A+ (Probably)

A/A-

I'll definitely need to see it again before deciding on the final gradde, but this certainly ranks among Tarantino's best. This is pure Tarantino, sometimes bordering on self-parody, but always managing to walk the fine line very well. It is as if Tarantino has distilled the very essence of his trademarks - from cool dialogues over over-the-top violence (damn, this was bloody!) all the way to iconic characters, obscure references and great cameo appearances. Django Unchained has got it all.

The movie is most similar to Kill Bill, as it also, in a way, deals with the theme of revenge. The film is less focues as I would have liked it to be. Inglourious Basterds certainly had a tighter feel. This one drags a bit in the final act and it really should have just ended 15-20 minutes earlier. On the other hand, the first half of the film which chronicles how Django and Schultz have met, is simply fantastic and flies by very fast.

The cast is almost perfect, though I could have done without Jonah Hill. The standouts are (expectedly) Christoph Waltz and (somewhat less expectedly) Samuel L. Jackson. Waltz basically plays Hans Landa here, only that he's a nice guy and the film's heart. Having seen the movie, I can understand the Weinsteins putting him into the Lead chategory. It might not be very Oscar-wise, but he and Foxx really are the film's two leads. Waltz's line delivery is perfect (though he also does get the film's best lines). Jackson, on the other hand, delivers his best turn since Jackie Brown. It's very much a different character from those he usually plays. He also plays about 12 years older than his age and the interaction with DiCaprio is simply amazing.

DiCaprio on the other hand, while good, might not live up to some people's expectation. Another Hans Landa his Calvin Candie is not. It's a good character and DiCaprio plays him well, but he does not leave much of an impact. It's not Tarantino's best villain and it's also not DiCaprio's best performance, but it helps that he is playing against type here. I still found Jackson's villain more enjoyable. Foxx is pretty good in the leading part as well. I know many are doubting him, but he pulls it off well enough.

As I said, the movie is very bloody (in an exaggersated way, similar to Kill Bill) and the few action scenes are really well-done. Even though it does feel a tad too long (and unnecessarily so), it is still never boring, not for a second. The cinematography here is great as well as is the music (as usual in Tarantino's films). This is equal parts blaxploitation and spaghetti western multiplied by a healthy dose of Tarantino. It might be a bit self-indulgent, but it is also such gleeful fun!

How was the role Kurt Russell was suppose to be, I think it was changed to Bill Crash

I imagine the Russell/Costner role would have been larger if played by one of them. That said, The Shield's Walton Goggins plays that kind of an asshole to perfection.

True, though the revange in Basterds is more elaborate, whereas in Django it's just "shoot everyone". Also the style here is more similar to Kill Bill.

Those shooting are not the ones carrying out revenge. Shoshanna is the one.

Also, shut up and wait to see the film

DJANGO UNCHAINED

Being a QT fan he gets a B just because but I think that's what this is for me anyway. I wasn't wowed by this but I did enjoy it for the most part. Christoph Waltz is fantastic in this. I really liked his character and the almost chivalrous being of him. Foxx was excellent as Django but I don't think he made him as memorable a character as The Bride which is what this seemed to devolve into in the final act. I mean in terms of that big shootout in the mansion it reminded me of the swordfight in the japanese restaurant. I don't think the lady who played Brunhilde was that good. Unlike Diane Kruger in IB who made her role quite memorable, I don't get that from this lady even though she was in more than a couple emotional scenes. About the whole use of the N word I counted like 46 times before I quit and that was I think at the end of the shootout. I don't think it was overused or underused. It just was. I though Leo and Jackson were great in their roles. I wasn't excited about the scrolling words they used to pass the winter season or the big Mississippi wording. The music was good. Don Johnson was good. His whole bit explaning how to treat Django to a slave was very funny. I loved QT's death scene. I thought it was long at parts in that QT probably could have trimmed this a bit. Overall, I think it's a good enjoyable film but it didn't wow me.

Grade - B

Good. Was that a prosthetic dick?

A-

Mmmm. A little disappointing but I liked it overall. I guess one of the main problems I had with it was Django isn't a very strong character.

So awesome.

I pretty much loved this. I felt the final act stretched it into 'too long' territory and I would have rather had the middle trimmed a bit so that the huge finale at Candie Land didn't end up feeling like a false ending.

It was interesting too that, for all of the over the top blood spurting craziness of the movie what really shocked me was how strong the writing and acting was in the quiet, one-on-one scenes (especially between Waltz and Foxx). They had an intimacy and an honesty free of irony or witticisms that I don't usually find in Tarantino's films and it was actually quite touching.

This was pretty awesome from start to finish. I had my doubts that the editing would be a little off this time around, but I thought the pacing was great. Great acting all around, while the N word is used a lot, I do think it wasn't outrageous, it felt more like it was a justified use during the times. I'm not sure it's Tarantino's best, but I certainly loved it a lot on the first viewing. Sam Jackson was awesome, but everyone was great, even Johnson and Australian Tarantino.

This film is a major and nuanced achievement. Each of its 165 minutes is earned, and I could have spent yet another hour in Quentin Tarantino's brutal and distinctive vision of the American South on the eve of the Civil War. Though it, of course, quotes and references cult cinema of the sixties and seventies, the film also has a genuine visual elegance and sense of scope to rival Heaven's Gate, Jeremiah Johnson, and other beautiful and mythic examples of the Western. The cast is as diverse as it is dynamic, from Leonardo DiCaprio's volcanic malevolence as a rich, sheltered, and cruel land and slave owner to Christoph Waltz's ice-cold cool and charisma as an itinerant German dentist turned bounty hunter to Jamie Foxx, whose confident, touching, and understated turn as a former slave who discovers long denied agency and courage within himself does not deserve to become lost this Oscar season and go unrewarded. The beautiful chance to utilize the power and wonder of cinema to revisit sinister corners of world history with the aim of arming and empowering the figure of the victim (the Jewish people during the Second World War in his last picture and enslaved African Americans here) could be Tarantino's prime thematic fascination as his films become more sophisticated and as he transitions from American independent film's highest profile renegade to one of its most beloved, yet unpredictable elder statesmen, and I am intrigued to discover where he ventures next.

A

Really fantastic. Despite the nearly three-hour running time it doesn't drag, and is consistently engaging and entertaining throughout. Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz are both absolutely brilliant. Definitely one of the year's best, most enjoyable films. A

This was pretty fucking awesome. Not Tarantino's best, but definitely better than IB IMO. Everybody was great especially Dicaprio, Waltz and Foxx, but Sam Jackson easily stole show. He had me rolling and Don Johnson had some good bits as well (the scene with the hooded men) . Even with the lengthy running time me the movie is never boring although the finale was stretched out a bit much it's still very engaging.

My crowd really ate it up too. They broke out into applause atleast 3 times during the movie and at the very end.

I want to see it with your type of crowd. I how I get that the next time I go.

I dug Tarantino's perpendicular take on the Western - - Django Unchained is a ridiculously accomplished piece of filmmaking that is unfortunately a good half hour too long.

I'm usually no jamie Foxx fan, but he was fantastic in this - - the best acting I've seen in ages (though DiCaprio and Waltz were uneven).

Why, oh why wasn't this under 120 minutes? It could have been a truly great movie.


7 out of 5.

i assume that a 5 out of 5 is truly great, but that's just me

I would have thought you'd been around long enough to know the score.

You're insane. Bye now.

It is my second favorite Tarantino film after Jackie Brown.

And it is very crisp and linear. A big story, sure, but cleanly presented and very nicely measured.

I was!

Not being keen on Django is not insane. Thinking Tarantino should hang it up as a filmmaker most certainly is.

I thought IG was a major downfall, his first since Jackie Brown (Sorry David), but it grew on me immensely and now I love the film. There's really so much in the film I think you'll come around in the end. There is so much good that it outways the "it's not what I was expecting"

I also don't really see much that isn't standard QT, I mean if anything it has elements to most of his films throughout.

I have a quick question, who was the blonde covered by the bandanna? Was that Zoe? I was always expecting something from her and then she just disappeared.

At IMDB she is listed as "Tracker."