Grindhouse Presents, Death Proof - Extended and Unrated (Two-Disc Special Edition)

I am a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino. I have seen Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Dusk til Dawn, Jackie Brown and a few others. Loved them all. But, this film was FREAKING SLOW!! OMG, I was falling asleep in the first 30 minutes. And by the final car chase scene (WHICH WAS AWESOME). I was desperately wanting the get the hell out of the theater. WAY too much talking and not nearly enough action.

This is Tarantino's weakest film.

A lot of this is taken up with pointless, meandering dialogue - way below his usual standard.

Some of the action is incredibly well filmed, but overall this disappoints.

I'll be rather straight-forward, I like this much better than Planet Terror. I know I am in the minority, but I can only express my own feelings. On the visceral level, it was truly high impact. On the emotional level, the many characters are given smart, sassy and even thought provoking dialogue. Tarantino should be applauded for taking a chance on what he wanted to do. I will furthermore state; this is a better film than Kill Bill Vol.One.

I don't really know why I like Death Proof as much as I do. I mean, this movie has a storyline barely enough to make a 30-minute TV episode. But Tarantino made a 90-minute movie out of it - and a very satisfying one at that. You will notice its scrathcy print, imperfect sound, sloppy editing and switch between color and black & white. But please keep in mind that all that is done on purpose. Why? Because this is not a regular movie. Its a parody of the kind of B-grade movies commonly shown in drive-in theaters during the late 60's to early 70's. Such theaters were known as Grindhouse. This movie goes out of its way to give you that authentic old-B-grade-movies-from-60's feel and look. Death Proof's beginning is very boring but necessary. It gradually starts building your excitement towards the middle and by the end it gives a very solid adrenaline rush. If you like voluptuous females and car chases, give it a shot. You might like it too!

The eagerly anticipated grindhouse double-feature of Death Proof/Planet Terror promised to be a double-barrel shotgun blast of 70s-inspired action, courtesy of the two hottest names in cinema, the dynamic duo of Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill) and Robert Rodriguez (Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Dawn to Dusk). Given Tarantino's track record in the action genre, this offering promised to be a rollicking roller-coaster ride. But it isn't.
Opinions seem to differ about the relative merits of these two films, but in my opinion Tarantino's movie, Death Proof, is by far the weaker of the two.
For a start, Death Proof doesn't do what it says on the tin. In addition to being too 'talky' for the kind of movie it professes to be, there is no excitement, no drama, no conflict. Remember the 'foot massage' or 'le big mac' dialogue in Pulp Fiction? Imagine that covering a whole movie. This is what Death Proof feels like after you've been watching it for 60 minutes. The first 45 minutes is taken up by cod-philosophising and inane chit-chat. Tarantino points the camera at four good-looking babes as they drive to a bar and party. There are stylish shots of booze being poured and an interminable number of close-ups of the jukebox. Kurt Russell is wheeled out to do his windswept hero schtick. A sexy femme fatale blonde is thrown into the mix. Much flirtation and 'snappy' dialogue ensues and finally, after what seems like an eternity, the film bursts into action with a car chase and a crash. Five minutes later, after a brief interlude with the Coen-esque sherrif and his gormless sidekick, Tarantino is back to pointing the camera at babes in cars(different ones this time). Cue more small talk, gossip and cultural namedropping to add a veneer of sophistication and cool. More Kurt Russell. The film changes from black and white to colour and back. Where's the dramatic tension?
Having always been a Tarantino fan and I really wanted to like Death Proof but compared with Planet Terror this is really weak. Death Proof is the work of a successful moviemaker riding high on the success of former glories. The man obviously has talent. He should try a little harder.