as I look back at the
films and everything these great sets include I not only see the little nuances
more than just the obvious visual or dialogue that has appeared in his other
films, but I see the connections in Tarantino’s style that exist and have
defined his career even with films where much of his voice has been
reinterpreted through another filmmaker’s eyes. “True Romance” is the best
Tarantino film he did not direct and I can see now nearly ten years later how
the film is essentially a young man’s fantasy where he meets this girl from
out of nowhere who likes everything he is into and inspires him into action and
together they go out into the sunset after having a bunch of dangerous
adventures and it is their true love for each other that ultimately enables them
to win out.
The
same basic story, which in itself is an archetype, is at the root of “Natural
Born Killers,” though there it is clear that the subtext of that theme has
been manipulated so that filmmaker Oliver Stone can present what he feels is
important for the film to say to an audience. Now I like “Natural Born
Killers” and consider it more of an Oliver Stone film than a film that
ultimately was so changed that Tarantino only has a story credit, but even there
regardless of whether or not you like that film, it cannot be denied that under
all of the various filmmaking techniques that might as well be a reel of footage
used for a mass “Clockwork Orange” on a global scale, Tarantino’s voice as
a writer is clearly at the center of the film. I could go on with comparisons,
but this a DVD review and not an academic paper so I’ll get on with it.
While
this is being distributed by Warner Home Video, Morgan Creek, the company that
produced the film, has taken an aggressive stance to make sure that this DVD
reflects the company’s interest in their catalogue, which Warner distributes.
The result is that we get a DTS soundtrack on a Warner Brothers brand DVD that I
have not seen since the first three “Lethal Weapon” films as “Director’s
Cut” DVD-Videos and the re-releases of “Interview With The Vampire” and
“Twister.” Well since I started out with mentioning the DVD features a DTS
option, I will note that both the English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Soundtrack
and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks are brand new mixes made especially
for this DVD release and are clearly superior to the previous single disc
release from a few years back with both giving home theater audio system owners
a true surround experience with discreet use of the voices, music, and sound
effects instead of just a meshing of bits of everything all around. The DTS
soundtrack benefits from an edgier quality, but both are simply great. An
English Dolby Surround Soundtrack is also included along with English Captions
and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language
Subtitles encoded on to the dual layered DVD as options. The picture is a crisp
and clear anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio that is as impressive as
the new soundtrack mixes and preserves the film’s cinemascope theatrical
exhibition presentation.
The
DVD also features three separate feature length audio commentary tracks. I
listened to them in reverse, because I was surprised that Tarantino actually sat
down and recorded a commentary track for a DVD because I had heard that just was
not something he was into, and the comments on the “Reservoir Dogs” DVD
commentary track do not count because those are just excerpts from a videotaped
interview that appears in that set that has been mixed into the commentary of
others who were interviewed for that release, but not a true case where the
person actually went into a studio to record a commentary specifically for the
DVD. Well believe it or else, Tarantino actually did record the commentary track
at the request of “Morgan Creek” and he does a damn good job. For a guy who
has a reputation of being able to talk about things for hours, he should do more
commentaries for his films in the future because not only is he very
conversational, but he is actually very articulate without talking down to the
listener and without talking down to himself with a four letter word in every
other sentence, which was a complaint I had about his interview that appears on
“Reservoir Dogs.” Everyone curses and I grew up in and live in Brooklyn, New
York so believe me when I state I have heard my share of curses, but honestly it
is not the vulgar quality that disturbs me, it is just that after awhile when a
person curses too much, I think it dilutes their quality of being and what they
are trying to get across. I mean, how would you react if you went to get a
physical at your Doctor’s office and he or she turns around and says, “Okay,
take off your fucking clothes and get your ass on the fucking scale so I can
check you weight?” It sounds funny, but believe me it would seem crazy if it
actually happened
Try
going into a restaurant and order from a menus with a few “what’s this shit
and give me fucking that” and I guarantee you and whoever you are talking to
will start to get uncomfortable. At least here Tarantino remains true to himself
without selling himself short verbally and I applaud his restraint for this
commentary, which is also the best of the three on the first disc. Tarantino
discusses the film’s structure versus the screenplay structure and how
Scott’s interpretation complete with the ending change worked for Scott’s
interpretation of the material as seen on film.
Director
Tony Scott give an insightful and screen specific commentary that reveals just
how much he loved the film, he loved the characters, the actors, and his
retrospective pride for the film. What is surprising with this commentary as
well as all the others in this set is that they are all consistent so when you
here some anecdote from one speaker about what happened with another, it is
amazing to hear that the stories match up to a point where there are no
exaggerations. For example, Scott mentions using the “persuader” to help
Patricia Arquette cry in certain scenes and I thought to myself, “yeah
right,” but she mentions it in her commentary with Slater, which is the most
retrospective since both of them were in their young 20s or thereabouts when
making this film and now Slater has kids, etc. All three commentaries are great
and obviously offer something because of the different perspectives, but like I
have mentioned above, this is really the first time where so many people
speaking in separate recording sessions about something they worked on nearly
ten years ago where the stories match with no discrepancies. One can also watch
the film with or without any of the commentaries running and at the same time
view Tony Scott’s storyboards on the lower right hand corner for comparison.
Windows based PC users with a DVD-ROM drive and Internet access also have access
to a screenplay viewer with storyboards, original production notes, and web
links.
There
are select commentaries with Dennis Hopper (11.14), Val Kilmer (4.08), Brad Pitt
(5.53), and Michael Rapaport with the lengthiest screen specific and quite
humorous commentary running nearly 35-minutes. Director Tony Scott provides an
optional commentary track for 11 (2.35:1) deleted and extended scenes that can
be viewed individually or as one long 29-minute reel and he has also
reconstructed the film’s original ending and provides an optional commentary
track as does Tarantino. All I can say is that the scenes look and sound good
and I’m glad viewers can see them, but I think he made the right decision not
only in cutting the deleted scenes, one of which features an early role for Jack
Black, but as Tarantino phrases it, Tony Scott gave the film the correct ending
for the film he made, but if Tarantino had directed it with the structure non
linear, then things would have been different. I think the reason why perhaps
that this is the most popular Tarantino film that Tarantino did not direct is
exactly because Scott was able to remain true to the dialogue and story, but
present it in such a way that it comes off more as a fantasy or fairytale of
sorts than something a bit more grittier and non-linear, but none the less
stylized in it’s own way like Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp
Fiction.”
There
is an interactive behind-the-scenes featurette on disc two where when a heart
icon appears, one can simply press it to get additional behind the scenes
footage with Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, and Christopher Walken, the roller
coaster scene, the standoff, and more totaling in approximately 15-minutes or so
of extra videotaped behind-the-scenes footage on top of the 5-minutes and
35-seconds of the featurette itself. The original 5-minute EPK is also included
along an animated photo gallery of publicity shots, select cast and filmmaker
credit highlights, the (1.85:1) theatrical trailer, two full screen TV spots,
and bonus trailers for other Morgan Creek films distributed by Warner Brothers,
which include (1.85:1) trailers for “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The In
Crowd,” and “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.” (2.35:1) trailers for
“Chill Factor,” and “Young Guns II,” and a (1.85:1) trailer for
“American Outlaws” with a full English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack
wrap up the extra features included within this set. The packaging comes in an
attractive cardboard slipcase with the shiny signature tattoo from the film and
contains the two discs in a foldout digipack style container.
The
menus are fully animated on both discs with animated transitions and feature
full motion scene selections for the feature as well as the deleted and extended
scenes and even the bonus trailers and all of the interactive menus on both
discs are easy to navigate.
As
a whole, Warner Brothers and Morgan Creek’s “True Romance: Unrated
Director’s Cut: Two-Disc Special Edition” is the most definitive
presentation of the movie I have ever seen on home video ever. This is a must
own for fans of the film as well as Tarantino film buffs. “True Romance:
Unrated Director’s Cut: Two-Disc Special Edition” will debut on DVD-Video on
Tuesday, September 24, 2002 from Warner Home Video. This is a perfect match for
Artisan Home Entertainment’s “Reservoir
Dogs: Ten Years: Special Edition DVD 2-Disc Set” and Miramax Home
Entertainment’s “Pulp Fiction:
Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set” and “Jackie
Brown: Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set,” which are all available at
retailers on and offline. Complete your collection and buy them all!
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Read The DVD Review Of "Jackie Brown: Collector's Edition 2-Disc Set"
Read The DVD Review Of "Pulp Fiction: Collector's Edition 2-Disc Set"
Read The DVD Review Of "Reservoir Dogs: Ten Years: Special Edition DVD 2-Disc Set"