Death Proof (2007)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

You people are crazy who are giving this such a low review. This is cinema classic - fantastic, witty dialog, lots of humor, two amazing action scenes, one consisting of an outstanding car stunt that always gives me chills in the stomach, and a great "women's revenge" ending. I could watch this anywhere, any time and be thoroughly entertained. This movie has two distinct halves to it, and both are great. But you have to enjoy the buildup of we'll crafted dialogue. If all you want is mindless crap, don't watch a Tarantino movie.

Leave it to Tarantino to change up a clichéd genre like this. While widely viewed as his weakest film, it's not as bad as you might think. It's essentially a slasher movie but instead of a knife, Kurt Russell uses a car. It's enough of a twist to make it unique. Add to that the other Tarantino elements that are here, ultra violence, character-building dialogue, and great attention to detail, and you have a good combo. I say "good", because the big problem I have with it is that it's in two parts. The first half is good, the second half is good, but they feel really weird when pushed into one film. If the first half was shorter, maybe I would feel different about it. A lot of characters are established during the first half that don't appear outside of one scene, so it feels kind of wasted. I do like the film though, and I think it worked well when paired with "Planet Terror", I just wouldn't see it again unless I was purposely going through Tarantino's entire filmography.

***My review focuses on the movie itself&the characters(to a lesser extent),not the actors,directors,or any of that nonsense*** As a slasher movie fan,I found this movie was a slasher movie of a different kind&in less strict,looser definition of the term,as the weapon of choice is a car&not a butcher knife,or machete. Sure,it has it's slow moments,like any good movie should(all action all the time,is very often tedious,IMO)&the dialog was'nt too bad,interesting for the most part,just a bit too much of it,at times(Kims dialog was a bit overdone,for my taste. Funny,but a bit too overdone. Maybe it was meant to be that way,though.) Many say that the first half is the boring half of the movie,but the first half,is my favorite half,as you get to see the one&only murder done by Stuntman Mike,in the movie. And it is a good one,even if not typical. Plus,the first half,just seemed a bit more complex(to a small degree)&interesting,in a 'day in the life of',kind of way,like watching ordinary people go about their day&goof off.&have their idea of fun. Not that I did'nt thoroughly enjoy the ships mast chase. That WAS pretty badass. Others can poo-poo this movie,because it's 'old-school' style,but I happen to like it&I don't base my opinion,on other peoples opinions&reviews of it. To be completely honest,this is the closest thing to a 'chick flick',that I actually like. My only true gripe,is they killed off the killer&I would have liked a sequel(just one),to see more of Stuntman Mikes...'adventures',because though he's not a typical knife-wielding slasher(which I like),he was interesting. It's an unusual movie in ways&not a style of movie most 'movie snobs' are into,as they usually prefer more 'mainstream' stuff. I'd say give it an honest chance&maybe you'll enjoy it for what is,not for what it is'nt.

Death Proof feels like a distillation of the things which make make Quentin Tarantino exceptional as a director. This film is wonderful, but it's almost contradictory in nature in that there isn't necessarily a narrative drive in the conventional sense. The premise and thriller tone might lead one to believe that this film will be a heart pounding thrill ride, but I think that if you walk into it with that sort of expectation you might find at a certain point that you've become a bit confused or frustrated. You might be pleasantly surprised. I was. Probably though, it would serve your experience better to understand clearly what you're getting into. One of, if not the, greatest strengths of Tarantino as a writer is his mastery of dialogue. It is perhaps the most engrossing aspects of his film making and I've yet to see a film of his that wasn't absolutely exceptional in this aspect. That's very fortunate for any viewer of this film, because the speaking to action ratio is pretty high. Easily well over an hour of this film is the simplest kind of scene, which is people talking. Talking in a bar, talking in a car, talking outside. There is no shortage of talking in this film. If you aren't a fan of the way Tarantino writes conversation then this film will be an absolute nightmare for you. For everyone else, myself included, you'll find a wonderful energy and flow to this film which drives it in a way that nonstop action and excitement really can't. There is action though. This film doesn't lack a sense of urgency in its entirety. The more conventional thriller aspects are executed very well, with the sort of recurring winks to the audience which is integral to the nature of a grindhouse send up such as this. The reservation in use of action actually gives the more adrenaline-fueled segments a nice sort of pay off after an arguably excessive amount of build up. If you find that you can't get into the conversational portion of this film, I somewhat doubt that you'll find it worthwhile to sit through it for what remains.I think the simplest way to sum up Death Proof is that it's just watchable. I of course don't mean that in a derogatory sense. It just has such a feeling of effortlessness in how it flows for nearly two hours on almost nothing but people sort of just hanging out and shooting the breeze. It's may not be a conventional thriller, but really, that's what makes it so great.