His contribution to cinema has made him one of the most talked about directors around.
When you hear Tarantino, you know exactly what you are getting.
With The Hateful Eight, it has definitely had a troubled time being made. That is mainly due to part of the script being leaked and Tarantino initially scrapping this project. But with a lot of the actors involved wanting to still make this, we now have another Tarantino extravaganza.
The entire structure felt like I was back during the Hollywood golden era. From the overture at the beginning to the interval, Tarantino always shows his love for film in all of his features.
A violent version of 'Clue' with a western touch begins to develop throughout the first half of the film and I am enjoying these well written characters. As we get to understand more about the reasoning for our characters being in this situation, the first half ends with a scene that had me feeling ice-cold.
As for the middle, I didn't mind the interval as it is nice to experience one to give me that feel of nostalgia. What would have given that true nostalgic factor was to have the music of the film being played during the intermission like they used to do.
The second half goes a bit standard Tarantino but lingered a bit too much on the pacing and the three hour duration does begin to show.
The biggest positive with any Tarantino film is the writing. It is like Tarantino has transports himself into each character. The heavy use of dialogue is what makes a Tarantino film great, as this is no exception.
Also with Tarantino films, he can get so many good performances out of actors you would never expect to get one from.
Samuel L. Jackson was an awesome lead. We don't see him take the lead that often. Jackson is usually known for stealing the show as a supportive role. But I felt he took control of this film really well and his past work with Tarantino shows he is on the same page as the director in where they are going with this film.
It was great to see Kurt Russell remind us how great an actor he has been. Tarantino is well known for giving actors a second career and it will be interesting to see what Russell does next. Jennifer Jason Leigh was the only main female character and I think she contributed well and gave a memorable performance that fitted in well with the tone. Walton Goggins was a nice surprise. He showed promise in being a minor character in Django Unchained. Now Goggins has been given more screen time and like Christoph Waltz, he was born to be in a Tarantino film. One performance that I had so much fun watching was Tim Roth's. You can also tell that he was having a good time playing that role. Michael Madsen wasn't memorable. But it was nice to seem as he has been in a fair few of Tarantino's films. Bruce Dern was a solid support and I think he should have been in more features with Quentin. Channing Tatum was a nice surprise and I completely forgot that he was cast in this. It was also nice to see Zoe Bell again after seeing her in Death Proof.
Other positives worth mentioning was the general look of the film. It is gorgeous to watch and the choice of location looked great on the camera lens that has been making headlines. For anyone who doesn't know, the camera lens that Tarantino used is the exact same one used for Ben-Hur.
It was great to finally see an original score in a Tarantino film. The composer turns out to be Ennio Morricone, who is well known for doing spaghetti western themes. It is as great as you would expect it to be. One particular highlight was the haunting overture with the snowy backdrop. It felt like we were given a warning of what is yet to come.
One thing I forgot about Tarantino, is how well he does comedy, and there is a lot of funny moments. I felt I was regularly laughing throughout the three hours and there was never any intentional comedic moments that failed to make at least smirk.
As for the negatives, there are only three worth mentioning. It is definitely too long. A bit like Django Unchained, three hours was totally unnecessary and felt forced just to make us feel like we're back in the 1950's.
Thankfully, a lot of the stuff in Djano is strong, highly memorable and has great re-watchability. The good stuff in The Hateful Eight is very good, but not as strong or memorable enough compared to something like Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds or Kill Bill.
One thing that Tarantino is known for doing, is not quite getting the execution of the ending right. There are a few exceptions, but a bit like Alfred Hitchcock, endings is not his forte. The ending in The Hateful Eight felt slow and lingered too much on the event happening in the final act.
Yes I felt it was really good, is definitely worth watching and must be seen on the big screen for the gorgeous cinematography and production design of it all. However with it being Tarantino, he has a high-quality back catalogue and a huge reputation of making instant classics.
The good stuff in this just did not feel as strong as his other works, and like I said earlier, this is me only being picky.
But the main thing is that it does feel like a Tarantino feature and fans of his style of film-making like myself will love it and have fun with the story and characters.
Rating: 8/10
One thing I forgot about Tarantino, is how well he does comedy, and there is a lot of funny moments. I felt I was regularly laughing throughout the three hours and there was never any intentional comedic moments that failed to make at least smirk.
As for the negatives, there are only three worth mentioning. It is definitely too long. A bit like Django Unchained, three hours was totally unnecessary and felt forced just to make us feel like we're back in the 1950's.
Thankfully, a lot of the stuff in Djano is strong, highly memorable and has great re-watchability. The good stuff in The Hateful Eight is very good, but not as strong or memorable enough compared to something like Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds or Kill Bill.
One thing that Tarantino is known for doing, is not quite getting the execution of the ending right. There are a few exceptions, but a bit like Alfred Hitchcock, endings is not his forte. The ending in The Hateful Eight felt slow and lingered too much on the event happening in the final act.
Yes I felt it was really good, is definitely worth watching and must be seen on the big screen for the gorgeous cinematography and production design of it all. However with it being Tarantino, he has a high-quality back catalogue and a huge reputation of making instant classics.
The good stuff in this just did not feel as strong as his other works, and like I said earlier, this is me only being picky.
But the main thing is that it does feel like a Tarantino feature and fans of his style of film-making like myself will love it and have fun with the story and characters.
Rating: 8/10
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