STACK New Zealand May 2016 Issue

24 / 36

Quentin Tarantino has assembled
his best cast since Pulp Fiction
for this ultraviolent post-Civil War
epic that strands eight unsavoury
characters (including Kurt Russell,
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel
L. Jackson and Bruce Dern) in a
remote mountain outpost during
a blizzard. The Hateful Eight is a
slow burner; Tarantino’s passion
for colourful dialogue has always been both an asset
and a detriment to his films, and the eight are his most
loquacious ensemble to date. The first hour is largely
devoted to verbal repartee, but when the bullets and
blood finally begin to fly, the film becomes relentlessly
entertaining. Throw a pot of poisoned coffee and a
surprise twist into this pressure-cooker environment and
the result is an Agatha Christie-like mystery crossed with
an Evil Dead-style bloodbath. With most of the film set
indoors, The Hateful Eight plays like a stage production
in Ultra Panavision 70, with Ennio Morricone’s moody,
Oscar-winning score evoking his work for The Thing, as
does the snowbound setting, the distrust and paranoia,
and of course Kurt Russell. This is easily Tarantino’s best
(and bloodiest) film since Kill Bill Vol. 1, and the super
widescreen framing and enhanced detail of 70mm
makes viewing it on Blu-ray essential. Scott Hocking
No one to trust – everyone to hate
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
In the harsh frozen wilderness of
the Rocky Mountains, fur trapper
Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio)
is viciously mauled by a bear and
left in the company of his half-
Pawnee son and a surly mountain
man, Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy).
When Fitzgerald murders Glass’s
son and leaves the wounded
man for dead, Glass’s survival instincts kick in. He
begins an endurance-testing journey across a forbidding
landscape to seek revenge – a dish that is best served
cold, after all. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s bleak and beautiful
frontier survival story is far removed from his theatre-
set Oscar-winner Birdman and the fractured narratives
of his Mexican productions, but no less technically
astounding. In moving to Hollywood, the director
hasn’t sold out to the mainstream; filming in long
unbroken takes and using only natural light and remote
locations, he achieves the sense of verisimilitude that
has been his forte since Amores Perros. Moreover,
Oscar-winner DiCaprio, whose performance is limited
to grunts, gestures and vengeful stares, makes us
feel every chilly moment of this primal homage to old
school wilderness adventures. SH
Man in the wilderness
THE REVENANT
DVD & BD
Beyond the Eight: A Behind the
Scenes Look
Sam Jackson’s Guide to
Glorious 70mm
JB HI-FI EXCLUSIVE
Limited Edition Blu-ray with
30-page Collector’s Booklet &
Alternate Artwork
Django Unchained
EXTRAS
FURTHER VIEWING
Release Date: 25/05/16
Format:
Everest
EXTRAS
FURTHER VIEWING
Release Date: 18/05/16
Format:
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visit DVD&BD REVIEWS
24 MAY 2016
DVD&BD
Quentin Tarantino still plans to
call it quits after ten films. “I do
kind of like the idea of ten and
done, there’s a neat thing about
that,” he says. “I usually make
about three movies a decade,
so this is like number two for
this decade. If I can’t shoot
a film or release it to some
degree on film, I may not make
ten. We’ll see what happens.”
DID YOU KNOW...
BD ONLY
Documentary: A World Unseen
Image Gallery
DID YOU KNOW...
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s
temperamental nature,
along with the high-pressure
schedule and unpleasant
filming conditions, made it
a very difficult shoot and
caused several crew members
to leave the project, or were
fired. Iñárritu explained, “As
a director, if I identify a violin
that is out of tune, I have to
take that from the orchestra.”
The origin of the title is rooted
in the French verb “revenir,”
which means “to return.”
Revenant in French also
means (reverting to) “spirit” or
“ghost.”
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