Only God Forgives

Only God Forgives may have divided critics - including our own - but its release on bluray and DVD in time for the annual Christmas shopping splurge is surely a welcome sight for any cinephile.

Nicholas Winding Refn's follow up to the critically acclaimed Drive also finds the director again working with Ryan Gosling to produce a film even more neon-drenched than its LA-set predecessor.

As one would expect, then, the film looks terrific on bluray, a veritable feast of pulsating pinks, brilliant blues and lascivious reds which, more often than not, arrive in the form of the gushing blood from various decapitated limbs.

Of the extras, the prize-winning attraction here must go to the audio commentary with director Refn. Often such audio commentaries feature the director alone, but here he is superbly marshalled by Empire's Damon Wise who does an admirable job quizzing the exuberant Refn.

First among Refn's insights on the film is that while he wanted Drive to be like "high-quality cocaine", Only God Forgives was intended to feel like "high quality acid". All this before the credits have even rolled; Refn is nothing if not entertaining.

The commentary is littered with such illuminating snippets which reveal that while Refn might delight in appearing flippant and perhaps aloof, there's clearly a lot of hard work, dedication and passion going into the project.

There's also more Refn one-liners to be found in the behind-the-scenes clips, which opens with the director saying "violence is like sex, it's all about the build up", as Gosling looks quizzically at the camera. We see rehearsal scenes in which Refn chops in half a water bottle before a prosthetic arm is given the same treatment, blood gushing comically in all directions.

Rounding up the extras are a selection of galleries, featuring alternative artwork, fan art and the limited edition All City poster concepts. Also thrown in are a couple of trailers, for good measure.