It's a good film, but good is a low bar for Tarantino.
I would rate this his worst film, behind Deathproof.
Usually he creates real tension through dialogue in his films, but that means the script has to be really solid. Unfortunately, this one lacks that magic polish.
Which one would you rate as his weakest?
I think I agree. Although I did enjoy the film, it doesn't have that re-watch factor, unlike his other films. I could re-watch Inglorious Bastards, Django, Kill Bill 1&2 etc... over and over again.
For me Inglorious Bastards is his best work to date. Can't wait for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
I think everybody brings something different to a film.
I like The Hateful Eight better than Death Proof because -- while I thought Kurt Russell was great and final car chase was dynamic -- QT really seemed to have a problem writing chit-chat dialogue for WOMEN.
I like The Hateful Eight better than Inglorious Basterds because Inglorious Basterds spent a lot of time being "a foreign movie with subtitles" and featuring foreign actors I did not know, and could not connect with.
I like The Hateful Eight better than Kill Bill 1 or Kill Bill 2, because those two movies "split in two" never really come together, and because the first one(while having the great bloodbath swordfight in Japan) seems like just a "story starter."
I like The Hateful Eight better than Django Unchained because Django takes a fairly long time to get to the main action in Candieland and eventually leaves Leo and Waltz behind, anti-climactically.
I like The Hateful Eight "on general principles" because I think the cast is uniformly interesting(how Kurt Russell LOOKS, how Tim Roth SOUNDS, the funny vocal choices of the guy playing Mexican Bob, and Jennifer Jason Leigh's feral blacked-eyed Daisy are just some of the treats.)
Meanwhile, I like Hateful Eight LESS than any of QT's original LA trilogy -- Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown.
But I don't think its the worst. In fact, if there is a major point I would like to make about Tarantino that I think also applied to Hitchcock and applies to Scorsese, it is this: none of these guys MAKE "bad films" or "weakest films." Every movie they make is special and at least interesting; its just a matter of "degree of liking them."
And uh, Spielberg doesn't count in the same way. I think The Terminal is a bad movie.
I like The Hateful Eight better than Death Proof because -- while I thought Kurt Russell was great and final car chase was dynamic -- QT really seemed to have a problem writing chit-chat dialogue for WOMEN.
For awhile The Terminal had me..then it lost me and I never made it to the end.
shareFor me, this is hands down his worst film. It has moments here and there, but for most of the film it feels like a poorly made imitation of a Tarantino film. I hope he redeems himself with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
shareNah. I think his weakest film is Kill Bill. It doesn't have any good dialog like a lot of his others.
shareI rewatched this the other week, and I think this might be one of my favourites. It reminds me of the thing but with a western twist as well his first film, reservoir dogs. The characters are all great, and play well off each other in the tight setting. And the score is just great.
Ive never been able to get into kill bill. So for me, thats his worst.
Maybe I need to re-watch it again. When I first watched Inglorious Bastards, I didn't like it, but when I watched it again and again, it is now my favourite from Tarantino.
shareI thought this is one of his best films. So you can imagine how surprised I am when I read this. May I ask which part of the dialogues need the magic polish especially?
share"May I ask which part of the dialogues need the magic polish especially?"
I second that. OP has the right to his opinion, but I too find that this statement lacks of foundation.
I preferred it to Deathproof and Inglourious Basterds imo. I put it slightly above Kill Bill 2. And equal with Django Unchained imo.
I think Basterds just doesn't work as a overall film for me. Deathproof is his worse imo.
Hateful Eight skirts the line between higher mid tier and lower high tier. It was slow at times, but it held together with a fluent pace and tone, memorable characters and a finale that stuck the landing. His weakest film is Inglorious Basterds, which I found difficult to watch whenever the Basterds or Landa weren't on screen.
shareReally? You didn't like Shoshana? To each his own but I actually enjoy the parts with Shoshana and her boyfriend.
shareNo... to me he doesn't have any weak films... I rank Django last (Haven't seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood yet) and I love Django Unchained... I just love his other movies a bit more...
shareAnother reason I like this film - personal to me only I guess -- is that I think it has one of his best casts. Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown have even better ones, but this cast is better than those found in Kill Bill, Death Proof, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, and OAITH(which rather HAS to favor Brad and Leo almost all the time, leaving little room for anybody else.)
On the other hand, this cast doesn't have a big marquee star LIKE Brad or Leo(who have four QTs between them) or DeNiro or Pacino. But the eight are great:
Samuel L. Jackson - the quintessential QT actor.
Kurt Russell -- a "second tier cult star"(The Thing, Escape from New York, Used Cars) here looking like Yosemite Sam and sounding like John Wayne.
Jennifer Jason Leigh -- a "career rescue"(see: Travolta, Grier, Forster) with a feral quality (here, she has her dad Vic Morrow's looks and Granny Clampett's accent.
Tim Roth: Never more "fun" in a QT movie, having a ball with his full-on British accent filtered through Chris Waltz and a name that just screams comedy ("Oswaldo Mobray")
Michael Madsen: a reunion with fellow Reservoir Dog Roth(and at close quarters in a roomful of characters again). The coolest guy who never became a superstar. The Roth/Madsen reunion is QT nostalgia at its finest ...23 years after Reservoir Dogs.
Walton Goggins: Heavy on the cornpone accent and, for once, a fairly sympathetic guy.
Bruce Dern: Reduced to teeny-tiny cameos in Django Unchained and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Dern here gets a full bodied role that brings forth his intensity and fury in a frail, tuckered out body.
Demian Bichir: He plays Mexican Bob with a broad, hilarious grunt of a Mexican accent, but he's a Mexican actor so he gets to do that. He's very handsome, too.
Anyway, that's a great cast to me. No real superstars in there(though Jackson works a LOT), but each and every one of them is interesting and entertaining in his (or one time, her) role.