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Name: Noel's Movie Reviews
Home: West Hills, CA, United States
About Me: My name is Noel Petok. I'm 27 years old. I've written 3 feature length film scripts and 3 short film scripts. I'm a caffeine nut and love to relax at my local Starbucks. If you love film, come chat with me. See my complete profile
There are moments in films that go “over the top”, as they say, and then there are films that take them well beyond 5 steps too far. Planet Terror is one of those films. After a late night first viewing, I couldn’t get past how cheesy a film Robert Rodriguez made. I understand the art in attempting to make a drive-in “B” movie from a high caliber director but I believe Quentin Tarantino’s film Death Proof surpasses Robert Rodriguez’ in all aspects. Planet Terror has moments of “cool” but you just can’t help to turn away in disgust or laugh yourself stupid at what comes before your eyes.
Planet Terror was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez who also stacked more work on his plate doing the music, director of photography, editing, and producing jobs. The film was released under Dimension films, in association with Rodriguez’ company Troublemaker Studios, and stars Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Fergie, Bruce Willis, Tom Savini, with cameos by Quentin Tarantino, Cheech Marin, and Danny Trejo. Planet Terror was made in 2007 and was rated “R” and was released on DVD in an extended, unrated cut. The story of Planet Terror begins when an experiment with bio-nerve gas gets accidentally released at a U.S. military base in Texas. Those exposed to the gas turn into flesh-eating, mutating zombies out to kill or eat those in their path. A group of various people, who include: a stripper named Cherry, her shady mechanic ex-boyfriend, Wray, a strong-willed doctor, the local sheriff, and more join forces to survive the night as the so-called "sickos" threaten to take over the whole town and the world.
This film has a story so over-the-top that you can’t help but laugh. In this particular case, when comparing Tarantino’s vision with Robert Rodriguez’s of the Grind-house films, Tarantino manages to make a well-done film with moments of the art of the ‘70’s bygone drive-in days, but Rodriguez manages his end to push the cheese-ball goopy gore vision of how crappy those old films were back in their prime. The opening preview bit of “Machete” gave me a slight chuckle, but only after seeing the rating joke being rated X. Robert Rodriguez has his own unique style in filmmaking but one can see a huge difference in his Desperado days to his first film El Mariachi. Planet Terror wasn’t noticed for any awards in any festivals, which is probably normal for the type of film that it is. When it comes to the stupid film breaks and the moment in the middle of the film where it stops and says “Missing Reel, sorry for the inconvenience,” just pushes the cheesy bar well beyond the point of stupidity. Anyone into story and good action pass on this one and just see Tarantino’s Death Proof.
Planet Terror has a few inklings of trivia but not much to smile about. First off, the original title for the film was called “Project Terror.” What a shock, since it all does revolve around a military science “project” gone wrong. Also, Robert Rodriguez wrote the role of Dakota specifically for Marley Shelton after his great joy of working with her on his other film Sin City. Another somewhat interesting fact about Planet Terror is the fact that Robert Rodriguez actually wrote the first 30 pages of his script back in 1998. When planning the music for this film Robert Rodriguez originally chose John Carpenter to compose the music but later Rodriguez ended up taking over the job composing his own music instead, even though excerpts from Carpenter’s Escape from New York appears throughout this film. Before Rodriguez composed his own music, while on set, he would actually play the soundtracks from Escape from New York, and The Thing to set the mood for his movie. And lastly, in closing up the trivia for Planet Terror, and probably the only funny one, is the fact that actress Rose McGowan has a somewhat phobia case of germs, so they had to fully sanitize the stripper pole before she does her go-go dance routine.
Would I recommend Planet Terror? I’d say if one wants the full “Grind-house” perspective in all areas, yes check out both, but if you want to see the better of the two than pass on this one and see Death Proof. I appreciate the art of filmmaking that Robert Rodriguez had in mind but feel he has progressed and shouldn’t take a step backwards. At first glance I didn’t notice but then heard one of the cops was the lead actor from El Mariachi, but leave it to Robert Rodriguez to cast his old buddies in his films. I’d say the makeup for Planet Terror was disgusting and the bubbles on faces was nasty. Lastly, and to put this film in a nutshell I’d say “Badass, in parts. Good, briefly. Disgusting and over the top, throughout.”
Car chases, insane stunts, and buxom ladies, OH MY! The double-dose of Grindhouse films starts off with a bang with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, made by Dimension Films. True, this film takes audiences into a time-warp into old school, vintage filmmaking of the bygone days of cheesy “B” movies of the drive-in past, but it keeps its nostalgic feel and gives it a fan-base from today’s newest generation. In first viewing of Death Proof I thought why would a great director of Tarantino’s caliber purposely make a film to look cheesy? Boy was I wrong. Not only does Tarantino succeed in giving the film a 70’s “B” movie feel, but he succeeds in making it a modern great piece of work.
Death Proof was written, directed, and produced by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Kurt Russell (from Backdraft), Rosario Dawson (from Sin City, and Rent), Vanessa Ferlito (from TV Series 24), Jordan Ladd, Sydney Poiter (daughter of “The” Sydney Poiter), Tracie Thoms (from Rent), Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and stuntwoman Zoe Bell, with cameos from Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth (director of Hostel). It is a surprise here to see Tarantino credited for director of photography. Death Proof was made in 2007 and was rated “R” and was released on DVD in an extended unrated cut. The story follows “Stuntman Mike” (Kurt Russell), a sociopathic stuntman who has a taste for stalking sexy young ladies. After many encounters he gets himself into trouble when he tangles with the wrong gang of badass babes. Their confrontation escalates to an insane 18-minute car crash duel with one of the girls strapped to the hood of a Dodge Challenger with only one intention; kill everything and everyone in its path.
This film has a basic story that I’m sure fits impeccably with films of the same style in the time period of “B” films of the drive-in days. What it mainly focuses on is Tarantino’s great use of dialogue in the style he’s so popular for, and its action car chases that should have a place in film history. Tarantino obviously doesn’t rely on any spectacular acting in his films, but definitely surpasses other areas in greatness. Death Proof was not noticed in many film festivals but did show up nominated for the coveted Palm D’Or Award at the Cannes Festival. This film will definitely boost an even bigger fan-base for those that love the comedic dialogue that Tarantino continues to write in those not so funny moments.
Death Proof has loads of trivia in its days of shooting and many great technical aspects in the art of filmmaking. It is, in a way, a step down for some great film makers to purposely try to make a film look poor. In this particular account, Quentin Tarantino makes use of crackly audio and static in parts that some may deem necessary, but to me his use of extreme choppy edits pushes the bar one step too far. Some may not care about trivia and some may find them interesting or even funny at times. In the great cameo appearance Tarantino makes, in this film, he has his ever so common line, “That is a tasty beverage,” as made famous in his earlier film Pulp Fiction. Actress/stunt woman Zoe Bell, who stars in Death Proof as herself, also did the stunts for Uma Thurman in the Kill: Bill series. There is not enough one can say about what Zoe Bell does. She is a joy to watch in any line of work she chooses. Another interesting fun fact from Death Proof is in a restaurant scene early in the film where one of the group of girls changes music on a large jukebox. That “jukebox” belongs to Quentin Tarantino himself.
Other than the movie’s extensive trivia facts, director Quentin Tarantino fits in some of his typical trademarks throughout his films. In the second half of the film, there’s a scene where four women are talking in a cafeteria, which is done in a single take that is seven minutes long. Another trademark Tarantino uses are scenes with women bare footed. In Death Proof, Jungle Julia is constantly walking without shoes and Abernathy (Abbie) has her bare feet hanging out of a car window while she is asleep. And yet, another trademark, and probably the most famous, is what Tarantino calls the “trunk shot.” In this film it is changed slightly from the traditional shot looking up at the actors from the trunk of the car to looking up from under the hood of the car.
Would I recommend Death Proof? First off, I’d say anyone squeamish or not into action, pass on this one. But, for those action fanatics that love car chases and incredible stunts, by a female nonetheless, than this is definitely a must see. Also, anyone that has grown to love Tarantino’s line of work, than this is also a must. In closing, thank you Quentin Tarantino for keeping the “Wilhelm Scream” alive and thank you, thank you, for directing Vanessa Ferlito in an amazingly sexy lap-dance.
