It was hard for me to go into this movie(s) without expectations that were too high. I mean, a Tarantino & Rodriguez double feature, shot with seemingly wreckless abandon for any normalcies of the typical studio production system? Still, I tried to dampen my hopes, so as not to be too disappointed. I’d seen a number of trailers (for the film and, amusingly, from within the film) before seeing the final product, and most everything looked very cool. For the record, I thought Sin City was fantastic, which was kind of a precursor to this film in a number of ways (though primarily a Rodriguez project). Tarantino and Rodriguez have both directed in previous projects (Sin City and the underrated Four Rooms), but this was kind of them going toe-to-toe at a single concept, cooperatively. The idea for this project is quite fun - to make a modern throwback to an anything-but-golden era of cinema, where exploitation, violence and deplorability were king, but it embraces them openly and lovingly as only a true fan of the art form could. And we know that Tarantino & Rodriguez are just that, particularly Tarantino. And they bring along a few of their horror film directing buddies to do faux trailers that play in front of and between their respective double feature films. It almost plays out as something of a fanboy party on screen, which is how it manages to work so well. If you’re easily offended by the genre, than this double feature ain’t for you. It’s hugely violent, sure, but not in ways that are outwardly meant to be disturbing. It’s done in a very self-referencial and wink-wink kinda way, which I typically prefer from the genre.
Writing: These guys really know their source material, and can clearly lift from the best of them - and more often than not, from the more obscure of them. With references ranging all over the map (not even stopping at BJ & The Bear), this is one wild array of story and style. As a double feature, the stories have little do with each other, really. I prefered Rodriguez’s Planet Terror to Tarantino’s Death Proof. Planet Terror is a clear throwback to the glory days of John Carpenter. There’s no denying that Rodriguez has many overtones of Carpenter in terms of filmmaking (going so far as to also doing much of his own music for his films). Planet Terror is a loving tribute to those films, as well as other genre pictures and styles. It never takes itself too seriously and is always on the lookout for cool or over-the-top ways of going for a gag, be it for comedic or “woah, that’s cool!” It’s much more of a roller-coaster from start to finish. Tarantino’s Death Proof, while great in concept and in many scenes, drags on too much. It really needs to be tightened down. And a number of the characters really aren’t particularly interesting or likable (as good or bad). In particular, the first group of female friends add almost nothing to the film. The second set of female friends is far more compelling and engaging. Tarantino should have trimmed down the first half hour of Death Proof to about 10-15 minutes. That said, once Death Proof kicks into gear, it’s flat out awesome. It’s more of a peaks and valley kind of movie vs Planet Terror’s more consistently fun approach. One thing I will say for the wild final reel of Death Proof is that it has one of the most insane and awesome endings I’ve seen in film for years. It’s the whole “no, more! More! MORE!” approach to filmmaking. Then, add in some amusingly sick and twisted faux movie trailers and theater promotional kinds of materials and you get even more fun. “Don’t” is my favorite of the faux trailers, btw.
Production: Heck, why stop at lifting story elements from old films? Let’s do some gags about missing reels (at the most hilariously innoportune moments), dirty up the print and put in tons of manual splices and fixes, and even have the film burn into the projector. Do the whole retro approach with wreckless abandon. Rodriguez’s film is full of wild prosthetics and visual effects, always playing for the biggest possible joke or level of disgust. Tarantino goes for broke in the final act of Death Proof for some truly wild stunt sequences, under the premise of the characters actually being stunt performers. It’s done in the self-references old school of stunt people dumb enough to do these things for real - before the days of CGI. Shot in glorious widescreen, even if made to look beat up and old, there’s still plenty of production style to spare.
Cast: Of course these films feature a huge variety of cast members. We have a minor role from Bruce Willis, which is amusing if only for the fact that you just expect him to do some role in a project by these guys. It’s a great cameo. Rose McGowan is fantastic as one of the main characters in Planet Terror (and a smaller role in Death Proof). Freddy Rodriguez (no relation) is hilarious as the underestimated bad boy character that is so prevelant in the older genre films. Josh Brolin is surprisinly funny in Planet Terror as Dr. Block. Marley Shelton is quite good as his wife (also Dr. Block - in both Planet Terror and briefly in Death Proof). The criminally underrated Michael Biehn is well cast as the local Sherrif in Planet Terror (and has an amusing brief appearance in the Thanksgiving trailer). Tarantino himself plays a smaller role in both films and is fun in his typical riffing kinda way. In terms of Death Proof, one cannot underestimate the importance of Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. He is one of the two bright, shining stars of this segment. The other is amuisngly enough playing herself (in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge kinda way), Zoe Bell. She was Uma Thurman’s stunt double in Kill Bill. If Tarantino can’t obsess about Thurman as his muse in this film, he might as well get the next best thing - who is a perfect addition for the role she plays in this film. Zoe Bell plays a Kiwi stuntwoman who is equally fun and aggresively dangerous and crazy. She kinda gets to be the 11th hour star of the film, and is wonderful in the role. She’s the breakout star of Grindhouse, honestly. Sydney Tamiia Poitier gets saddled with an almost completely uninteresting and useless character (one who’s scenes are in most need of being edited down or out). Vanessa Ferlito makes a somewhat flat character jump to life (who, along with Poitier, is part of the earlier set of female friends that are poorly developed). Tracie Thoms (of one of the all-time great TV series Wonderfalls) is actually somewhat annoying on screen, but still somewhat fun in sequences. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who’s getting something of a streak for appearing in horror films) is hilarious as one of the only chipper and happy characters in the film. Rosario Dawson also gets to have some fun in the final act of Death Proof. There are some other fun surprise guest appearances by other actors in the films (and trailers). For me, though, the standout performances are Rose McGowan, Zoe Bell and the man himself, Kurt Russell. How can you go wrong with both Bruce Willis and Kurt Russell playing bad boys?
Music: Robert Rodriguez does a spectacular job with the music for his film, Planet Terror (along with some collaboration from the likes of Graeme Revell, whom he’s worked with on some of his previous films). The score is a wonderful blend of his Sin City style of steamy scoring thrown together with John Carpenters’ driving electronic material of the 70’s and 80’s. It’s a great score. Tarantino does his usual thing of using source music as score rather than any original material. And, as usual, it works. Not many people do this, but Tarantino has a way of really making it work. Overall, both films are very well handled musically. Rodriguez’s work on Planet Terror is definitely the stand-out part of the project musically, though.
