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| A fearsome bunch of gun-carrying characters appear to be headed towards the same cabin through a blizzard on this exciting poster for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight |
A bounty hunter with a wanted woman in his wagon runs upon an old acquaintance in a blizzard en route to Wyoming and brings him along with them; but soon the little company meet trouble at Minnie's Haberdashery.
The Hateful Eight is written and directed by Tennessean master filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs (1992)), whose 10th feature it is.
Tarantino's second western, The Hateful Eight takes place in the same somewhat unreal Tarantino world as the preceding Django Unchained (2012). (The feeling is only enforced by Tarantino narrating the film himself.) Robert Richardson's (Breathe (2017)) exceptional 65 mm images and Ennio Morricone's (Days of Heaven (1978)) wily score make this tale of hoodlums easy to take.
In the cast Walton Goggins (The Crow: Salvation (2000)) stands out along with Jennifer Jason Leigh (The First Time (1982, TV movie)), the latter throwing herself head-first into a both frightening and pitiful character. The basic idea is to take a group of diverse, villainous characters and let them fight out their grievances in a cabin during a storm. A lot of sulfurous dialog and blood splatters predictably result, but without the shadow of a hero, it is hard not to feel that The Hateful Eight is somewhat overlong. We recognize some of Tarantino's tricks from past films, and curiously enough for this major wide format revival, he keeps his The Hateful Eight almost entirely indoors.
Some of Tarantino's trademark speechifying is just filler, - and I think it a shame that we don't get more wingspan to the film location-wise. SPOILER - What is one to think of the master filmmaker's career now, as the film ends with two men hanging a woman in a cabin to their great mirthful laughter, whereupon it ends? It feels a bit sad. For a newcomer I'd instead advice to watch Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Jackie Brown (1997).
Related posts:
Quentin Tarantino: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]2019 in films - according to Film Excess
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood/Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) - Tarantino gets lost in Hollywood
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Django Unchained (2012) - Tarantino's gutsy, colorful 'Southern'
Inglourious Basterds (2009) - The Movies take revenge on Nazi scum
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Death Proof (2007) - Tarantino's awesome, rubber-burning Grindhouse homage
From Dusk till Dawn (1996) - Tarantino, Rodriguez and chums' enjoyable Mexico vampire extravaganza (writer-star)
Desperado (1995) - Rodriguez' second Mexico actioner is a sexy, latino fireball (actor)
Four Rooms (1995) - Rodriguez, Tarantino & Co. fail with LA hotel anthology comedy (co-director)
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 44-62 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 155.8 mil. $
= Box office success or a big hit (returned somewhere between 2.51-3.54 times its cost)
[The Hateful Eight premiered 7 December (Los Angeles) and runs 168 minutes (long roadshow version runs 187 minutes.) Originally thought as a Django sequel, Tarantino changed it up for his first draft, which leaked online in 2014, upsetting Tarantino to the point of naming the few trusted colleagues he had apparently shared it with and scrapping actually filming it. He instead held a reading with many of the stars present in 2014 and finally deciding to go ahead and film it anyway. Shooting took place from December 2014 - April 2015 in Colorado and Los Angeles, California. The state of Colorado contributed 5 mil. $ to the production. Kurt Russell (Touchback (2011)) accidentally smashed an antic 1870s Martin guitar during shooting, resulting in the Martin Guitar Museum no longer lending guitars out as props in movies anymore. The film was shot on 3 types of 65 mm cameras and transferred to 70 mm film, the widest 70 mm release since Far and Away (1992). The film opened #3, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Daddy's Home, to a 15.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America after getting released as a longer roadshow version for its first week in only 70 mm equipped theaters, making 4.6 mil. $ for a final gross of 54.1 mil. $ (33.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 13.2 mil. $ (8.2 %) and France with 12.3 mil. $ (7.6 %). The film's Box Office Mojo site is flawed, listing the film's 5.4 mil. $ Australian gross twice, both in 2015 and in 2021. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Score (Morricone's first and only Oscar). It lost Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) to Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl and Cinematography to Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant. It also won 1/3 BAFTA nominations, 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for 2 Grammys and won 3 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. Tarantino returned with Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (2019). Samuel L. Jackson (Common Grounds (1990, miniseries)) returned in Cell (2016); Russell in Deepwater Horizon (2016); and Leigh in Morgan (2016). The Hateful Eight is certified fresh at 74 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Hateful Eight?
