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Planet Terror: Extended and Unrated
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Genius Products Review written by and copyright: Cameron Murray & Noor Razzak (8th January 2009). |
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The Film
 Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are two names which are synonymous with cool hip cult classic type films from early in their careers and now slick and funky mainstream flicks since they have made names for themselves. "Planet Terror" is Rodriguez's contribution to the Grindhouse double header which he and Tarantino made as, I guess, a homage to those movies from the '70's which relied more on shock and awe than cohesive storylines and flashy camera work. The story is average at best, basically there is a biological weapon released that turns the majority of those who inhale it into zombie type things that then try and eat people who are not zombie or sometimes they just turn them into zombies as well, kind of like the facebook game except slightly more gruesome. Now of course there is the ragtag bunch of survivors who have to try and save the day, each with there own equally ludicrous storyline, from El Wray (Freddy Rodríguez), the man who never misses and isn't allowed to touch guns. Then there is Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) a go-go dancer who thinks she might become a stand-up comedian and later loses a leg but gains a big gun as prosthesis, so every cloud has a silver lining. The cast consists of some great actors; Bruce Willis, Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Naveen Andrews, Michael Biehn and Josh Brolin. It also has Fergie of Fergalicious fame, but if you liked watching Paris Hilton getting smoked in "House of Wax" (2005) then perhaps seeing Fergie departing this mortal coil might make this an enjoyable watch for you as well. The actors all play their parts well but given the nature of the dialogue it's hard to think that they were pushed, if anything it is maybe that they were struggling to under act. Stylistically this is "Grindhouse" but done with some sort of budget (a low budget by Hollywood standards but much higher than actual "Grindhouse" films would have had), the constant film grain and aging effects was a nice touch but may have been a tad overdone. There were a couple of nice moments which very much stayed true to the genre, things like being able to see the camera and crew in a mirror during the opening credits which sort of sets the tone for the rest of the movie, also the reel missing is a funny touch although it did annoy me a little given that they missed a whole bunch of the story out. I can see why this movie didn't do so well at the box office, why would you spend your money on a movie that has very little substance, 'poor' production values (remember this is an aesthetic done intentionally), and an average script and the whole point was to rub all those elements into you face? Having said that the whole purpose of Grindhouse was that the story is a vessel for the style, and it is a lot of fun if you are in the mood for no holds barred blood splattering, occasional needle jabbing and several uncomfortable moments then this is the movie for you. If you are after a movie in the vein of a Disney classic you probably should have stopped reading this review after the first sentence.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 the image is mastered on disc in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and uses AVC MPEG-4 compression. Much like the "Death Proof" transfer the film was shot with the intent to create a 'grindhouse' aesthetic, this means damaging the picture to include dirt, marks, scratches, specks, excessive grain and this transfer replicates that accurately. The film's detail and texture comes out exceptionally well, sharpness is solid even though there are intentional soft shots scattered about. Colors are nice and vibrant including the rich neon-ish green hues, reds and oranges look solid. Grain is prominent and part of the overall rough look of the film.
Audio
Genius Products has included four optional audio tracks in English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mastered at 48 kHz/24-bit as well as standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks in English, French and Spanish. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its TrueHD 5.1 audio, the audio is another exceptional presentation from Genius, the dialogue is clear and distortion free but is filled with flaws to match the rough image, there are drops out (primarily in the 'reel missing' scene), action scenes are aggressive and well mixed within the sound space and the film's pumping music adds to the overall depth of the track. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Genius Products has released this film as a 2-disc with extras that includes an audio commentary, an audience reaction track, a scratch free version of the film, poster gallery, a series of featurettes, theatrical trailers, BD-Live features and a gallery. Below is a closer look at these supplements broken down per disc. DISC ONE: Not only can you view the film in its"Grindhouse" scratched up version but you can also see the newly-discovered scratch free negative, it's basically a cleaned up version of the film. You can view the film with a feature-length audio commentary by the film's writer/director Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez is no stranger to commentaries and best of all he himself is a fanboy and knows exactly what we want to hear and he's chocked this track so full of information you'll wish the movie was even longer just to listen to him talk about the making of it. Right from the start he comments on how the trailer for "Machete" was an actual idea for a film he had for Danny Trejo but didn't materialize but then made this trailer as a test for the whole "Grindhouse" format, he comments about how fulfilling it was just shooting money shots for the trailer then moves onto the film itself as he reveals the idea to use the retro pre-program intros which came from screenings of movies at Tarantino's house, he talks in-depth about the development of the film and about how each scene came about, starting from a 30 page treatment to eventually completing scenes with certain actors in mind as well as using scenes written for other projects that didn't get off the ground. The parts I enjoyed the most are when he comments on the limitations of the budget and making the low budget work for the production, this is what Rodriguez is best at and this format is perfectly suited for his shoot-fast style of working as he also sheds light on the feel, tone and stylistic look of the film, as well as what has been added back into this longer version of the film, shooting on digital, editing, special effects and music among many other things. If you're a fan of Rodriguez then there's no reason why you shouldn't listen to this track, it's one of the best commentaries I've heard this year. Next up is an audience reaction track, this is basically some applauding, cheering and gasps during gory bits throughout the film and that's about it. To be honest I'm not all that interested in listening to other people's reactions to the film as I much prefer to get into the film without distractions. You can also connect to the BD-Live features through your player's Ethernet port, this feature is accessible with profile 2.0 players only. DISC TWO: The first extra on this disc is a regular feature on Rodriguez's DVD releases entitled "10 Minute Film School", this featurette runs for 11 minutes 51 seconds. When this feature was first introduced on the "El Mariachi" (1992) DVD he offered up practical ways to shoot scenes and make it look cinematic, these were techniques that everyone could use. As his career progressed these film school clips have become less about how you at home can achieve this to how the filmmakers achieved stuff on a Hollywood budget (granted a low budget but more than a novice or first time filmmaker would have to spend). In any case the feature still makes a welcomed addition to this disc and takes a look at some of the effects work for the film including the gun leg, the aged film look and keeping the dirt random so you're not seeing the same scratches over and over again but also using it as a visual tool, the use of pre-viz to plan complicated shots and compositing special effects among other things. Next is "The Badass Babes of Planet Terror" featurette runs for 11 minutes 49 seconds, this clip takes a look at the women if the film, the director comments on how the characters where developed during the script writing process. The female cast comment on their characters, playing the roles, on working with each other among other things. "The Guys of Planet Terror" is a featurette that runs for 16 minutes 30 seconds and takes a look at the male character of the film and the actors who portray them. In the clip we'll get a look at each character and what the actors brought to the part as Rodriguez wrote many scenes around the actors he wanted in the film as well as a look at some of the regular faces that appear in this film in which he's worked with before. "Casting Rebel" is a featurette that runs for 5 minutes 33 seconds and is a look at how Rodriguez cast his 7-year-old son in the film and how the character he plays is put through the most awful situation. On a funny note he shot an alternate version of the film SPOILER WARNING where the character his son plays, Tony, lives through to the end of the movie and to this day he doesn't know that he actually died. Next is "Sickos, Bullets and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror" featurette which runs for 13 minutes 17 seconds and as the title suggests we get a look at the stunts which includes the wire rigs and getting the actors to do some of their own stunt work as well as an inside look at the stunt tram used on the film, the staging of the stunts, choreography of Wray's hospital knife sequence, fire effects and setting off explosions. We've also got "The Friend, the Doctor and the Real Estate Agent" a featurette that runs for 6 minutes 41 seconds that looks at how Rodriguez cast one of his friends, his doctor and his real estate agent in the film, why he chose them for the parts and what they brought to the small characters they played. Also featured is the film's original International [b]theatrical trailer[/b] which runs for 2 minutes 18 seconds. Following that is an International poster gallery which includes 35 images. The Grindhouse film was released as a double feature Stateside but for International markets the two films were released separately and what we have here is the artwork created for the film's international release. The gallery includes posters and lobby cards for "Planet Terror" as well as for the trailer "Machete" (which is going to be made into a film eventually).
Overall
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