MovieChat Forums > Death Proof (2007) Discussion > As a Tarantino fan: what mindset do I ne...

As a Tarantino fan: what mindset do I need to like this film?

posted 9 years ago by Tamino-Muth
23 replies | jump to latest

Ok, so Quentin is surely one of my top 5 favorite directors and I like or love all of his movies - except this one for some reason. Here's my ranking little quick:

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS - 10 (in my personal top 10)
PULP FICTION - 10
RESERVOIR DOGS - 9
KILL BILL 1+2 - 8
JACKIE BROWN - 7
DJANGO UNCHAINED 6
DEATH PROOF - 4

I've been wanting to give DEATH PROOF another chance for quite some time now. I've only seen it once when it was rather new and I totally didn't understand the point of it. To me, it felt like nothing was going on and there was just a bunch of pretty annoying girls that talk about very little. Kurt Russel was cool but other than that, I really didn't like anything in particular as far as I remember. While I usually love Tarantinos cleverly written, dialogue-heavy style, I didn't feel the magic of PULP FICTION or the incredible suspense of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS in this dialogue at all. It was just, well, bland people talking about bland stuff. But there must be more than that. Tarantino is just such a passionate guy and he puts so much effort in his movies that I can't believe he was just lazy with the dialogue here. No way.

I do not want to bash this movie in any way. As mentioned, I've only seen it once and want to try it ot again now. But I feel I need a little help to really get it. So here are two questions that hopefully fans of the film might be able to answer.

1.
I've heard numerous times that DETAH PROOF is an homage to old B-movies. Personally, I like to watch those quite a bit, especially cheap Sci-Fi flicks from the 80s or very trashy stuff like MIAMI CONNECTION, SAMURAI COP or MANOS, THE HANDS OF FATE. But I've never felt that B-movies of that kind were about bland characters talking endlessly - at least not the ones I've seen. To me it seems - on the contrary - that b-movies use to have very little or just functional dialoge and focus more on action or special effects (horror flicks I mean). So what exactly is the homage here? Is there some connection to some other kind of "B-movie-genre" that I just fail to get?

2.
Do I need to watch DETAH PROOF as a part of GRINDHOUSE or does it work just as well as a stand alone? To be honest, I don't really have much interest in watching PLANET TERROR - or in anything that Rodriguez has done since SIN CITY really. And I think the DEATH PROOF versions are different from one another right? So how should I approach my second viewing?

I would be very glad to get some useful answers. Again, I WANT to like the movie but when I watched it a couple years back, I just didn't.

[–] schall1991 9 years ago

Personally, I love Death Proof. I think the key is not taking it too seriously. As far as Grindhouse is concerned, I believe Planet Terror exists in the same world as Death Proof, but I have yet to see. I'm pretty sure you do not need to see Planet Terror to understand Death Proof. There are so many things I like about this movie. First, I think it gives off a very distinct vibe right from the start. While some find the dialogue tedious, I enjoy it and find it pretty comical. Stuntman Mike's conversation with Vanessa Ferlito outside of the bar is brilliant wrting by Tarantino and great acting from Russel. It is one of my favorite scenes of the entire movie. I also love the three distinct parts of the movie (grainy, black and white, normal picture). Just try to relax, maybe light up a bowl, and watch the movie with the intention of having fun. Death Proof won't disappoint.

[–] Robbmonster 9 years ago

But the problem is, Death Proof ISN'T fun. For the most part it's simply boring with nothing even faintly resembling story or character development, just endless talk and Kill Bill in-jokes.

And yes, I know it's meant to be bad. Problem is, it is.

Never defend crap with 'It's just a movie'
http://www.youtube.com/user/BigGreenProds

[–] schall1991 9 years ago

Your entire statement is subjective. To ME, Death Proof is very fun. To each their own cinema...

[–] Robbmonster 9 years ago

Your assessment of Death Proof is actually spot on. Don't let the high IMDB rating fool you into thinking you 'missed' something. There's nothing of substance to miss. Endless talk, spurt of action, even more, even less interesting talk, another burst of action.

No story, no character, no point. Just something that was 'meant' to be bad and succeeded admirably.

Never defend crap with 'It's just a movie'
http://www.youtube.com/user/BigGreenProds

[–] Zero_Wolf 9 years ago

Personally I don't think there's anyway to enjoy it, except perhaps if you just skip to the part where the Aussie gets on the hood.

You're not missing anything. It's profoundly uninteresting.

____________________________
Death is the road to awe.

[–] Etxpeme 9 years ago

Not an Aussie. A Kiwi.

[–] Stigger 9 years ago

For those who are too dumb to understand the importance of the dialogue, I ask what part would you cut out? In reality, virtually ALL of the dialogue is important to the story.

Pants up, don't loot.

[–] Melton (4453) a year ago

Even the parts omitted from the original Grindhouse version?

[–] mrpinbert 9 years ago

I've heard numerous times that DETAH PROOF is an homage to old B-movies. Personally, I like to watch those quite a bit, especially cheap Sci-Fi flicks from the 80s or very trashy stuff like MIAMI CONNECTION, SAMURAI COP or MANOS, THE HANDS OF FATE. But I've never felt that B-movies of that kind were about bland characters talking endlessly - at least not the ones I've seen. To me it seems - on the contrary - that b-movies use to have very little or just functional dialoge and focus more on action or special effects (horror flicks I mean). So what exactly is the homage here? Is there some connection to some other kind of "B-movie-genre" that I just fail to get?

Death Proof is 100% what it set out to be in the first place. A Grindhouse exploitation style action movie with a deadly car and hot chicks. Its a movie that delivers exactly what was advertised.
Its not so much a "tarantino movie" as it is Tarantino doing a Grindhouse style movie. It is supposed to be pure dumb fun.
That is also why Death Proof and Planet Terror where together as one movie "Grindhouse". Because Grindhouse theaters would often pair two movies.
This video explains it
http://cinemassacre.com/2007/04/13/grindhouse-movie-review/

And personally I love Stuntman Mike and the chicks.

If you save the world, We can do it in the *beep*
My top 100 http://www.imdb.com/li

[–] briangcb 9 years ago

I'm a huge QT fan, I love all of his movies, including this one. But it's definitely his worst film.

To answer your questions: 1. The movie references a few of the movies it's clearly inspired, most notably is Vanishing Point. I went and bought Vanishing Point after seeing this film and really enjoyed it. It's a very character-driven car chase movie.

2. No, you don't need to watch Death Proof as part of Grindhouse, they're separate films, that cross over in very minor ways. I've watched Death Proof way more than I've watched Planet Terror. I've found Rodriguez films to be getting tedious and I think this is where it started....actually maybe Once Upon A Time in Mexico is where it started lol. In fact I'd say watching Death Proof in Grindhouse is detrimental to it. Because Planet Terror plays first and it's very action/gore heavy. Whereas Death Proof is very dialogue heavy and is shown second.

Though hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's impossible to win an argument with an idiot

[–] Ithilfaen 9 years ago

To me, it felt like nothing was going on and there was just a bunch of pretty annoying girls that talk about very little.

And yet, substitute the "girls" by a bunch of annoying guys talking about Big Macs and other BS and it's a work of art, right?

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

[–] Tamino-Muth 9 years ago

Well, I'm not saying that this is something completely different, but I didn't feel the iconicness of PULP FICTION dialogue here. That's what I meant.

[–] Tamino-Muth 9 years ago

Argh, I just wrote a long and detailed reply but my browser ate it, great. In short: I gave the movie a second try today and it got from a 4-5 to a 7-8. As some people suggested, I tried to take it less seriously and mainly look at it as an hommage-film and, well, it worked pretty well in that regard. There was still some dialoge that I found a little bland but the love for the B-movie genre and the great finale made everything worthwile that I didn't like so much. It's still not one of my favorite Tarantinos but it is not at the bottom for me now but rather in the solid midsection of his filmography.