An Excellent,Thrilling And Entertaining Western. Quentin Tarantino At His Best.

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2015)

The Hateful Eight is an excellent,thrilling and entertaining Western that combines terrific direction,a fantastic cast,a wonderful script,beautiful photography and a memorable score. All of those elements make The Hateful Eight an unforgettable film that is Quentin Tarantino at his best.
Set in post-Civil War Wyoming,The Hateful Eight tells the story of eight people including Major Marcus Warren(Samuel L. Jackson),a bounty hunter,John Ruth(Kurt Russell)another bounty hunter holding fugitive and prisoner Daisy Domergue(Jennifer Jason Leigh)and Chris Mannix(Walton Goggins),a man claiming to be a new Sheriff,Bob(Demian Bichir),Oswaldo Mobray(Tim Roth),Joe Gage(Michael Madsen)and Sanford Smithers(Bruce Dern)who are all in a stagecoach holdover trying escape a blizzard. But all of these strangers will be involved in a mystery with twists and deception.
The Hateful Eight is a brilliant and entertaining Western from Quentin Tarantino and it is a thrilling,bloody,brutal and epic film that is a blast from start to finish mixing together genres Western,Mystery and Action. With The Hateful Eight Tarantino has made a film that is a companion piece to his previous films Inglorious Basterds(2009)and Django Unchained(2012)which are very much alike in scope,look and tone and if you seen those films or Tarantino's other films it has all of the known elements:rich dialog,over the top violence and memorable characters that will stay with you. Like those two films The Hateful Eight is long in length you will not be bored. While a companion piece to both Basterds and Django,The Hateful Eight in terms of structure is more of a call back to Tarantino's classic debut Reservoir Dogs(1992)in which a bunch of strangers are together in one room where there is distrust and paranoia among them but this time set in the 19th century. The screenplay by Quentin Tarantino is well-written and strong,with Tarantino giving the main characters memorable dialog that is funny,interesting and make scenes standout. As for the main characters each one of The Hateful Eight is memorable but the characters Marquis Warren,John Ruth,Daisy Domergue and Chris Mannix are standouts and are classic characters from Tarantino who are going to liked or disliked depending on your point of view but are delightful in true Tarantino style. The photography(which was shot in the glorious 70mm format)by Robert Richardson is beautiful and visually stunning whether it's the shots of snowy mountains or inside shots the movie is amazing to look at. One of the things I love about The Hateful Eight is how it's the story is structure and told with not just the dividing chapters but amazing build-up. The first 90 minutes of the film is a dialog and character driven affair like a stage play where we get to know the main characters about who they are and what they are about and we as a viewer are fascinated. The second to last half of the film takes a different turn and becomes a violent and insane bloodbath mixing together Western violence with an Agatha Christie-style Mystery in the vein of Murder on The Orient Express and Ten Little Indians where there is twists and turns all around and you keep your eyes glued to the screen trying to solve a puzzle and put the pieces together and wondering who will survive this bizarre tale. The Action and violence is riveting and surprising with the blood and gore just coming off the screen at as if you were the movie with the characters. If you love storytelling the structure and mixture of Western and Mystery will be a great watch. The ending of The Hateful Eight is terrific with great Action,dialog and thrills that brings the movie full circle. An amazing conclusion.
The cast is amazing. Samuel L. Jackson is excellent,memorable and at his best as Major Marquis Warren,a bounty hunter. Kurt Russell is terrific as John Ruth,a fellow bounty hunter. Jennifer Jason Leigh is outstanding as Daisy Domergue,a fugitive in Ruth's capture. Walton Goggins is wonderful as Chris Mannix,a Southern renegade. Demian Bichir does a fine job as Bob,a Mexican caretaker. Tim Roth is amazing as Oswaldo Mobray,a hangman. Michael Madsen is great as Joe Gage,a Cowpuncher. Bruce Dern is fantastic as Sanford Smithers,s southern soldier.
The direction by Quentin Tarantino is fantastic and stylish with Tarantino bringing his usual flair,look and atmosphere to the film. Amazing direction,Tarantino.
The score by Ennio Morricone is epic,mysterious and intense matching the tone and style of the movie greatly. Sensational score,Morricone.
In final word,if you love Quentin Tarantino,Westerns or films in general,I highly suggest you watch The Hateful Eight,an excellent,thrilling and entertaining Western that Quentin Tarantino at his best. Highly Recommended. 10/10.