Stream it now Death Proof 2007

 

This movie has a plot that is pretty straight forward. Overall a very fun movie to watch, just for a good laugh, and for some awesome car chases/crashes.

While not as enjoyable as 'Planet Terror', the other film from 'Grindhouse', its still an action packed film with Kurt Russell playing the perfect villain. The scenes where the girls are doing nothing but talking are rather dull, but worth the wait as the action scenes is where the film really lights up. The second half is better than the first thanks to more likeable characters. Overall not bad but because so much time is spent on dull conversations the film is a bit of a letdown.

Haha! What a good time that was!
Boy, the action was amazing. Oh yeah!
That's what I call a movie: Fuck realism, fuck logic - just give me some hot chicks, some action and nice cars - and you have all you need!
Certainly this isn't his best movie - never was intended to be - but you do have a whole lot of fun watching the body parts flying around and the girls talking about blowing and making out!
If you're a man with taste (...or rather, without?), you're gonna love this movie!

Ugh, what a waste of time. I think I'm officially done with Tarantino movies.

Lets see, there is no plot, which explains why the dialogue doesn't develop the characters or have any relation to the scenes; its basically just stuff QT wanted to hear people say on film. Then the movie is filled with a good 30 min of driving scenes that are completely unrealistic, which really takes away any of the suspense or thrill of a supposed thriller. For a good 10 min there is a girl riding on the hood of a car, for what reason its not really clear. When a maniac chases them and bumps the car, they don't slow down and get the girl off the hood, but keep driving.....for 10 min!! They stop like 3 times, but keep the girl on the hood! WTF? And the Fast and Furious as better car scenes, not random recreation of the Dukes of Hazard jump scenes. If I wanted to watch a 70's car chase, I'd rent a 70's movie. I guarantee they do a better job than QT.

In short, don't waste your time.....

I have something for motorized violence. I love seeing cars explode, crash, and similar stuff. That's why I thought Death Race was very good. It was nothing but motorized violence, but boy was it fun. I thought Death Proof would be similar. It's supposed to be trashy and stupid. Car chases are trashy, so this film will be full of them, right? Wrong. While Robert Roderiquez delivered mindless exploitation in Planet Terror (Heck, I still haven't figured out the plot), Tarantino half-asses a pseudo-artsy film for the critics with a small action film to put it on the Grindhouse feature.

If you've watched or read American Psycho, you remember the mindless, stupid, and pointless conversations (More in the novel rather than the film). Tarantino basically takes these conversations and puts them in girls' mouths. In fact, they were so similar I swear at first the girls are satirical, just like Patrick Bateman. However, by the time the second half rolls in we're supposed to root for them. Excuse me? The only victim we can actually like is Pam, played by Rose McGowan. Her death is truly quite horrifying. All the other girls talk so much that we end up believing Stunt Man Mike's job is to shut them up. Tarantino, however, didn't let him do that.

What's worse about these dialogues is that they literally fill the whole movie. That means that the good things about this film are unused. We barely get to see Stunt Man Mike. I didn't expect him to be a deep character. I just wanted a crazy driver who kills people with his car. That's what the movie is allegedly about. Instead, I got a bunch of dumb-ass women who remind me of dumb-ass men (The "dare to do a lap dance" part was crap) chat and chat and chat and chat some more about nothing. Finally, Mikey arrives, kills them. Then, four more annoying women come in only this time they beat Mike up. It's common in slasher films for the slasher to lose at the end, but when your heroes are worse than bland, you want to see them lose. That's why the car crash scene is so good. The girls were so annoying we glad Mike shut them up for us. The next four were even more annoying but they win. Why?

The only way to excuse this bad decision is that this film is "feminist". If this is what passes for feminism then feminism is dead. The girls have the exact personality of alpha-males, and are not "strong female characters". A strong female character would also be likeable. How can a film be "feminist" when we end up cheering for the girls' death? Also, some would say Mike is a parody of the alpha-male but they miss that he's simply a mix between Terminator and Michael Myers, or a slasher with a car. Slashers are not alpha-males. Slashers are antisocial and, it may come to a surprise but we actually root for the slashers! Which means we're not so happy when they lose, especially not to annoying bitches like in this film.

The only reason you should watch this film is for the crash scene, which can be found on YouTube. Normally I would complain about the soundtrack not containing Rob Zombie but there are no action scenes so it would be out-of-place anyway. I think Tarantino made this movie because he always wanted to tune in to girls' conversation about dirty things and never had a chance. What's worse is that this excellent concept is butchered. Maybe John Carpenter can pick this up, re-make it as The Thing In The Car but until then, look out for Death Race if you need motorized violence. This film is pointless.

Highs: The crash scene, Rose McGowan, Kurt Russel, the crash scene
Lows: The ending, the girls, the lack of action, many other things

Rating: 2/5

Quentin Tarantino takes all the controversial things about film, and stuffs it together for an action packed glee ride. Spiced up cars, smoking hot girls, quick and witty dialogue, violent action. These are the key ingredients Tarantino has used in his movie. Edited to look like a 70's film, with the constant static, cigarette burns and every so often a well placed glitch, this movies boasts a real 'dirty' feel as you explore the lives of the selected girls. Kurt Russel gives a fantastic performance as the calm but psychotic Stuntman Mike, who's temper gradually builds throughout the film, resulting in a fast and exciting conclusion. Tarantino has carefully selected the soundtrack to match the film perfectly, and also to change the way we look at some scenes. If your a fan of Quentin Tarantino's style, then this is a must.

Ok to start off. This isn't Tarantino's best work, lots of things in this movie should've been cut out. Now let's get to the review.

The plot centers around Stuntman Mike, a car stuntman who kills women by crashing into cars or driving very fast and then stop. He always survives his killings thanks to his death proof seat.

Let's start off with the good bits:
I liked the concept of the movie, there's only Quentin Tarantino who can come with such ideas. I was also very pleased to see Kurt Russell again, playing a bad ass, and he does a great job at playing Stuntman Mike, he WAS the best part of the movie. The soundtrack was also excellent.
At the end we get a vintage car chase scene, without CGI. It's really fun to watch.

Now on to the bad parts:
Except Stuntman Mike, I didn't care for the other characters. It looked like Tarantino only made him interesting and that's sad because he's supposed to be the bad guy. There is not one single girl I did like. Not that I'm a macho and not that I don't like strong female characters, I loved Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, Sigourney Weaver in the Alien saga, Linda Hamilton in the first two Terminators, I just didn't care for those girls. The girls were basically Samuel L.Jackson with breasts. I disliked the scenes when they were talking. And that's one of the main problem of the movie. There is too much talking.
Also in the acting category there wasn't a noteworthy performance besides Kurt Russell.

So overall Death Proof is not a must-see, unless you really really want to, watch Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs for the 1000th time instead.

Kurt Russell plays Stuntman Mike, a psychopath who tracks pretty girls and then kills them with his built-like-a-tank car. That's kind of it for the film's story but it contains some of the best cinematography of QTs career and also some of the best writing. The dialogue is clever (even though some scenes it gets a little excessive and drawn out) and the characters are colourful and well suited to their positions in the film. Mr Tarantino is clearly having alot of fun with Death Proof and whilst I enjoyed it's brash, nonsensical structure it's clearly a film he wasn't overly serious about. It's still extremely entertaining though.

If anyone other than Tarantino had done this film, it would have mostly likely fallen apart. Just the way Tarantino makes this film makes me want to watch it again and again.

Death proof is an underrated gem. The characters ARE three dimensional and interesting and the some of the interaction between them is great. It is a bit slow starting, but Tarantino is extremely talented as a director and is not afraid to be a bit unconventional in his films - which is what makes this such a great film. The shadowiness and the gore make this film brilliant and the blatant, unashamed originality and masterful camera-work make this film definitely worth watching.