174 Matador

[Finch]

When a young torero confesses to a series of violent crimes he hasn’t committed, secret kinks and desires come to light, sparking dangerous new connections between a bullfighting teacher, a powerful female lawyer, an overprotected actress, and a well-meaning psychiatrist. Love and death shockingly intertwine in Pedro Almodóvar's heady mix of baroque romance, grisly horror, and pitch black comedy. Inspired by King Vidor’s epic western of sensual passion Duel in the Sun, Matador is among the Spanish director’s sexiest, most provocative films, a striking look at the roots of lust and violence.

4K UHD & BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

4K restoration approved by Pedro Almodóvar
4K UHD and Blu-ray presentation of the feature
Uncompressed stereo PCM audio
Interview with Almodóvar expert José Arroyo (2026)
‘Jonathan Ross Presents For One Week Only’ episode on Almodóvar’s cinema, featuring interviews with Pedro Almodóvar, producer Agustín Almodóvar, stars Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura, and more (1991, 54 mins)
Trailer
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Guy Lodge and an archival interview with Almodóvar
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

[Lowry_Sam]

While the recent chatter that this was coming from Radiance should make this not too surprising, the speculation that Criterion would release it for over 2 decades now has me wondering why Almodovar has fallen from favor at Criterion. He gets nowhere near the attention that Wong Kar Wai does both on the channel and in releases. Ecstatic that it’s finally getting a release though.

[colinr0380]

I presume that 1991 Jonathan Ross piece is from Matador's first screening on UK television on Channel 4? I was a bit too young at the time to catch many of these 'edgy Jonathan Ross' film shows (I caught the tail end with his "Mondo Rosso" series on BBC2 in 1995) but did catch Matador again when it was screened on Channel 4 in April 1998. It had another Channel 4 screening in February 2001 but that is the last time it has appeared on UK television since.

It was kind of ironic that this was one of the most shown Almodovar films on UK television for a while (I think his more recent films Pain and Glory, Parallel Mothers and the short The Human Voice may have that honour now, having been shown at least four times on the BBC), since this film notoriously begins with the opening credits playing over a scene showing the main character embodying every censor's worst nightmare by being revealed to be masturbating to a up close greatest hits parade of gore imagery, some of it coming from Jess Franco's still banned as a video nasty in the UK at the time Bloody Moon!

I think I speculated in the thread for In The Realm of the Senses a while back that I wondered if Oshima's film, with its subtextual metaphor of bullfighting as a domination-submission erotic battle of the sexes to see who will be subdued first in the face of the other party's insatiably overwhelming appetites also particularly exerted an influence on this film, which makes the metaphor even more bluntly explicit in its own climax!

[dwk]

While the recent chatter that this was coming from Radiance should make this not too surprising, the speculation that Criterion would release it for over 2 decades now has me wondering why Almodovar has fallen from favor at Criterion. He gets nowhere near the attention that Wong Kar Wai does both on the channel and in releases. Ecstatic that it’s finally getting a release though.

Since Janus only has Tie Me Up, and the rest are with Sony, it is entirely possible that Sony is the hold up.

[jlnight]

I presume that 1991 Jonathan Ross piece is from Matador's first screening on UK television on Channel 4? I was a bit too young at the time to catch many of these 'edgy Jonathan Ross' film shows (I caught the tail end with his "Mondo Rosso" series on BBC2 in 1995) but did catch Matador again when it was screened on Channel 4 in April 1998. It had another Channel 4 screening in February 2001 but that is the last time it has appeared on UK television since.

No, the film's first screening on Channel 4 was on 04/11/94 as part of their In Your Face season, which also included The Living End, Careful, Savage Nights (saw this on 35mm at the BFI!), Swoon, Small Time, Calendar and Tetsuo: The Iron Man. You probably have some of these in your VHS recordings! It originally followed an episode of Eurotrash, which is currently being repeated on TPTV.

Jonathan Ross Presents For One Week Only consisted of episodes on Lynch, Aki Kaurismaki, Jodorowsky and Almodovar. The Lynch one was in late 1990, the others were in March 1991. The film which followed the Almodovar episode was actually Gilda.

[colinr0380]

I must have completely missed that Matador was in the "In Your Face" season jlnight! Though your run through of that list inspired me to put up my test transfer of my recording of the continuity around the airing of Swoon that occurred two weeks afterwards! (Realising that I recorded that 31 years ago just made me feel really old!)

(Incidentally the wordless detective interrogating the suspects who is briefly seen towards the middle of that clip is played by Michael Kirby. He was no stranger to quirky black-and-white but 'modern made' films, having just turned up in Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog the year before Swoon. But, along with Swoon, his most notable role to me is his last role in the 2001 adaptation of J.G. Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition, where he plays the classic Ballardian "Doctor" figure looking on and trying to understand an insane colleague's methodology for understanding the world!)

[andyli]

For what it's worth, Umbrella just mentioned they'd do their own edition.

[vertigo]

Will it be uncut for the UK? The compilation of the beginning and the bullfighting subject are controversial, aren't they?
I preordered it but if it's cut, I can cancel it.

Video Mercury films also owns the rights of Pepi Luci and Bom, it's not a very good blu ray, I don't know if they have restored the negative.

They've got a Spanish streaming platform (Erice, Bigas Luna, much much much more of the half production of Spain cimena, it's like a monopoly on the hands of one person, Enrique Cerezo)
You can watch clips from the films on its youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@FlixOl%C3%A9/videos

[MichaelB]

It’s never been cut in the UK on any format, and I can’t see that changing now.

Bullfighting per se isn’t a problem; it’s only genuine animal cruelty that was specifically carried out for the purposes of making the film that runs into legal difficulties.

[vertigo]

Thank you for your reply and the information, MichaelB

[ryannichols7]

this has already completely sold out, in case any other labels were questioning the viability of releasing Almodovar on UHD

[domino harvey]

That has to be one of the quickest sell outs in Radiance history, no?

[rapta]

Feel very lucky that I impulsively ordered a copy the other day from Rarewaves (now for the two week wait to see if it shows up in one piece).

[yoloswegmaster]

Apparently this sold out quickly because third party sellers were placing big orders. It's good for Radiance that this sold out 4 days after release but it is a bit lame that they didn't bother increasing the number of LE copies.

[Lowry_Sam]

Anyone know the status of other pre-Sony Classics Almodovar licensing in the UK? Hopefully this isn't a one-off for Radiance.

[Zot!]

Apparently this sold out quickly because third party sellers were placing big orders. It's good for Radiance that this sold out 4 days after release but it is a bit lame that they didn't bother increasing the number of LE copies.

They still do a standard version don't they?

[swo17]

Yes

[yoloswegmaster]

Apparently this sold out quickly because third party sellers were placing big orders. It's good for Radiance that this sold out 4 days after release but it is a bit lame that they didn't bother increasing the number of LE copies.

They still do a standard version don't they?

Does a standard version have a booklet that I would like to own a copy of?

[Zot!]

Apparently this sold out quickly because third party sellers were placing big orders. It's good for Radiance that this sold out 4 days after release but it is a bit lame that they didn't bother increasing the number of LE copies.

They still do a standard version don't they?

Does a standard version have a booklet that I would like to own a copy of?

No, but it would be less fair for those who thought they were buying a collectable if they updated the LEs in number. In this case probably the demand was underestimated, because Radiance still have a lot of other LEs in print. As a previous poster mentioned, I hope this will drive Almodovar UHDs.

[yoloswegmaster]

They still do a standard version don't they?

Does a standard version have a booklet that I would like to own a copy of?

No, but it would be less fair for those who thought they were buying a collectable if they updated the LEs in number. In this case probably the demand was underestimated, because Radiance still have a lot of other LEs in print. As a previous poster mentioned, I hope this will drive Almodovar UHDs.

Other labels have increased print sizes for releases once they found that the demand was overwhelming, so it could have been done here as well (regardless of it being "fair" to other people).

[MichaelB]

No, but it would be less fair for those who thought they were buying a collectable if they updated the LEs in number.

I'd argue that it would be considerably less fair to let something sell out before official release date and thus deny people the option to wait for reviews/feedback.

On all three occasions that Indicator was faced with a situation whereby the initial print run was threatening to sell out before the release date—Night of the Demon, Scum, Guest House Paradiso—they increased the numbers in order to prevent this from happening. But they announced this upfront prior to any copies being shipped, and presumably collectors who care about such things had the opportunity of cancelling their pre-orders in protest, although I seriously doubt that anybody did on those grounds. (And it wouldn't have made any real difference if they had done, given that sales were demonstrably stronger than expected.)

[zedz]

No, but it would be less fair for those who thought they were buying a collectable if they updated the LEs in number.

If people buying Radiance discs because they think they're fucking beanie babies got screwed, I would laugh like a drain.

[yoloswegmaster]

I'm also confused about the collectable mark. I get that most labels have to gear themselves towards the people who treat home video releases like collectables in order to survive, which is why they do the LE model, but why do I have to feel bad for people who feel like they got screwed just because a title got an extra 1000-2000 copies produced? That's just complete nonsense.

[domino harvey]

Radiance should start tagging the ears of its Blu-rays so it can sell tag protectors

[Peacock]

I'm also confused about the collectable mark. I get that most labels have to gear themselves towards the people who treat home video releases like collectables in order to survive, which is why they do the LE model, but why do I have to feel bad for people who feel like they got screwed just because a title got an extra 1000-2000 copies produced? That's just complete nonsense.

Agreed, we should be happy for our fellow collectors when they get the chance to pick something up that they almost missed out on. It’s embarrassingly selfish to throw a tantrum over an increased print run.