Product Description
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Director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) is back with a rip-roaring,
zombie-infested rollercoaster of a movie that sure as hell keeps
you hanging on for the ride (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone). Rose
McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Bruce Willis, and an all-star cast
fight for their lives in the ultimate showdown between an army of
-eating mutants and a motley group of rag-tag survivors.
Featuring one of the most memorable screen heroines ever and the
now-legendary mock Machete trailer, Planet Terror is as total
blast funny, gory and over the top (Christy Lemire, Associated
Press).
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Loud, fast, and proudly out of control, Grindhouse is a tribute
to the low-budget exploitation movies that lurked at drive-ins
and inner city theaters in the '60s and early '70s.
Writers/directors Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill) and Robert
Rodriguez (Sin City) cooked up this three-hour double feature as
a way to pay homage to these films, and the end result manages to
evoke the down-and-dirty vibe of the original films for an
audience that may be too young to remember them. Rodriguez's
Planet Terror is a rollicking horror/sci-fi/action piece about a
plague outbreak that turns citizens into cannibalistic murderers;
it's heavy on the gore and explosions but also features a
terrific cast of A players (Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews,
Marley Shelton) and B-movie vets (Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Tom
Savini) and the indelible image of Rose McGowan as a stripper
whose torn-off leg is replaced by a high-powered machine .
If Tarantino's feature was a nod to the moody, genre-jumping
exploitation of the early '70s, Rodriguez's contribution to the
Grindhouse aesthetic pays tribute to the manic gorefests from
Italy and the States in the early '80s. And much like the film
itself, the supplemental features on Terror's double-disc
Extended and Unrated presentation have a loose, action-packed and
familial vibe that gives fans full access to Rodriguez's
one-man-studio approach to moviemaking. The director is featured
twice on audio tracks: first, on the feature commentary, which
provides a fun tour through the picture's production (as well as
information on the upcoming Grindhouse DVD set, which will
reunite the two pictures in their theatrical format), and later
on the "10-Minute Film School," a fascinating breakneck run
through the numerous visual and CGI effects that produced the
film's most eye-popping effects, including McGowan's leg/machine
. Most of the extras echo Rodriguez's informative and
entertaining vibe--two featurettes cover the picture's male and
female cast (the former offers affectionate tributes to the
exploitation vets in the company, including Biehn, Fahey, Michael
Parks, and Savini), while "Casting Rebel" is an amusing
discussion of how Rodriguez came to bring his own son into the
movie, as well as his refusal to disclose the e of Rebel's
character. "os, Bullets, and Explosions" takes a look at
Terror's extensive special effects through interviews with stunt
coordinator Jeff Dashnaw and members of the visual effects team,
while "The Friend, The Doctor, and The Real Estate Agent" chats
with three non-actors, all pals of Rodriguez, who wound up with
small but significant roles in the picture. The Extended and
Unrated aspect of the set is limited to a few extended scenes and
extra splatter (sorry, the infamous "Missing Reel" is not
recovered for this set), while Grindhouse fans bemoaning the
absence of the film's hilarious faux trailers will appreciate the
inclusion of Rodriguez's hilarious Machete spot, with Danny Trejo
as a death-dealing, lady-loving tough guy ning for
double-crosser Fahey. The set also includes an "Audience
Reaction" track: Essentially, it's a whole track of whoops and
hollers that allows the viewer to "experience" the film as if
they were watching it in an actual grindhouse from back in the
day. Its inclusion neither adds to or detracts from enjoying this
DVD, but it's wholly indicative of the level of fun Rodriguez had
making the picture--and wants to share with his fans. -- Paul
Gaita