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Death Proof (2007) DVD Review
Death Proof (2007) DVD Credits:
Death Proof (2007) Directed by:
Quentin Tarantino
Death Proof (2007) Written by:
Quentin Tarantino
Death Proof (2007) Cast:
Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoe Bell, Quentin Tarantino
Death Proof (2007) Released by:
The Weinstein Company
Region:
1
Death Proof (2007) DVD Release Date:
17th September 2007
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Death Proof (2007) Synopsis:

A creepy stunt driver whose taste for stalking lovely young ladies gets him into big trouble when he tangles with the wrong gang of badass babes. Their confrontation escalates to an extended mano-a-mano car chase with one of the girls strapped to the hood of a thundering Dodge Challenger.

Death Proof (2007) DVD Review:

When Kill Bill was split into two volumes because of the length, and ability to charge double, it seemed like a scheme to make more money only until each of the films had been seen. Although there is no doubt in my mind that the concept was fueled by financial gain, Tarantino was able to create two different films, each successful in its own way. I would love to see a cut of the two films combined, but it was a wise choice financially and artistically. Grindhouse, on the other hand, needed to be seen in theaters as a double feature. Nearly the entire experience of the films required the theater-going atmosphere, and although the experiment was an absolute success for those who experienced it, ticket sales weren’t as high as they might have been thanks to the longer length with two films. Now the hopes is that by splitting the films on DVD some of the ticket sales can be recuperated. While the splitting of Kill Bill made two better films, I had doubts about the Grindhouse split, and should Grindhouse ever see theatrical release again it should always contain the films together, but on DVD everything changes.

Unfortunately the Grindhouse experience is lost in more ways than just a double billing when transferred to DVD. Many of the visual cues and jokes engrained into the picture are directed at the specific medium of film. These are somewhat meaningless on DVD, which we know to be flawlessly clear and unfaltering, unlike film which is much more volatile and unpredictable, causing burns, snags, and scratches not removed when transferred to DVD. There are even characters from Planet Terror that blend into the film, and that is not the same when Planet Terror is no longer connected to Death Proof. This isn’t to say that all is lost with the DVD release of Tarantino’s film, but the genius of what he and Rodriguez accomplished happened in movie theaters, a place which the filmmaker seems to hold as sacred by the way he references it in each of his postmodernist films. Tarantino loves movies so much that he not only references them in each of his movies, but he has begun to blend reality with fiction, even casting an actual stunt woman to play herself in Death Proof.

The other stunt man in the film is a homicidal maniac who goes by the name of Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell). Mike uses his death-proof stunt car as a deadly weapon to kill beautiful groups of women he hunts down like a predator. His first target is a group of women in a dive bar, including a local radio celebrity. After a planned execution of carnage brought on by his death-proof stunt car, Stuntman Mike begins spying on another group of girls, but little does he know that two of them are also Hollywood stunt-women. When the four women, including, travel into the country to find a white 1970 supercharged Challenger, the same car from the cult film Vanishing Point. After an excruciating amount of dialogue the two stunt women take the famous car for a test drive at which point they attempt a dangerous stunt which turns even more dangerous at the arrival of Stuntman Mike.

Although Tarantino’s film is a slow burn up to this point, almost to the point where it had become frustrating after watching a non-stop assault like Planet Terror, once the car battle begins on the country road the film never lets up until the last frame. The significant car from a film about a man who inspired people to stand up the man by refusing to stop driving for the cops until his ultimate demise crashing into a barricade becomes a white horse for our heroines as they battle the malicious retired stuntman. Not only does it becomes a battle of age with the two generations of stuntmen battling in the black and white muscle cars, but it is also about gender as Tarantino creates a girls club in Death Proof, even giving the women their own diner scene which is destined to be compared to the opening of Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino makes these obvious connections to past films in all of his films, but it is entirely the focus in his latest, and the fact that he is making references has increased dramatically with Death Proof, even using a Kill Bill theme as a cell phone ringer. What is really interesting is that he is bringing us back to a style of film which will automatically induce 1970s nostalgia for many, yet he intentionally includes very modern elements. In the same location we watch jukeboxes and smoky barrooms that throw us back to another time, there is still text messaging and I-Pods.

Although the fact that this version of Death Proof is unrated is somewhat irrelevant, considering it is mostly just additional footage which wouldn’t likely offend after the gore of Planet Terror, but must have been removed for length. The infamous lap dance which was a scene missing in the theatrical version is inserted back in, and although there is no nudity and it isn’t at all shocking, this is a near perfectly directed sequence in many ways. The music choice is stellar as is the editing, camera angles and a million other small details that come from the level of observation Tarantino has from obsessive film watching. There is some additional violence added back in, and it is slightly more graphic than before. In truth, this is a better film for the format of DVD, although there is no way it can stand up to the experience in theaters.

The 2-disc special edition includes all sort of featurettes on the second disc, but disc one is bare as can be. It isn’t often Tarantino’s films have commentary tracks, and Death Proof is no exception. There are a couple of trailers, including the international trailer, but the rest of the special features are on the second disc. These include featurettes about the casting, both for the girls and the guys, each meticulously picked equally for who they are in the entertainment industry and how that role fits into the film. There is also a featurette about Zoe Bell, who plays herself, Tarantino’s talented editor, Sally Menke, and Kurt Russell has his own featurette as well. There is also an unedited sequence from the film in which Mary Elizabeth Winstead sings. This is a strange B&W sequence which Tarantino added back into the film, and it is just the footage of her singing which is lost in the scene while Russell spies on the girls.

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Death Proof (2007) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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