Death Proof

English Title:	Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof / Grindhouse Presents: Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof
Other Titles:	View 1 Title
Year:	2007
Country:	USA
Language:	English
Genre:	Thriller
IMDB:	IMDB Page
Rating:	6.4 Rate
Collection:	Seen It Wishlist
Community:	12 Have Seen


Director	Quentin Tarantino
Selected Cast	Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike
	Zoë Bell as Zoë Bell
	Rosario Dawson as Abernathy
Writer	Quentin Tarantino

On DVD & Blu-ray World

DVD

Death Proof - Genius Products Inc. - USA (2007)

Blu-ray

Death Proof - Roadshow Entertainment - Australia (2008)

DVD

Death Proof - Roadshow Entertainment - Australia (2008)

DVD

Death Proof / Planet Terror - SF - Sweden

DVD

À Prova De Morte - Prisvideo - Portugal (2007)

Comments and Reviews


Magic Marmalade 17th Dec 2022		>The more I think about it, the more I think this is about Harvey Weinstein!!!< (Veiled analogy for his various misdeeds, that those who, at the time, would know what they were seeing... making the end of this movie eerily prescient, or prophetic)



Magic Marmalade 16th Dec 2022		Rated 5/10 Well, what do you know about that... a dud from Tarantino! I vaguely remember this being released alongside Planet Terror as part of that Grindhouse double bill, and it struck me at the time as being a "side-project" for Tarantino... (I remember distinctly feeling this was a self indulgence for both him and Rodriguez given as a reward by the studios for having done so well for them with previous works, and that these chums decided to relax a little, and make the crappy films of their respective adolescent fantasy dreams) ...And so it is, as I only finally got around to watching it the other day, having found the DVD cheap, and so thought I could cross that final Tarantino movie off my "to watch" list. Basically, it's a homage (more like a creepy love letter from an overly obsessive fan!) to those bizarre, cheap horror / thrillers of the seventies, and perhaps eighties... the Hitcher, and that Stephen King "monster-lorry" affair (the one with the green goblin face on the front of the truck)... ..With Kurt Russell's Stuntman Mike driving around in his creepy death machine - a suped up stunt car modified to become supposedly "Death proof", as you can survive any impact or crash in it and walk away... a fact he tests for inexplicable motiveless reasons against a couple of groups of fantastically annoying young women as a death wish / death defying weapon. The problem is, firstly, Kurt Russell is just too charming, charismatic, and likeable to play such a character type, so well defined by other movies, their anonymity of person as well as backstory, making them so effective (like a Terminator type), then the girls / women are not sympathetic characters, and you don't really care about them... (Obviously, designed around the old horror trope of the stupid, virginal victim fodder that gets you screaming in frustration at them) ...But they are horrible people, nasty, and vindictive, so I assume that the idea was to make you root for Russell instead, which doesn't come off, as the idea that Kurt Russell is "Such nice man" doesn't chime with what he is doing, or what he is... a nutcase killer. ...And also, it gives you, the audience member, the very uncomfortable feeling this is coming from a place of misogyny... almost a blueprint for some kind of incel manifesto. (This effect is even more troubling as it's a Weinstein production, featuring Rose McGowan... yikes!) But anyway, moving swiftly on.... ... The film is divided basically into two parts, each focusing on one of two groups of women he is targeting, with the vast majority of each piece of time devoted to each following these girls in their social environment, meaning that around two thirds of the film is devoted to the chit-chat / dialogue of these characters, and this is the major failing of the film, as uncharacteristically, Tarantino's dialogue is boring, tedious, pointless, and bland... and so lacking in the fundamental reasons his other films work, in being able to sell otherwise unpalatable ideas, scenes, characters, and action (at least they are funny, interesting, intriguing, or arresting)... ...No, this leaves a rather sour taste in the mouth, unusually for a movie of his, to the extent that you might well believe these first two thirds of the film were written by Weinstein himself, with only Tarantino coming in the last third for what is, admittedly, an enjoyable car chase finale... But an hour of shit to get to half hour of fun is a long way to go, in my book... too long. Additionally, Tarantino has over-indulged in the "make it look like a crappy cheap movie" aesthetic by covering the screen with snow and other cheap film stock effects, bad jerky editing with a lack of continuity in the camera changes and all the rest of it... except this joke doesn't sell for the simple reason that Tarantino is too good a movie maker to be so bad (And those movies he loves, which are so "bad they are good" are so, unconsciously and unintentionally - bad movie makers who thought they were better than they were, and trying to be brilliant... and failing - whereas he is a master movie maker knowingly, and intentionally trying to be less than he is, and it wears thin very quick, to the point that he even gives up the joke part way in, in favour of more competent practices. (Oh, and the actors are all too good at acting, which jars against this aesthetic and idea, and so fails to sell it). Well, at least he got this one out of his system, and moved on to bigger and better things! (Except Hateful Eight, which also largely sucks...ahem). ✔︎ Helpful Review?



jaimeeduardo 6th Dec 2020

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