This film is a fun ride from start to finish, despite the somewhat unsettling scenes with sick people. It succeeds in its goal of being a homage to the zombie films of the 1970's. Originally this film appeared in the cinema as half of a double bill with Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof". Surprisingly, it wasn't very successful at the box office. I think that the idea of having two films for the price of one confused cinema goers, so they stayed away. That's sad.
The Blu-ray disc contains a longer version of "Planet Terror". It's not correct to call this a Director's Cut. It's simply the version that would have been released if it had been a standalone film instead of half of a double bill.
It's interesting to see that the two films, "Death Proof" and "Planet Terror", exist in the same universe. Dr. Dakota Block and Texas Ranger Earl McGraw appear in both films, played by the same actors. Earl McGraw also appears in "Kill Bill" and "From Dusk Till Dawn". He's killed at the beginning of "From Dusk Till Dawn", so if anyone wants to put the films in order "From Dusk Till Dawn" has to be last.
The Blu-ray Disc contains two versions of the film. One is a (relatively) clean version, while the other has many scratches on the film, as if it's an old, worn-out film roll. Of course, the film was made in its clean form and the scratches were added artificially afterwards. The clean version is only included as a favour to people who don't like scratches on their films. I watched the clean version today, but I think the scratched version is better, and that's what I shall watch in future.
I wish I could see this as the double bill - and of course with a number of very good short films thrown in. As it was both this and Death Proof were separate where I was at the time. This is a pretty silly, out-there film but done in the right irreverent manner. I agree it merits a 4.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand. In Birmingham it was shown as a double bill. Where did you watch it? It wouldn't have been sensible to show the two films separately, because the cinema versions were shortened, too short to stand by themselves. As far as I know the full length versions weren't available until the release on DVD. That's what I think, at least.
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