Tarantino's Best Since Pulp Fiction

Rating: 9/10 (22 April 2016)

On December 28 that I was fortunate enough to see the film in its glorious 70 millimeter, anamorphic Ultrapanavision film experience. While visiting my sister in Tulsa, my girlfriend, my sister, a good friend, and I packed into the car and made the trip to Oklahoma City to see The Hateful Eight Roadshow during it's brief week-long early release. We were given limited-edition pamphlets to reinforce the 1950s grand film exhibition style showing, something very exciting to experience in 2015.
This wasn't the last time that I got to see the extended film version of The Hateful Eight, however, as on March 21, the older theater in my area, the one that still has film projectors, was playing that version. Ryan, a big Tarantino fan also, asked me to tag along with him to this showing, and for reasons I will soon expound, I was eager to do so.
The film opens with an overture (and clearly labeled as such) which emphasizes the, perhaps, best aspect of the movie: the incredible score by Ennio Morricone. The great Italian composer of western staples (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for one) delivers some of his most haunting and powerful sounds in The Hateful Eight. The main theme lingered in my head for hours and I still enjoy listening to the music by itself or with a good game of Bang! the Dice Game (one of my favorite board games and one that plays out a wild west shoot out where everyone has a hidden role; I kept thinking I was watching Bang!: The Dice Game: The Movie). The suspense and intrigue Taratino captured in his anamorphic lenses are even better capture by Morricone's menacing motifs.
As the overture fades back into background music, the viewer is greeted with awe-inspiring wide images of snowy Colorado as O.B., the driver, and notably not one of the titular eight, leads his wagon down a winding path. The stubborn desire for Tarantino to shoot the film in a 2.76:1 aspect ratio is immediately understood; not only the for the breath-taking images, but also the magnificent flicker. It's not easy to see a movie actually played on film these days (and a big reason I tend to prefer the term movie to film). The score's theme builds as an aesthetically pleasing title sequence plays (the climax of the theme occurs as Morricone's name appears, a nice touch.)
Inside the wagon are two of our eight, John "The Hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell) and Daisy "The Prisoner" Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They are soon (well, this first section of the is almost an hour long) joined by Major Marquis "The Bounty Hunter" Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and Chris "The Sheriff" Mannix (Walton Goggins). The interplay of these characters was one of my favorite aspects of the film. Tarantino's dialog is quick and witty, anachronistic yet still believable. As he frequently does in his movies, Tarantino deals with race, gender, and, in this case, nationality you might say, disputes head-on in an at once hilarious and profound way. As the group arrives at the haberdashery, where the remaining two hours of the film take place, a whodunit mystery is flamed as John Ruth tries to figure out which of the many shady characters are after his $10,000 bounty on Miss Domergue. The slow action, strong suspense and intrigue, and engaging dialog brought me immediately back to Reservoir Dogs, one of my all-time favorite films.
After the intermission, and yes, there was a 15 minute intermission, lights on and all, I wasn't quite as satisfied with the film. Suspenseful sections seemed to be answered too quickly without permitting the view a chance to solve anything. The film went to more high action, reminding me more of Django: Unchained rather than Reservoir Dogs. Don't get me wrong, Django was fantastic, but my favorite aspects of Tarantino's films are the dialog and the slick aesthetic paired with the intrigue of a great story. I don't think those decisions made it a bad movie, but I was personally a little disappointed. Still, the ending of the movie was exceptionally well done and tied up the story as well as the themes of the story beautifully. I have already seen the film twice in four months and I would watch it yet again tomorrow. Rewatching the film, I had new appreciation for the character's and was also able to pick up on a lot of the subtle foreshadowing. When you go back and watch a movie saying, "How could I be so blind?" you know you're watching a great director. I place The Hateful Eight among my top four Tarantino films at least, and, thereby, as one of my favorite movies period. I need to listen to the main theme again right now!