Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

Death Proof is Quentin Tarantino's contribution to the Grindhouse double feature from himself and writer/director Robert Rodriguez. Borrowing from the exploitation films of the 1970's, right down to the scratchy film, rough jump cuts and skipping dialogue, Tarantino's Death Proof focuses on Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) a scarred and sexually deviant serial killer who stalks pretty young women in his shiny black muscle car and kills them by using his car as a weapon.

The first half of the film owes the most to the grindhouse films and crawls at a pace somewhere between a snail and a turtle as Stuntman Mike hones in on his first group of prey, eventually attacking them with his "death proof" stunt car in a spectacularly violent head-on collision.

The film then takes a turn and picks up in pace for its second half as Tarantino abandons the grindhouse and apes the classic car chase films of yesteryear, even going as far as to constantly mention them by name in the film's dialogue. Film's such as Bullit and White Lightning, just to name two.

Is Death Proof one of Tarantino's strongest films? Hardly, but the second half of the film offers an adrenalin rush that car fans everywhere should find engaging.

For an alternate take on this film see our theatrical review of Grindhouse.

The Picture

Death Proof arrives in high definition on Blu-ray Disc in an AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encoding of its original 2.35:1 framing. Due to the artistic choices of the director, this is not a film that is ever going to look like optimal HD. Tarantino purposely introduced to the film itself dirt and scratches, bad edits a mixture of film stocks including a brief segment in black white, etc. to capture the look and feel of the exploitation films of the 60's and 70's. As such, there will never be a clean, pristine and sharp transfer of Death Proof unless an untouched negative is gone back to such as was done on the BD release of the Grindhouse companion film Planet Terror.

The film does clean up a bit and become more vibrant in its second half and the AVC transfer is relatively stable, introducing no apparent macroblocking or post processing artifacts. There are deep blacks and natural flesh tones, but do not expect reference quality video from this BD.

The Sound

Death Proof comes with a strong though certainly not groundbreaking Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The dialogue is clean and full and the overall mix has a an extensive dynamic range that is particularly evident during the film's second half car chase scenes. Low frequencies are aided by well handled use of the LFE channel, lending some serious "growl" to the roaring car engines and bang to the crashing metal.

Most discrete sounds remain across the front three channels and they are well balanced, but the surrounds are put to good use for ambience and sound effects.  These really open up the sound stage, placing the listener in the center of the action.

English, French, Italian, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 options are also offered alongside English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

The Extras

Though not packed with an overabundance of extra material, Death Proof does offer detailed information on the evolution of Death Proof as a film, providing much time with director Quentin Tarantino. This will be a boon to fans of the director particularly since he is not one to offer audio commentaries on releases of his films.

The extras available on this release are:

• BD-Live -- As of the writing of this review the BD-Live features were not active on this release.
• Stunts on Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof (1.78:1/standard definition) -- This featurette pus the focus on the veteran stunt drivers of Death Proof. The film used all real stunts, making use of no CGI effects, which is an oddity in the world of filmmaking today.
• Introducing Zoë Bell (1.78:1/standard definition) -- The stuntwoman is profiled in this featurette. Death Proof was the first lead role for the native New Zealander.
• Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike (1.78:1/standard definition) -- Tarantino discusses casting Russell in the role as the serial killer on four wheels.
• Quentin's Greatest Collaborator:  Editor Sally Menke (1.78:1/standard definition) -- The director discusses and praises his longtime editor in this brief featurette.
• Double Dare Trailer (1.78:1/standard definition) -- This trailer is for a documentary film profiling veteran stuntwoman Jeannie Epper and stuntwoman Zoë Bell.
• Death Proof International Trailer (2.35:1/standard definition)
• An International Poster Gallery
• Extended Music Cues

Final Thoughts

Death Proof is lacking most of the cues that make for the best of Tarantino's works -- the clever dialogue, the twisting plot lines and the relentless action. Overall, it feels like a film overburdened with the task of paying homage to past genres. Nevertheless, there is still much to be enjoyed in this film saving it from being absolutely disposable Tarantino fare. Unfortunately, because of the film's intentional production choices, this Blu-ray Disc release does not offer reference quality video, but it is still going to offer the best reproduction of this film currently available.

Where to Buy

• Death Proof on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Michael Bacall, Nicky Katt, Rose McGowan, James Parks, Kurt Russell
• Audio/Languages: English TrueHD 5.1, French, Italian, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R
• Studio: Weinstein Company
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: December 16, 2008
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• List Price: $29.95
• Extras:
  • Stunts on Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof
  • Introducing Zoë Bell
  • Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike
  • Finding Quentin's Gals
  • The Uncut Version of "Baby It's You" Performed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead
  • The Guys of Death Proof
  • Quentin's Greatest Collaborator: Editor Sally Menke
  • Double Dare Trailer
  • Death Proof International Trailer
  • An International Poster Gallery
  • BD-Live