The film boasts a very good cast. One that could only be appreciated 31 years later. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Christopher Walken, a barely recognisable Steve Buscemi and Bruce Willis. Everyone is on top form and there isn’t a weak performance. Tim Roth’s accent is slightly distracting but that is about the closest I can get to saying something negative about these people. The only person who slightly lets things down on the acting front is Quentin Tarantino but he has a bigger issue.
Another good thing that the film has going for it is the soundtrack. There isn’t a terrible song and it makes me want to buy the soundtrack to add it to my collection. I will give Tarantino his dues when it comes to his music choices in all his films. He has a good ear for what works in his films.
The thing is Quentin Tarantino thinks he is Oscar Wilde or William Shakespeare and a lot of the dialogue in this film is quite bad. It’s made bearable by the actors but to be honest if you gave this to someone who wasn't Samuel L. Jackson or Bruce Willis then this would be the sort of thing on Tubi. There are better Tarantino screenplays such as ‘The Hateful Eight’ but this one is not the greatest.
Overall, the good news is that the big screen viewing did improve my opinion of the film but I would be lying if I said that I thought it was a great movie. I do think its a step down from ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and I think that ‘The Hateful Eight’ is the best Tarantino film which I suspect might annoy some people but barring in mind that this is early on in Tarantino’s career I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. When I first watched this film it was a 3.5 but now its a 4 mainly because of the cast and the soundtrack. The plot itself borders on convoluted and self indulgent at times but I can at least see why people like it as much as they do.
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