​Rune Works Review of Tarantino’s THE HATEFUL EIGHT in 70MM

We are very fortunate that The Hateful Eight, the eighth film by master filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, was made at all, because it is possibly his best work to date.

Everything, from the scintillating writing, the most intense of storyline scenarios, a soul searing soundtrack courtesy of legendary composer Ennio Morricone, the phenomenal acting, and the absolutely gorgeous, breathtaking cinematography is truly remarkable.
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This review will offer NO SPOILERS; The Hateful Eight may not be your favorite of the filmmaker’s great works, but it is so damn perfect it may well be his best classic from start to finish.

And The Hateful Eight Special Roadshow Engagement presented in 70mm Ultra Panavision 70 almost never happened!

When the early draft of the movie was leaked to the world, Quen had lifted his plans for the movie, in disgust, and decided to shelf it . . . at least until he had his cast do a one-time reading of the script in a former 1,600-seat movie palace in L.A. on April 19, 2014.

The overwhelming response from his closest comrades inspired Tarantino to make the film after all.
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And not just in any old way, because Quen's triumphant western The Hateful Eight would be filmed using a lost art of film, the 70mm cut, with an aspect ratio of 2.76:1 to make it far wider and give a clarity and illusion of movement so real that few great flicks of yesteryear ever amazed viewers with the detailed views, like that of Ben-Hur, and Khartoum (which was the last time a picture was made in the format, in 1966).

The wrinkles of the gritty faces, the depth to the blood splatter, the threads of smoke winding up and out of the cracks in the 19th century walls, as snow specks enter in, comes across in breathtaking fashion.

The traditions of the greatest westerns, like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, come across amazingly well.

The wide stretches of the west, Wyoming, and the gnarly blizzard sidelining the eight unique and wonderfully deep and hateful characters in a watering hole slash inn called Minnie's Haberdashery speaks to a seemingly simple plot.

Kurt Russell’s John Ruth, “The Hangman”, wants nothing more than to weather the storm and bring his quarry, Daisy Domergue, to the town of Red Rock where she will hang and he will carry back a ten thousand dollar bounty.

But when he is forced to hole up for a few days with “The Bounty Hunter” Major Marquis Warren, played to perfection by Samuel L. Jackson, and six other dangerous and nefarious characters, the sheer edge of your seat intensity is boiling throughout the riveting three-hour version of the film.

And rarely have three hours gone by so quickly as watching the fallout of the interesting and engaging “Hateful Eight”.

The snow piles high and the stories, the suspicion, and the attitudes of the thorny, weather-beaten men and woman make for a most entertaining, thrilling, and, at times, hilarious tale like no other.

The vernacular is probably the most accurate for any presentation of post-Civil War era pictures to date.

The realism is remarkable in every aspect here!

The gruffness, the obstacles, and the brilliant lines, they all resonate starkly.

And there are enough great lines from Quen in this film to fill a book on writing.

Throughout the experience of The Hateful Eight you are anxious, as the unexpected lashing out of killers or the triumphantly belly-busting jokes continually keep the audience in perpetual suspense and awe.

One of the overlying themes is of overcoming racism, getting beyond black and white on a personal level, and it is done extremely well.

The Hateful Eight Special Roadshow Engagement presented in 70mm Ultra Panavision 70 is a throwback to the enthralling events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, where the roadshows gave audiences a longer version of the film, a program and a fantastic event.

And it is truly an event that cannot be missed.


Rune Works Review Grade:  A++