GRINDHOUSE Japanese R2 Complete Box DVD Review
The title of this article immediately gives away this DVD-boxset's biggest draw: it contains the bundled version of "Planet Terror", "Death Proof" and the famed fake trailers which was released in United States' cinemas under the name "Grindhouse".
For now this is the only DVD-edition which can boast that, and it is a sweet looking package indeed. Its six (!) discs also contain the longer international cuts of both "Planet Terror" and "Death Proof", with loads and loads of extras.
No English subs, but hey, it's all in English anyway, extras and all!
Now, a word of warning: even though we probably have enough reviews for these movies on the site already, I only saw them last weekend through this release and I cannot resist adding my 0.02 USD. This has made it my longest review yet. Heh.
To make amends I also included a picture of Rose McGowan somewhere, dodging a rocket in a spectacular way.
If you are just interested in the quality of the discs and the extras, skip to the end where it'll say "On to the DVD".
Read on....
The Plot(s):
"Grindhouse" is an homage to the low quality movie theaters of old, which would show double-bills of ANY movies no matter how exploitative, weird, incomplete or damaged they were. "Grindhouse" indeed features two well-worn movies in a double-bill, interspersed with some outrageous fake trailers and (other) cringingly bad adverts.
In Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror", a violent mishap during an illegal arms deal causes the release of a biochemical agent which turns people into melting flesh-eating maniacs. As the epidemic spreads and spreads, an assortment of survivors try to keep themselves alive, first and foremost amongst these a go-go dancer named Cherry and her gunrunning ex-boyfriend Wray.
In Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof", an older embittered stuntman uses his collection of armored movie-cars to kill groups of women. When his newest set of targets contains a stuntwoman or two, his glee turns into dismay when he gets very closely acquainted with modern girlpower...
The Movie(s):
A typical Rodriguez/Tarantino project, "Grindhouse" was made hoping that the audience would have just as much fun watching an intentionally bad film as the two directors did making it. In this respect it is similar to their earlier outing together, "From Dusk Till Dawn".
Like that movie, the two separate entries here are flawed and uneven, but also undeniably entertaining and both feature moments which may get classic status in the future.
In contrast, "Grindhouse" as a whole is almost perfect. This is partly because the general conceit of creating a damaged movie inherently takes care of all flaws:
Made a mistake?
Grindhouse tribute.
Inconsistency?
Grindhouse tribute.
Failure to suspend disbelief?
Grindhouse tribute.
You see what I'm getting at, this could easily have become the laziest of movies, but thankfully both Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino really made an effort to avoid this. Most of the flaws have indeed been put in there on purpose with a wink, and, for the knowledgeable, a hint or two...
So when in "Planet Terror" a (real!) doctor starts showing (real!) photo's of terrible afflictions, that is a nod to the "Mondo" movies. When later Quentin shows up as a rapist soldier, the minutes that follow are a nod to the "Women in Prison" movies.
It's actually quite cleverly done, and the amount of jokes you find upon multiple viewings only grows and grows.
Criticism has been leveled against the use of modern technology and references to the recent wars, but in my opinion those are essential for "Grindhouse" to succeed.
If you went to an actual double-bill in the late seventies you would encounter several mentions of Vietnam, and you'd be watching these ridiculously exploitative action movies while friends of yours might still suffer the consequences of actually having been to Vietnam. These details used to provide what little anchoring there was to the real world, and Quentin and Robert tap that part of the experience as well by using these seemingly anachronistic modern references.
Worthy of note are also the fake trailers. "Thanksgiving" by Eli Roth and "Werewolf Women of the SS" by Rob Zombie are nice but too obviously meant as a joke to really fool anyone. Edgar Wright's "Don't" and Robert Rodriguez' "Machete" however are spot-on!
All in all I really dug "Grindhouse". It got a big laugh out of me and I consider it one of the most successful projects released in 2007, even though it performed badly at the domestic box office.
Now according to the Weinsteins, the grindhouse experience is something so distinctly American that it would be useless to release this movie in its "Grindhouse" form anywhere else. I find this odd as you can watch crappy double (and triple) bills everywhere around the world, in fact it's still basically THE way to watch movies in most tropical countries. And me myself, born and raised in Northwestern Europe, have seen the Sergio Leone westerns NOT in a decent cinema, but in a sort-of community youth center and I can assure you the quality of the prints (or rather the lack thereof) matches the one simulated in this movie!
Be that as it may, we non-Americans got the two movies separately. Slightly longer but without the mid-time trailers. For shame!
These versions are also included in this set so the claim of completeness has indeed been met. But the thing is, if you take them out of their "Grindhouse" context they become a bit... odd...
"Planet Terror" becomes a very yucky zombie movie that is strangely scratched: it is literally a smaller version of "Grindhouse" with the intentions more or less intact. The print deterioration and missing reel are vital elements to the movie so they are still in here and rightly so: Robert Rodriguez really tried to see what he could get away with and it produces some hilarious gags. But without the other grindhouse trappings you get the feeling something is indeed missing, and I can't blame audiences for being slightly confused about this movie.
Still, as silly gory fun it works. And few directors can lens women like Robert Rodriguez does, always working to his actresses' strengths and hiding their weaknesses. If anything will make you a Rose McGowan fan it's this movie!
"Death Proof" on the other hand shakes off its "Grindhouse" pedigree more successfully. Even the missing reel has now been included!
A more cohesive effort from the start, Quentin Tarantino's film works better as a stand-alone than "Planet Terror" did. But the very simplistic story together with the meandering dialogs make this movie seem to be rather bare-bones. It also crashes into the ending with such sudden speed that I was left with a feeling of "Huh?". I couldn't believe it. This is where (and how) the film ends? The only Tarantino-directed movie in years and this is it?
Mulling this over for a few days I've decided I actually really like this ending, but to be honest that's after having seen all of "Grindhouse", not just this bit.
Conclusion(s):
I've written different conclusions for each of the three movies, and I'm counting "Grindhouse" as a separate one:
"Grindhouse" as a whole is a remarkable thing, an intentional guilty pleasure which works on all fronts. Flashes of brilliance abound during its three-hour-plus running time. A blast from start to finish, and a fitting homage to the cinema experience of yore.
"Planet Terror" is silly gore and titillation, and as a stand-alone out of its grindhouse context it's still fun to watch but actually a bit too silly.
"Death Proof" may just be the shallowest thing Tarantino has ever done. Within the grindhouse project that works marvelously, but as a standalone it left a lot of people scratching their heads and I can't blame them. Still, the ending provided me with one of the most "fuck, yeah!" moments in recent years.
On to the DVD:
OK, all of the above may have been pretty old-hat for most readers. But how is this specific DVD-release?
Well...
The bad news: being a special edition from Japan, it's pretty goddamn expensive.
The good news: being a special edition from Japan, it's pretty goddamn sweet!
And I'm serious here, we're talking Criterion quality.
Each of the three movies has two discs dedicated to it, and although the extras sometimes overlap in content there is enough here to satisfy any fan.
The worn-looking packaging is killer too. Check it out in our forum to see for yourself.
Once again I'll start with "Grindhouse":
Disc "A" houses the film, the whole film and nothing but the film.
You have a chapter select and removable Japanese subs. That's it.
The audiotrack is Dolby 5.1, English only. The mix could have been a lot more 3D, but frankly to keep in the grindhouse mindset I'm surprised it's not mono! Video is very good, probably better than it needs to be for a movie which is grainy, scratched and discolored on purpose.
Disc "B" has the extras, many of which are exclusive to this edition:
The first shows Quentin & Robert announcing Grindhouse at the 2006 San Diego Comic-con, with actresses present. This 24 minute minidoc shows the Q&A session and it's a lot of fun, with most questions actually being interesting.
Next is an unbelievably entertaining 12 minute interview with Quentin. He is his confident sugar-rushed ADHD self which might be annoying to some, but what he says is interesting and several times already I've replayed his monologue on how he uses music and why he often doesn't use a specially composed soundtrack. Very educative (I learned RZA is pronounced "rizzah", never knew that) and damn funny too.
After that comes a more run-of-the-mill press piece with lots of people backslapping each other which lasts nearly 40 minutes. Despite its form (basically a dressed up advert) and some repeats from what was said in San Diego there is still a lot here worthy of notice. Short interviews with Edgar Wright and Rob Zombie about their fake trailers for instance are pretty sweet.
Next are 19 minutes of behind the scenes outtakes from both movies and the fake trailers. One of the weirdest images to be found here is Rob Zombie and Udo Kier (in full nazi regalia) having a good laugh together at what they're doing.
Finally you get the (real) US trailer for the movie "Grindhouse".
Next is "Planet Terror":
Disk "A": HamaNA!
Here we go folks, we have Japanese and English audio, DTS, and a full commentary from Robert Rodriguez which is a VERY easy listen. He talks clear and relaxed, dishes out technical details and funny anecdotes alike, and is not afraid to point out mistakes. A highly recommended track!
Video is again very good, displaying all damage exactly as intended.
This disk surprisingly also holds a fair amount of extras: a Japanese text on "What is Grindhouse?", cast and staff bios, and a selection of TV and cinema trailers for both "Planet Terror" and "Death Proof".
Disk "B" holds the following:
"Robert Rodriguez 10 minute film school" is basically Robert adding another ten minutes to his audio commentary, this time supported by "behind the scenes" footage and some special effects breakdowns. Very cool and well done. And it lasts 12 minutes.
"Badass Babes of Planet Terror". No points for guessing what this 12 minute feature is about.
Next is a 16 minute item about the males of Planet Terror. What, no funny title?
A 5 minute item follows detailing how Robert Rodriguez shamelessly shot two movies: one in which Dakota's son (played by Robert Rodriguez' own seven year old son) dies, and one in which he tags along in the background and survives all the way until that beach in Mexico. Just in case the audience would be hostile to Robert's initial choice, which I'm not going to reveal here.
After that we get a 13 minute look at the stunts.
Last but not least, a very funny look at the nepotism surrounding any of Robert's films: his physician has a small part (as a physician), his realtor is in there, his nieces...
Finally, "Death Proof":
Disc "A" again features Japanese and English audio, including a DTS track. No commentary from Quentin, but he's all over the extras anyway so if you want to hear him talk you'll get plenty of that on disc "B".
Again there are extras on disc "A" , and they are basically the same as on disc "A" of Planet Terror: Japanese text on "What is Grindhouse?", Japanese bios, TV and cinema trailers.
Disc "B" hosts a veritable slew of extras, starting with an introduction by Quentin and followed by a 12 minute minidoc on "The Hot Rods of Death Proof". Cars, cars, cars!
Next is a 20 minute segment on the stunts, and what better to follow it with but two 9 minute minidocs on Zoe Bell and Kurt Russell.
Another two 9 minute minidocs cover the (other) girls and the (other) guys of Death Proof.
Next is the oddest extra on all these discs: two minutes of actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead absentmindedly singing the song "Baby it's you" (incidentally with a voice that she need not be ashamed about).
And it's about time someone added a segment about editing, even if it's maybe a tad short with 5 minutes. Quentin is cool for giving Sally Menke loads of credit here.
Last but not least there is the trailer for "DoubleDare", the cinema documentary on Zoe Bell's courageous travel to the US hoping to score it big as a stuntwoman (ending with Quentin "discovering" her and offering her the job of being Uma Thurman's stunt double in "Kill Bill").
A very, VERY cool extra to end with.
Overall, this set of discs contains nearly everything I would have wished for about these movies, and then some!
And this concludes my review.
Jim's Grindhouse review.
Blake's interview with Sydney Poitier who plays Jungle Julia.
See pictures of this edition in our forum.
Click here to order the set
