I've loved this film since it was first released, though I'm generally not a big fan of Tony Scott outside a few of his films (including THE LAST BOY SCOUT, which is a tremendous piece of work). I remember seeing TRUE ROMANCE on the big screen and then watching a bootleg VHS copy of the LaserDisc release of the unrated cut and marvelling at the violence (we got the US 'R' rated cut, with further cuts by the BBFC, for cinema release in the UK).
I revisited the film last week, with my wife - who, bizarrely, had never seen the film before. (I guess the last few times I watched it on Blu-ray must have been when she had already gone to bed.) The violence seems pretty tame now, but my wife's jaw hit the floor a number of times and she couldn't quite believe what she was watching: there's so much in this film, other than the violence, that I can't imagine a Hollywood film even attempting these days. The characterisations of Clarence and Alabama seem anathemical to modern sensibilities (ie, their nihilistic willingness to embrace violence; Alabama's description of Clarence's brutal killing of Drexl as 'so romantic'), Walken's cameo, Gandolfini's treatment of Alabama. There's something about Tony Scott's coverage of scenes that makes the editing seem very elliptical. (This is something I've observed in most of his films.) However, the secondary performances are great - Dennis Hopper, Saul Rubinek, Brad Pitt. The film stills feels fresh, and to my mind it's a shining example of early/mid-1990s Hollywood excess.
I revisited the film last week, with my wife - who, bizarrely, had never seen the film before. (I guess the last few times I watched it on Blu-ray must have been when she had already gone to bed.) The violence seems pretty tame now, but my wife's jaw hit the floor a number of times and she couldn't quite believe what she was watching: there's so much in this film, other than the violence, that I can't imagine a Hollywood film even attempting these days. The characterisations of Clarence and Alabama seem anathemical to modern sensibilities (ie, their nihilistic willingness to embrace violence; Alabama's description of Clarence's brutal killing of Drexl as 'so romantic'), Walken's cameo, Gandolfini's treatment of Alabama. There's something about Tony Scott's coverage of scenes that makes the editing seem very elliptical. (This is something I've observed in most of his films.) However, the secondary performances are great - Dennis Hopper, Saul Rubinek, Brad Pitt. The film stills feels fresh, and to my mind it's a shining example of early/mid-1990s Hollywood excess.
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