The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight is neither the best nor least of writer/director Quentin Tarantino's oeuvre. Like most of his work, the film is highlighted by the mix of snappy dialogue and gruesome violence. And, sadly like much of his work, the film is hampered the filmmaker's indulgences (such as shooting a film shot almost entirely in close-ups on a sound stage in 70mm simply because he felt like doing so) which don't always serve the final product. The result is a film with terrific sequences, hampered by dark humor that doesn't always find the right note, which eventually overstays it's welcome.

The film begins with the chance encounter of a pair of bounty hunters (Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson) both fighting to get ahead of the oncoming blizzard. Before all is said and done the two men, along with one man's bounty (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the carriage driver, and a host of other strangers, will all attempt to seek shelter from the storm in Minnie's Haberdashery.

Far too long at 167-minutes, The Hateful Eight begins to show strains prior to the two-hour mark where the filmmaker chooses to leave the continuity of the story and unnecessarily explain the events leading up to the bloodshed (for those unable to follow the rather straightforward series of events, I guess). Certainly better than the dreadful Django Unchained, Tarantino's latest never reaches the heights of Inglourious Basterds or Pulp Fiction but it proves to be largely entertaining a good chunk of it's lengthy running time.

Available on both Blu-ray and DVD, the only extras included are a digital copy of the film, and short promotional featurettes on the making of the movie and the choice to film in 70mm.

[The Weinstein Company, Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.98]