Greetings fellow movie goers from across the globe. Today’s review is about eight strangers who seek shelter from a storm during winter. Each one never trust each other whether he or she wants to survive the cold or from mysterious adversaries holding a deadly weapon. The plot I’m referring to is from Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film, “The Hateful Eight.”
The Hateful Eight was released in 2015. (same year Mad Max: Fury Road came out) It received positive reviews from critics and movie goers alike. In addition to positive reception, the film managed to make enough cash at the box office. The Hateful Eight went on to earn award nominations at “The Golden Globes” & “The Academy Awards.” Living legend Ennio Morricone ultimately won an Oscar for “Best Original Score.” Jennifer Jason Leigh was nominated for “Best Supporting Actress.” Unfortunately, she went home empty handed.
Quentin’s ninth film, “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” is finally out right now. Before watch & write an article about Quentin’s recent movie, I want spread word of mouth by looking back at The Hateful Eight. I watched the extended version for the first time on Netflix. It streamed since April, 2019. Possibly for Tarantino fans to get ready for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Today’s review doesn’t contain no gigantic SPOILERS. Feel free to read my non-spoiler article.
Positive & Negative Qualities
Positive: The Main Cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen Demián Bichir & Bruce Dern all did an excellent job for their respective performances as the titular group.
Quentin Tarantino did a magnificent job for writing and directing the film. In addition to taking full responsibility as a director, Quentin also briefly narrates the film in two key scenes.
Other Cast Members such as Zoë Bell (an actual stuntwoman) & Channing Tatum both did a great job for their respective performances.
Ennio Morricone (The Dollars Trilogy, Once Upon A Time In The West) composed music for the movie. It’s about gosh darn time Ennio won an Oscar.
The Pacing is slow, I’ve gotten used to it. Make sure you pay attention to crucial scenes.
Cinematography was spot on decent, never suffering from Shaky Cam.
Costume Designs felt authentic in the post-Civil War era.
Every character has a fascinated past whether he or she is telling the truth or rather just plain lying.
Despite being labeled as a mystery-thriller, Black Comedy is filled with some gallows of dark humor. Quentin is known for his sharp-tongued dialogue & blood spreading like Kool-Aid on the floor.
The Hateful Eight was shot in 70mm as opposed to the standard 30mm often shot on camera. Unlike his pal Robert Rodriguez, Quentin refuses to shoot digitally, he prefers old school trickery. He claims that shooting in digital format is television in public.
Quentin’s 8th film is basically a throwback to epic films from The 50’s-60’s most notably “The Searchers,” “Ben-Hur,” “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World,” “Lawrence Of Arabia, “The Good The Bad & The Ugly,” & “Once Upon A Time In The West.”
After the script was leaked, Quentin had to rewrite the film.
When Christopher Nolan interviewed Quentin at the Director’s Guild Of America, (DGA) the latter filmmaker mentioned The Hateful Eight is influenced by “Key Largo,” John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” “Reservoir Dogs” & western television shows from The 60’s such as “Gunsmoke,” “The Virginian” & “Bonanza.” The shows’ guest stars influenced Quentin’s characters as villains we can trust or not. If you’re interested in Chris’ interview with Quentin at the DGA, look it up on YouTube.
Kurt Russell’s character John Ruth, has an accent similar to his role as Jack Burton from “Big Trouble In Little China.”
Warren’s “Lincoln Letter” plays a pivotal role.
Kurt actually smashed an antique guitar. It wasn’t actually in the script.
The Extended Version is presented like a mini-series with four episodes told in a one hour format. Never before seen footage is added. Each episode is an hour long.
Like “Django Unchained,” Sam has an over-the-top yell. If you’ve seen The Hateful Eight, you probably know why.
Negative: If you’re not a fan of Quentin’s work, you’ll be easily bored. As a fan of his work, I’m used to his dialogue driven material. He has a tendency to write conversations about a certain subject as long as it’s well written. I will let this flaw slide.
If you invite a couple of friends or partner for a screening, make sure you tell them that the film is gonna be filled with “N-Bombs.” I’ll let this con slide, because back in the 1860’s, it was ok to say “The N-Word.” In The Present Day, it’s wrong to say it.
Harvey “Saddam Hussein” Weinstein served as an executive producer of the film. Keep in mind, this was way before The Film Industry found out he was a rapist.
To be honest with you fellas, I couldn’t spot nothing wrong with this particular movie. I’m giving Quentin an Extra Point for making a flawless film.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
In my opinion, The Hateful Eight is one of Quentin Tarantino’s best movies. He hasn’t run out of gas, he still got it (if you don’t count Four Rooms) since Reservoir Dogs. If you’re very excited to see Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, I strongly recommend his eight directed films and non-directed films like “True Romance,” “Natural Born Killers” & “From Dusk Til’ Dawn.”
Quentin is onboard to direct a Star Trek film as the last picture he will ever direct. Rumor has it, he might possibly direct a follow up to “Kill Bill.” If I were him, I’d direct a total of 12 films, because 12 is my arc number and I want to prevent bad luck from happening. As in 13 is an unlucky number.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 