The Hateful Eight is easily my least favorite of Tarantino’s films and while technically speaking it is a masterpiece especially with a couple of the performances (Russell and Leigh in particular), the cinematography and score, the rest was an utter chore to sit through and it felt every bit of its nearly three hour length.
The Hateful Eight
(2015)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Western, Suspense
Anchor Bay | R – 168 min. – $39.99 | March 29, 2016
Date Published: 04/04/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE – 2.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Set six, eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (KURT RUSSELL) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (JENNIFER JASON LEIGH), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (SAMUEL L. JACKSON), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (WALTON GOGGINS), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff.
Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces: Bob (DEMIAN BICHIR), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (TIM ROTH), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (MICHAEL MADSEN), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (BRUCE DERN). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all… Review: Reservoir Dogs. Pulp Fiction. Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2. Jackie Brown. Inglorious Basterds. Django Unchained. Outside of Death Proof I’ve at the very least enjoyed Tarantino’s movies, heck in some regards Jackie Brown might be my favorite even over Pulp Fiction. His latest is The Hateful Eight has a lot going for it with a good cast, filled Tarantino staples Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Madsen, but despite good performances and fantastic visuals, the bloated story failed to pull me in.
First and foremost, The Hateful Eight is a gorgeous looking movie courtesy of Robert Richardson be it in the Colorado wilderness (standing in for Wyoming) or inside the Haberdashery and its rich, rustic design that makes it seem like the movie is ready to be adapted as a Broadway play. The other standout is Ennio Morricone, classic composer of numerous Italian classics including A Fistful of Dollars and even took home the Academy Award for his work here. The performances, while chewing some scenery in a few instances, also is commendable headlined by Kurt Russell, whose exit was far too soon in my book, and Jennifer Jason Leigh who has experienced a career resurgence in some respect. Samuel L. Jackson for his part is, well, Samuel L. Jackson. He yells some of his lines and has that intensity in his eyes like no other actor working today and while his performance was fine, he does go overboard in a few scenes.
As I said, I like Quentin Tarantino’s movies, even is lesser regarded ones, but The Hateful Eight is easily my least favorite with forgettable characters and a plot that meanders not to mention an unnecessarily lengthy running time where no suspense is built and an underwhelming reveal toward the end, though even afterward there was still another 30 minutes to go. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5 |
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This release comes with a textured and embossed slip cover. Inside is the DVD Copy and redemption code for the Digital HD. Features wise, it’s a bit light, we get Beyond the Eight: A Behind-the-Scenes Look (4:58; HD) featurette which has some interviews with the cast as they talk about Tarantino as well as their characters and Tarantino himself during what I think was a press junket. Also included is Sam Jackson’s Guide to Glorious 70mm (7:49; HD) is an advertisement for the 70mm Roadshow Version and Tarantino explains why 70mm is special. |
VIDEO – 5.0/5 |
| The Hateful Eight rides onto Blu-ray presented in the film’s original 1.75 widescreen aspect ratio and given a brilliant looking 1080p high-definition transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec). One of the biggest positive aspects of the film is the cinematography, as I mentioned, and it shows so well in HD with radiant colors in spots and excellent detail throughout and there are no flaws like artifacts or aliasing. Not surprising, but this is reference quality work here… |
AUDIO – 4.5/5 |
| Not to be outdone, The Hateful Eight comes with a robust DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. Dialogue levels of course are crisp and clear but where this track comes to life it’s with Ennio Morricone’s incredible score. The few action-centric scenes display the gunfire quite well. With this track you can hear every little thing especially with the ambient noises either inside or outside the Haberdashery. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
| Overall, The Hateful Eight is easily my least favorite of Tarantino’s films and while technically speaking it is a masterpiece especially with a couple of the performances (Russell and Leigh in particular), the cinematography and score, the rest was an utter chore to sit through and it felt every bit of its nearly three hour length. The Blu-ray does offer great video and audio transfers but falls far short in the features department. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.