Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino, 2007)

[CJ34]

Okay, so I finally got round to viewing this and I was, sadly, greatly disappointed. I've always liked QT's work but this film is an unmitigated disaster. So what's wrong with it? Well, for starters, it was conceived as a homage to Grindhouse cinema, which is basically exploitation - so where was the exploitation? An exploitation movie with no exploitation in it? That's just ridiculous. Hardly any violence, no sex or gratuitous nudity, no incendiary material (racism, sexual assaults etc) - just...nothing. A bunch of girls chatting incessantly with one or two action scenes and that's all we get. It's boring, tiresome, overlong and I couldn't wait for this mess of a film to conclude. QT should get back to doing what he does best - crime movies. I'm surprised, actually, that this is what QT delivered, as he's a real exploitation film buff - I thought he would have understood the conventions of the genre and delivered something far more controversial and extreme. But no...this is the best he can muster.

To paraphrase what's said about Pulp Fiction, I'll conclude by saying that this is an exploitation movie for anyone who's never seen an exploitation movie.

Next up will be Rodriguez's Planet Terror. Let's see what he does.

Death Proof: amazon.co.uk | Other DVDs by Quentin Tarantino

[Someone Weird]

I quite liked it. I'm not so keen on Tarantino's earlier work and find Pulp Fiction particularly tiresome. For me, he got more interesting with Kill Bill.

[AndyBlade]

I havent seen Death Proof yet. Mainly because it just looks so boring from the trailer and clips I've seen. Much as I like QTs stuff, Kill Bills aside, I cant imagine this doing much for me.

Planet Terror on the other hand, was great fun, and I recommend that without hesitation.

[mushie]

I thought Deathproof was pretty damn awful. In the extras he is quoted as 'wanting the best ever car chase..and I did it'..guess what? He failed. His ego is ridiculous these days. Planet Terror minus a few problems with pacing is damn good fun.

[Pecker]

I liked Death Proof, but agree with the OP that it's not particularly exploitational.

Girls sat around chatting? QT has made a string of good films based on blokes sat round chatting (for which read 'cool dialogue').

Maybe some people need to open their minds a little - women can have conversations, too!

Steve W

[CJ34]

I don't think it's a question of anyone needing to open their minds - I'm not against dialogue, good dialogue (and if not good dialogue, at least dialogue that's so bad it's funny), whichever sex/gender is saying the lines. QT had some very snappy dialogue in his earlier films (including girls saying lines - looking at you, Uma) and he was very good at scripting this stuff. The problem I had with Death Proof is that the dialogue is dull and uninspiring, IMO. If QT had written some snappy and interesting dialogue for these caharcters it would have improved the movie no end.

Just to allay any fears that I may be sexist here, I have absolutely no problem with women having dialogue in films.

[Ms 45]

I liked Death Proof, but agree with the OP that it's not particularly exploitational.

Girls sat around chatting? QT has made a string of good films based on blokes sat round chatting (for which read 'cool dialogue').

Maybe some people need to open their minds a little - women can have conversations, too!

Steve W

Fact, there were a lot of scenes of girls sat around chatting. I personally did not feel like they pulled it off. I do not contribute that to any particular factor but it didn't work for me.

Yes, we have conversations and they are not all about nails, hair and make-up. In fact that kind of conversation would send me running.

[gax]

not enough stuntman mike he was the only redeeming thing in it,the rest is pointless,QT is a horrible actor. It would have been better at 1 hour in length but planet terror is alot of fun in a stupid way

[Peter Neal]

Can't wait to see the shortened Grindhouse cut of it later this year (When i'll grab one of the numerous "Grindhouse" rereleases on DVD in fall), because it can only get better.
Kurt Russell made parts of it worthwhile, but- as was mentioned before- what kind of exploitation movie was "Dath Proof" supposed to be...No clue.

[WilsonBros]

I happened across this interesting review recently...

http://www.r2-dvd.org/article.jsp?se...articleId=7765

Kev W

[Menard]

I also found Death Proof to be utterly dissapointing on every level. Just indulgent rubbish, and not nearly as thrilling as it seems to think it is. I actually wanted Russell's character to run over every single actor in the film within 5 minutes of their introduction. Shame really, as I'm generally a fan of both Tarantino and Russell, and expected this film to deliver (though I did like the first car murder scene).

Planet Terror was also dissapointing (though not nearly to the same level as Tarantino's misfire), coming across as little more than a 90 minute version of the trailer, if that makes sense? Good enough fun, but I was expecting more.

Even excusing running tine, I'm not at all suprised Grindhouse bombed in the States...

[Vaughan]

I happened across this interesting review recently...

http://www.r2-dvd.org/article.jsp?se...articleId=7765

Kev W

They need to make the font smaller. Ouch!

[phil]

Fortunately I've only seen the shorter version of Death Proof. Turgid stuff indeed. Tarantino completely failed at an homage to grindhouse cinema but succeded at an homage to himself. The whole thing felt to me like someone trying to make a Tarantino movie and failing badly. Dull, boring, the dialogue is embarassingly bad, and it has the three most irritating characters I've ever seen on film. Russel is the only redeeming factor in the movie and I would have paid any money to have the exact opposite happen at the end of the film.

Planet Terror is great fun though, Rodriguez has a much better grasp on what Grindhouse cinema is and delivers an entertaining splatter fest.

[Harold Monroe]

saw this one recently, wasnt expecting much because of all the bad reports id read.
pleasently surprised that i enjoyed it alot, maybe not quite as good as 'planet terror' but not far behind. overall,
well done QT, thats some nice work.

[cloud]

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS FOR DEATH PROOF

Well it's taken 2 years but finally I've caught up with Death Proof and Planet Terror. I would have watched it sooner but I don't recall it being shown at the cinema where I was on its initial run and as with Kill Bill's DVD release we have to put up with the political bull$hit of it being split up into 2 parts, why we can't get a release of it as 'Grindhouse' outside of Asia is beyond me but anyway I got sick of waiting and bought them seperately in the end.

Planet Terror was fantastic. I must say that Robert Rodriguez really nailed it and without compiling a big list of what I liked about it I'll say the only thing that it didn't have in common with the older films it was inspired by was its bigger budget.

Death Proof is quite a strange one, yes I liked it, it was a good Quentin Tarantino movie, as a QT movie it was steady without ever hitting the heights of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction. The dialogue was solid but not vintage QT, the action (the little we had of it, Abigail Wanted this was not!) was pretty good, some nice stunts, fast paced, exciting, edgy. The plot was interesting enough, it was engaging enough, overall as I say as a Tarantino flick it works. However, as someone who's watched my fair share of Grindhouse flix I don't see all that much in common with it, did Tarantino's ego possibly get in the way of what Death Proof was supposed to be? Why wasn't it set in the 70s? Where was the sleaze? Why was there so little violence? Where were the quirks? Where was the shock value? Why 90% dialogue and 10% everything else? Why were there so few scratches and cigarette burns on the print?

The best thing about Death Proof is Kurt Russell. What I love about Tarantino films is the performance he gets from his stars and Russell was excellent in this, so this brings me to the ending and how pathetic 'Stuntman Mike' becomes. That was infuriating and imo Tarantino really fucked up there, not enough to spoil the film but enough to weaken its overall effect, that was a bad bad move there I think.

Anyway as I say, I enjoyed Death Proof despite its flaws, it's no Grindhouse flick but it's still an enjoyable film. Overall though Planet Terror was head and shoulders above that and was a winner on every level, from the score, to the plot twists, to the gore, to the comedy, to the way he gave it the Grindhouse look and feel, everything.

A very good double bill which I'd love to see merged together as it was initially shown in the cinema. Maybe one day the Weinsteins or whoever will give the box set a UK and US release and the same goes with Kill Bill - and without the crappy black & white fight scenes hopefully.

[Companero]

I've mentioned this elsewhere but I was seriously disappointed with DEATH PROOF the first time I saw it. I did however love PLANET TERROR. I then bought the Japanese set some time after and watched the pair of them as GRINDHOUSE. Overall, GRINDHOUSE is a better experience but there are pluses and minuses. Firstly, PLANET TERROR plays better longer IMO, I really enjoyed it as a stand-alone feature. DEATH PROOF on the other hand is infinitely superior in its shorter version, as there's 20 minutes of needless banter shorn, making it far slicker and much more exploitation-like. Obviously having all the fake trailers in another great bonus.

Japanese set is pricey. I think I paid around £70 for mine from amazon.co.jp, but it's worth every penny.

[cloud]

I agree that Planet Terror does flow better as a full length feature than what Death Proof does. There are a couple of parts which feel a bit overblown and a drag a bit but overall Planet Terror is a smooth and fun ride. Death Proof does have far too much talk in it and it severely disrupts the flow of the film; the diner scene for example was tedious and it wasn't helped that Zoe Bell (or whatever she's called, the funny looking one) can't act for love nor money, even if she can do good stunts. And what's with the brash stereotypical black characters saying "muthafucka" in nearly ever sentence? Samuel L. Jackson got away with that because he's Samuel L. Jackson but that lass in Death Proof was irritating. It was little things like that which make me understand why it was and still is so heavily criticised in some quarters, even if it's a decent film on its own terms.

I did once consider importing that Grindhouse set from Japan and at the time I worked it out to be around £45 I think which was a bit steep especially with customs charges on top of that. If the Weinsteins would get their finger out then that and Kill Bill would be released over here and would be selling for much cheaper. I did see Tarantino saying on Not Quite Hollywood that they can't release it because of Disney's involvement with Miramax and that they're sorting something out. However, when was Kill Bill released? 2003 was it and still no box set, it's frustrating.

[Someone Weird]

Why 90% dialogue and 10% everything else? Why were there so few scratches and cigarette burns on the print?

To be fair to Tarantino, many old exploitation films are full of inane jibber jabber and little action, despite what the trailers promise.

The best thing about Death Proof is Kurt Russell. What I love about Tarantino films is the performance he gets from his stars and Russell was excellent in this, so this brings me to the ending and how pathetic 'Stuntman Mike' becomes. That was infuriating and imo Tarantino really fucked up there, not enough to spoil the film but enough to weaken its overall effect, that was a bad bad move there I think.

I agree that Kurt Russell is excellent in this, but disagree about Tarantino fucking up the end - I loved his girly freak out and it made the ending hilarious. I really enjoyed Death Proof and thought the climax was a spiffy one.

And yes, its a shame a proper 'Grindhouse' set hasn't emerged yet (and sod paying too much for a Japanese import or whatever it was), as that is the only way I will actually ever buy this...until then, I will tune in for the occassional viewing when it surfaces on TV. I prefer 'Death Proof' to 'Planet Terror', btw.

[cloud]

Old exploitation films are often talky so I agree 100% there but to me they seem to average maybe 75% dialogue and 25% everything else and they're often well under the 108 minute mark. I enjoy Tarantino dialogue and at least for the first half of the film I didn't mind it because the plot and characters were interesting enough. The second half took a bit of a nosedive though because he was doing more or less the same thing again only with dull/annoying characters and he really overdid the dialogue there I think especially as it just wasn't interesting. The bits where they're in the diner and then debating whether or not to con that guy into allowing him a test drive in his car plus the amount of time it took them to get kitted up and drive off really started to test my patience. If my old nan (RIP) had been watching that second half of Death Proof I'm pretty sure she would have been shouting "GET ON WITH IT!" at the TV screen .

As for the Stuntman Mike twist, I appreciate what Tarantino was trying to do and it sure as hell took me by surprise, however I just couldn't warm to it. The women he was beaten up by were poor stuff, and why build up a character who up to that point was charming, witty, dark, intelligent and extremely fucked up just to turn it all on its head at the end? Again I see what he was trying to do but nah, it didn't work for me.