70mm Roadshow Is Amazing Experience

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2015)

When I first learned that Quentin Tarantino's eighth movie was shot on 70mm Ultra Panavision I got quite excited. The last movie to be shot and projected in this ultra-wide format was Khartoum in 1966 so when I found out that the movie was going to go on a limited release roadshow I got quite a bit more excited. The road show is projected with analog equipment and includes 13 minutes of additional material that will not be in the digital release. At the time of typing this it might already be too late, but if you have the opportunity, go see the roadshow version.
I bought two tickets for the 10.55pm Boxing Day showing in the only theater in the Atlanta metro area to show the movie 8 days prior; to my surprise tickets were not sold out. My wife and I drove to the theater in Atlantic Station and we had our tickets scanned a little after 10pm. Upon entry we were given a program, beautifully made on lush paper containing beautiful photos and a little background information on the movie. Seeing the program made me realize that we were actually experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime event. After getting drinks from the concessions stand we took our place in line, since the showing that started before ours was still running. There were two snake lines, roped off in velvet. The wait was about 20 minutes and when the door opened the lines quickly moved and in less than a few minutes we sat down on the recliner seats in the upper half of the auditorium.
Right on time the movie started. Well, not really, the movie opened with an Overture. The overture starts the original score by Ennio Morricone, which was his first original score in 40 years! Naturally, after the overture the movie starts, a glorious 3-hour long ride. Because we went to see the roadshow version, it was analog and watching it play is like listening to music by playing a record on a turntable: it's perfectly imperfect! The movie shakes, light flickers and it shows with a little grain. This is a far cry from the current, "perfect" HD digital quality of most movies and TV shows. But if you love cinema, and if you are as "old" as I am it will transport you back in time where movies were still a wondrous and wonderful thing, it is thrilling and exciting, it is a rare treat.
The movie follows the quintessential Tarantino-format with the story broken down into 6 chapters (with an intermission after chapter 3!). Each chapter is announced with a title card and chapter 5 includes narration. As per usual, the chapters are not in chronological order but this time only one chapter is not in sequence, but the order makes perfect sense. As with all Tarantino's movies the language is foul and the violence is graphical and perhaps a little gratuitous, which of course, makes sense with the involvement of longtime Tarantino collaborator and The Walking Dead special effects supervisor Greg Nicotero. The wide angle, but still very close-up, camera work also pushes the viewer right into the middle of all the violence.
The cinematography by DP Robert Richardson is spectacular to say the least and the use of almost antiquated Ultra Panavision lenses and widescreen format are both a tribute to old Spaghetti Westerns as well as a unique approach and use of said technology. One expects many lush outdoor shots, but the overwhelming majority of the movie takes place in just two indoor locations: a stage coach and a haberdashery. This ultimately aids to focus the viewer's attention to the storyline and acting. To be fair, the story and its arc seem a little contrived but, again, this is all standard Tarantino. As is the magnificent acting. The actors portraying the eight protagonists ... or really the eight antagonists, Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Demian Bichir, Michael Madsen, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth and Bruce Dern, all blend into their roles, become their characters, pretty much turning the movie into a fly-on-the-wall documentary instead. (Personally I thought it was amusing to see Tim Roth play a delightfully flamboyant English character and part of me wonders how many armchair critics will complain about Roth's fake English accent not realizing he is, in fact, a Brit.) Clearly, the roles were written with these specific actors in mind and they do not disappoint, there are several Oscar-worthy performances, with Walton Goggins' being the most noteworthy as the opportunistic would-be sheriff of Red Rock!
As noted above the movie is a Western, but it is not a classic one; John Wayne would be rolling over in his grave if you'd call this a classic western. Moreover, as with all Tarantino's movies there is a socio-political subtext which isn't for So, all by itself The Hateful Eight is not the best movie ever, but looking at purely at the artistic aesthetics in combination with experiencing this as the first 70mm roadshow in almost 50 years and with the first original Morricone score in 40 years, the whole package definitely became an unforgettable experience, one that may never have a repeat again. Thank you, Quentin Tarantino, for this awesome Christmas present!