Quentin Tarantino's 'True Romance' gets a new 4K restoration

A sharp new trailer for True Romances’ 4K release from Arrow Video has been released, showing Tony Scott’s film, written by Quentin Tarantino, in its finest glory.

The first of two scripts that Quentin Tarantino wrote at the start of his career alongside Natural Born Killers, True Romance follows Christian Slater as Clarence, and Patricia Arquette as Alabama, a comic-book-nerd and an escort who fall in love then try to flog mountains of cocaine in Hollywood. One of Tarantino’s greatest ever projects, featuring an intimidating and unforgettable performance from Gary Oldman, Tony Scott stayed true to the original script, only simplifying the once non-linear story, as well as concluding with a happy ending.

Quentin Tarantino, whilst noting some of his favourite scenes from his own films, noted True Romance as containing one of his finest moments — his most favourite scene he has ever written. “Before that, it was, in my very first script, True Romance, it was the whole Sicilian speech. That was the one to beat,” Tarantino said, before adding: “And then when I finally wrote that scene in Inglorious Basterds, I was like, ‘Oh, I think I finally beat that one!’”.

Though it may not be helmed by Tarantino, the film retains all of the director’s classic hallmarks, with a tight, snappy script and brutal, gory violence. It’s no wonder really that Arrow Video have picked it up for a 4K restoration, with the film remaining one of the directors very best, carrying a certain innate charm that fails to muster throughout the rest of Tarantino’s filmography. Perhaps it’s the tangible relationship that forms between Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, or maybe the film’s fearlessness in embracing slow, soft downtime.

The brand new 4K restoration of the movie will feature True Romance on Blu-ray and contain both the theatrical and director’s cut of the film, alongside commentary tracks from Quentin Tarantino, the late Tony Scott, as well as Slater and Arquette. Other stylish physical gifts include a double-sided poster of the film, six postcards, and a 60-page booklet of essays regarding the film, as well as a eulogy for Tony Scott by Edgar Wright.

Check out the brand new trailer for the 4K restoration of True Romance below, with the Blu-ray on release from July 19: