An Excellent And Unforgettable Epic Western. Another Tarantino Classic.

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2012)

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is an excellent,brutal and bloody Western and is an instant classic. Filled with great dialog,great direction,memorable characters and stylish Action,Django Unchained is not only a Western Classic,but a Tarantino classic.
Set in 1858,two years before the Civil Wat,Django Unchained tells the story of a Black slave named Django(Jamie Foxx)who is freed and rescued from a dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz(Christoph Waltz). After being freed,Django teams up with Schultz and becomes a bounty hunter. While they're doing well with their bounty hunting,Django and Schultz set their sights on rescuing Django's wife Broomhilda(Kerry Washington)from a charming,yet sadistic plantation owner named Calvin Candie(Leonardo DiCaprio). Rescuing Broomhilda from Calvin isn't going to be easy for Django and Schultz and it will lead to a bloody,brutal and surprising climax.
Django Unchained is a brilliant film because,despite it's subject matter,the films works because of Tarantino's take on the Western,the main characters,the dialog,showing the horrors of slavery and it's stylish violence. One of the things that I love about Django Unchained is that Quentin Tarantino has basically brought a Spaghetti Western film into the modern film world,giving viewers a film where everyone and everything is exaggerated and over the top and it's done in a harsh,stylized and darkly humorous way.Tarantino brings the same surreal and stylized feel that he brought to Inglourious Basterds and his recent films,showing viewers not a realistic world,but a Tarantino world where anything can happen and they're no questions. DU is epic in terms of the way it's filmed and length(165 minutes)but it never drags or slows down and the film is told in two half,the half when Django and Schultz are bounty hunting and the second half when the duo meets Calvin Candie and like I.B the film builds up to a violent conclusion. DU is to the Western genre like I.B was to WW2 films. The characters in the film are memorable and unforgettable,especially the characters Django and Schultz who are likable and are cool,charming and have a good chemistry together and as the film goes on you start to relate to them and understand who they are and what their motivations are. Unlike the characters Django and Schultz who are likable,the character Calvin Candie,while charming,is just pure evil and horrifying. From the moment Calvin steps on the screen he is so distasteful and unlikable that you feel that there is no redeemable quality in this character or has a touch of sympathy in him. Calvin loves to treat his slaves like dirt and loves to instill pain and fear onto his slaves and has no remorse for what he does. The screenplay by Tarantino is brilliantly written and filled with great scenes of funny dialog and moments of dark humor that will have you laughing and stick with you after the film is over with the best scenes and dialog with Django,Schultz and Calvin Candie. As great as the film is,DU will also divide viewers because of the themes of slavery and use of the N-word. Slavery is a heavy subject to tackle with and Tarantino doesn't hold back on the Horrors of slavery,showing the pain,fright and violence blacks went through during the times of slavery and sometimes it's hard to watch. The use of the N-word will offend people as well,but as viewer it doesn't really bother me because I believe Tarantino was just being truthful about the time period of slavery and blacks having to deal with racism being called the N-word most of the time. While most of the film is definitely a fantasy,Tarantino takes time to bring lots of reality to the film. The Action and Violence in the film,like other Tarantino films, is well-done,over the top and bloody done with rapid fire intensity and brilliance. At times when a person gets shot,you'll feel the pain and sees lots blood and feel like your in the movie. The ending of the film is masterful and explosive with violence and bloodshed that will have you cheering and laughing at the destruction of the film and will have you rooting for Django and one of the reasons Django Unchained is a classic.
The whole cast does an excellent job. Jamie Foxx is excellent as Django(the "D" is silent). Foxx brings a toughness,grit and a iconic presence to the role. Christoph Waltz is brilliant Dr. King Schultz,bringing a coolness and clever glee to the performance. Foxx and Waltz's scenes together are great and the actors have great chemistry together. Leonardo DiCaprio gives an outstanding,delightful and over the top performance as Calvin Candie. DiCaprio's brings a terrifying,funny and disgusting presence to the role and is unforgettable. Calvin Candie ranks alongside I.B's Hans Landa as one of the great Tarantino villains. Kerry Washington is wonderful as Broomhilda,Django's wife,with Washington bring depth to the role. Samuel L. Jackson is great and funny as Stephen,Calvin's loyal house slave. Next to Calvin,Stephen will probably be the most hated character in the film. Also lookout for cameos by Don Johnson(Big Daddy),Franco Nero(the actor who played the unconnected Django in the 60s),Jonah Hiil,James Remar,Bruce Dern,Michael Parks,Dennis Christopher,Walton Goggins(Billy Crash),Quentin Tarantino himself and many more.
The direction by Quentin Tarantino is masterful using great camera angles,zoom-ins and close-ups and giving the film a great style.The Western and Action standoffs are excellent and well-executed by Tarantino as well. Great direction,Quentin.
I love the soundtrack in the film,especially the Django theme song by Franco Migliacci,Luis Enriquez and Rocky Roberts.
In final word,if you love Quentin Tarantino,Westerns,Action or Cinema in general,I suggest you see Django Unchained a true classic of the Western genre and one of Tarantino's best films. Highly Recommended. 10/10.