... True romance didn't feel to me as if it was in the same style of either of these films, rather a balance of the 2. BHC2 is lighthearted & easy going & the fan is much darker and brooding. The mixture of these 2 without slipping over to comedy action film is what i feel you get with True Romance
Conclusion
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What ... Read review
Robbie Coltrane stars as Fitz, a brilliant but flawed, wise-cracking criminal psychologist ... more
who looks behind the evidence of murder to discover what lies within the criminal mind.Fitz takes some teaching work at the University, where he begins receiving love letters. Janice, a lab technician, is the writer of the letters and in her depression begins murdering male students lured into her room. The police want to take Fitz off the case as they understand that the murderer is writing to, and killing, for him.Janice changes tack and lures Fitz's son to her flat, but when the police catch her, she is alone. With Mark Fitzgerald's life in jeopardy, Fitz must use all his powers of interrogation in finding his son before it's too late.
When inexperienced call girl Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) is paid to seduce ... more
comic-book-nerd and Elvis fanatic Clarence Worley (Christian Slater), she doesn't expect to fall for him. But these two lost souls seem to be made for each other and quickly pledge their love, marrying at Detroit's city hall. Clarence discovers some newfound bravado and attempts to retrieve Alabama's possessions from her pimp, Drexl (Gary Oldman), who isn't exactly eager to let Alabama go. Fleeing Drexl's apartment, Clarence not only leaves a trail of bodies, but also inadvertently mistakes a suitcase of uncut cocaine for one with his wife's clothing, and the chase is on. The unlikely newlyweds head for Los Angeles hoping to sell the cocaine and make enough money to leave the country. Unfortunately, they also have to contend with the mob, yuppie drug dealers and the police. Michael Rapaport is amusing as Clarence's best friend who lives with Floyd, a stoner played by Brad Pitt. A sedate Dennis Hopper appears as Clarence's father, who ultimately faces off with mob boss Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken). Director Tony Scott (CRIMSON TIDE, ENEMY OF THE STATE) does justice to the violence and quirkiness of Quentin Tarantino's second feature film script.
In 'True Romance', two lovers (Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) are thrust into a ... more
dangerous game of high-stakes negotiations and high-speed adventure. The pair come into unexpected possession of a suitcase of mob contraband. They flee to Los Angeles, where they'll sell the goods and begin a new life. But both sides of the law have other ideas.Written by Quentin Tarantino ('Pulp Fiction', 'Jackie Brown'), True Romance takes a hip and hard-edged look at a contemporary incarnation of the American dream. Tony Scott ('Top Gun', ''Crimson Tide, 'Enemy Of The State') directs an outstanding cast in an explosive mix of wit and action that is a truly unforgettable film experience.
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Advantages: very quotable, a gallery of stars Disadvantages: a slow paced 10 minutes at the start
...emotions and develops into a true gangsters moll by the end of the film, showing guts and determination sticking by her 'true love'. She has some great 'white trash' outfits to wear during the film which look great paired with Slater's wannebe Elvis look.
Hopper, for a change, doesn't play a nutter! he's very calm and mild. Outstanding performance playing against type for once.
Rappaport(dick ritchie), really bugs me ... ...& Beverly hills cop 2. True romance didn't feel to me as if it was in the same style of either of these films, rather a balance of the 2. BHC2 is lighthearted & easy going & the fan is much darker and brooding. The mixture of these 2 without slipping over to comedy action film is what i feel you get with True Romance
Conclusion
----------------
What is basically a road movie (often compared to Badlands) ... more
Outline ----------
Clarence Worley works in a comic shop, his life is turned upside down when he meets Alabama, falls in love and marries her on an impulse, accidentally steals her pimps cocaine and ends up on the run in Hollywood trying to sell it and escape to a better life.
Plot in detail -----------------
Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) works in a comic shop in Detroit. He is a quiet guy, son of an alcoholic ex-cop, divorced parents, Elvis fanatic, he lives a simple life working to make ends meet & never getting into trouble.
He spends his birthday alone every year at the cinema watching kung fu movies & this year is no exception except for a surprise his boss has planned for him. When he settles into his seat a girl(Alabama / Patricia Arquette) accidentally spills popcorn on him as a way to introduce herself. They watch the movie together & it turns into a date,they hit it off immediately & the evening ends with her staying over at his place.
She finally admits to him that she was paid to be there by his boss & that it is only her 2nd job. He realises that he has fallen for her & the next time we see them they are coming out of the registry office, married. After a brief discussion Clarence decides that he is going to visit Alabama's pimp Drexel to reclaim her clothes, while Alabama frets Clarence is psyching himself up in the bathroom and talking to an imaginary Elvis character (at this point you have to question how sane both Clarence is & director Tony Scott as the Elvis is played by Val Kilmer but you never actually see his face)
Clarence gets to Drexls 'club' and tells him he is taking Alabama away, naturally Drexel isn't happy about this and a fight ensues. Clarence is beaten to a pulp but at the last minute manages to shoot Drexl(Gary Oldman) and his henchman Marty. After the noise & violence the girls in the club pass Clarence the first suitcase that comes to hand, rushing to get him out of the way as soon as possible.
The suitcase is full of drugs, not clothes.The drugs belong to Blue Lou boyle, a gangland boss who Drexl worked for sometimes, a very dangerous man.
Clarence visits his father(Dennis hopper) for help, using his police contacts he finds out that the police have no idea who killed Drexl so they head off to Hollywood hoping to use Clarence's friend Richies contacts in the film business to sell the drugs.
Vincenzo Coccotti ( Christopher Walken) is Blue Lou Boyles counsel, he tracks down Clarence because he left his driving licence at the scene and violently interrogates Clarence's dad, finding out where they went in the process -the hunt is now on.
Once they get to Hollywood they struggle to find someone to buy the coke as Dick isn't as connected as Clarence thought he would be. They give a sample to one of his friends, Elliot Blitzer(Bronson Pinchot) from acting class so he can pass it on to a director friend, Lee Dimwits(Saul Rubinek), but unfortunately he gets busted the next day.
To save his neck he sell them out to the cops & agrees to wear a wire when the deal goes down.Meanwhile, the gangsters, led by Virgil( a slim James gandolfini from the Sopranos) are closing in on them, no thanks to Dicks stoned flatmate Floyd (a hilarious Brad Pitt).
The final scene is the drug deal, everything seems to be going well until the gangsters & the police burst into the room at the same time. Lee realises that Elliot has turned him in and his anger triggers shooting, lots of shooting.
I won't spoil the ending but lots of people die at this stage
Opinions ------------
Let me start by saying I love this film. I saw it a couple of years after its release and bought it immediately, watching it 4 nights in a row.I have now owned 4 different copies of it as more versions are released and never tire of seeing more and more extras.
The cast - How many stars! Slater gives his usual cheeky Jack Nicholsonesque performance & fits the role perfectly (thank god it wasn't Nicolas cage!) Arquette works her way through a range of emotions and develops into a true gangsters moll by the end of the film, showing guts and determination sticking by her 'true love'. She has some great 'white trash' outfits to wear during the film which look great paired with Slater's wannebe Elvis look.
Hopper, for a change, doesn't play a nutter! he's very calm and mild. Outstanding performance playing against type for once.
Rappaport(dick ritchie), really bugs me but the script needed him as a bumbling try hard actor & with his inability to connect them with a buyer.
I found it hilarious that Val Kilmer was cast as the mentor/Elvis who eggs Clarence on to commit violent acts throughout the film, apparently spending 8 hours in make-up he was only filming for 2 days of the whole shoot.
Gary Oldman -what can I say! Love him, he play psycho's so well & Drexl, the dreadlocked pimp who thinks he is black is no exception. Make up completely transformed him into an evil looking monster and he certainly played up to the part. When he first meets Clarence & Clarence ignores his surroundings,spending all his time 'clocking' Drexl he says - "Now I know I'm pretty, but I ain't as pretty as a couple of titties." . This is one man I wouldnt want to meet in a dark alley.
That's just one example Tarantino's typically amazing dialogue. Some other favourites are
A stoned Floyd, after the gangsters have finished questioning him & left - " don't condescend me man, I'll fuckin kill ya,man" like he was in any fit state to hurt anyone
There is a whole scene of excellent dialogue when Walken interrogates Hopper, but this line creases me up. Hopper says" You know, I read a lot. Especially about history. I find that shit fascinating. Here's a fact I don't know whether you know or not. Sicilians were spawned by niggers. Coccotti: Come again?"
Nicholson (Tom Sizemore), one of the cops interrogating Elliot when they have just caught him with the coke - "you're no longer an extra or a supporting actor, you're a fucking star. You are a fucking star. And you are going to be playing your one-man show for the next two fucking years for a captive audience." Elliot falls to pieces at this and starts crying that he doesn't want to go to prison, soon after he agrees to wear a wire to the drug deal.
Donowitz the director discussing suggestions for a sequel to his award winning Vietnam film, someone suggest 'body bags 2", his response is "Oooo, that's imaginative. I've got more taste in my penis. "
Elliot is with the cops before the deal & test that the wire is working correctly -"hi, Im Elliot, Im with the boy scouts of America and were selling uncut cocaine so that we can go to the jamboree"
I could go on forever.........
The deleted scenes are really worth watching as they fill in a couple of , well, not plot holes but gaps in the script and it makes some of the characters make a bit more sense.For example, early in the film Drexl steals the coke from a crack house and kills everyone there, the dialogue in the scene doesn't make a great deal of sense unless you watch the longer version.
I'm not really a fan of commentaries but one fills in lots of background information about the film which I had got a taste of after reading peter biskinds down and dirty in pictures, a book I would recommend if you're interested in the rise of the independent directors such as Tarentino.
As for Tony Scott, I have only seen 2 of his films before, The fan with Deniro & Beverly hills cop 2. True romance didn't feel to me as if it was in the same style of either of these films, rather a balance of the 2. BHC2 is lighthearted & easy going & the fan is much darker and brooding. The mixture of these 2 without slipping over to comedy action film is what i feel you get with True Romance
Conclusion ----------------
What is basically a road movie (often compared to Badlands) is pepped up by an amazing supporting cast of actors & amazing dialogue. The original script was split in 2 and the other part of it became Natural born killers, I imagine this would originally have been planned as the later stages of their story as they were chased by the police.The soundtrack is spot on, the pace is perfect, except maybe for a slow 10 minutes at the start. It would be difficult to choose a favourite scene as they are all amazing but if I ever try to convince someone to watch this I always show them the Hopper / Walken interrogation scene.
If you haven't seen this yet your romance obviously isn't with action/drama,
Extras --------- commentary by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. commentary by director Tony Scott. commentary by writer Quentin Tarantino. storyboard track allows you to access the director's storyboards while watching the film. Web-enabled screenplay viewer with storyboards, original production notes and web links. 30 minutes of deleted scenes with optional director commentary. Alternative ending. Selective commentaries with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt and Michael Rapaport. behind-the-scenes featurette. Animated photo gallery. Theatrical trailer.
Cast -------- Clarence Worley -Christian Slater (heathers) Alabama Whitman / Worley -Patricia Arquette (lost highway) Clifford Worley -Dennis Hopper (red rock west) Elvis-Val Kilmer (heat) Elliot Blitzer -Bronson Pinchot Drexl Spivey -Gary Oldman (leon) Floyd-Brad Pitt (seven) Vincenzo Coccotti -Christopher Walken (king of new York) Big Don -Samuel L. Jackson (pulp fiction) Dick Ritchie -Michael Rapaport (copland) Lee Donowitz -Saul Rubinek (unforgiven) Virgil -James Gandolfini (sopranos)
Other Info -------------
Also known as Breakaway Released 1993 Director - Tony Scott (the fan, Beverley hills cop 2) Written by Quentin Tarantino (pulp fiction, kill bill) Tagline - Stealing, cheating, killing.Who said romance is dead? Rated 18 2 discs 116 minutes (1 hour 54 minutes) 5.1 Dolby digital / 2.0 Dolby surround 2.35:1 Widescreen Music by Hans Zimmer (The fan, The rock,Hannibal) Filmed in LA & Detroit Collectible Senitype - exclusive limited edition image from movie with 35mm film frame approx £5-£8 depending on which edition you choose
There are over 200 instances of the F word 21 deaths, so quite gory ( & nasty fight between Arquette & Gandolfini) In the crack house deleted scene Drexl shoots a dog
Films showing in the background ----------------------------------------------
Its often worth watching out for pop culture references in Tarantino films, I have picked up a couple of good movies from watching this.
Before Worley goes to get Alabamas clothes back she is watching John Woo's Better tomorrow 2. I liked the idea of gangsters using swords & guns so i bought it, I wasn't disappointed.
When Worley meets Drexl 'The Mack' with richord prior & max Julian is playing in the background. Again this is a great film I am glad I bought on the back of watching this film.
When Worley is in the cinema at the start of the film he is watching a triple bill of streetfighter films, this led me to buy 8 sonny Chiba (who had his career resurrected by Tarantino in the Kill Bill films) films which are amazing, check them out if your'e a fan of martial arts films. As Clarence says - "Well, he ain't so much a good guy as he is just a bad mother fucker. I mean, he gets paid by people to fuck guys up"
Soundtrack ----------------
"Graceland" by Charlie Sexton opening
"In Dreams" by John Waite After the cinema while they are getting to know each other, eating pie in a cafe
"Wounded Bird" by Charles & Eddie Love scene at the start
"White Wedding" by Billy Idol In the tattoo parlour while Alabama is having Clarence tattooed on her arm, This is where she first mentions Drexl
"Skinny (They Can't Get Enough)" by The Skinny Boys Drexl scene when he raids the crack house
"Heartbreak Hotel" Performed by Val Kilmer In the bathroom while he is talking to Clarence
"I Want Your Body" by Nymphomania Clarence & drexl fighting in his club
"Outshined" by Soundgarden
"I Need A Heart To Come Home To" by Shelby Lynne
"Chantilly Lace" by Big Bopper In a phone booth half way to Hollywood after Clarence has called his friend Dick Ritchie to tell him they're coming.
"Sous le dôme épais où le blanc jasmin" from opera "Lakmé" Act 2, No 2 Duetto Composed by Léo Delibes
"The Other Side" by Aerosmith As they arrive in LA in Clarence's Caddy
"Everybody Loves Somebody" by Ken Lane
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles
"Raga Yaman" by Clem Alford
"(Love Is) A Tender Trap" by Robert Palmer when Elliot gets caught speeding and the traffic cop finds a huge baggie of uncut coke on him
"A Little Bitty Tear" by Burl Ives Clifford Worley is on his way home after work as a security guard
"All The Way" by Jerry DelMonico The meeting with Donowitz
earlofaldgate 12.05.2006 (11.03.2008)
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Review of True Romance (Box Set) (Classic Collection) (DVD, CD, Senitype And Booklet) (DVD)
Audio Commentary, Feature Length Storyboard Track, 11 Deleted And Extended Scenes With Optional Directors Commentary, Alternative Ending With Optional Directors Commentary, Animated Photo Gallery, Selective Commentaries, Vintage 1993 Production Featurette, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots, Cast And Crew Film Highlights
DVD Description
An amusing action story which follows two young lovers trying to stay alive in a violent world.
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