Death Proof (2007)

Two separate sets of voluptuous women are stalked at different times by a scarred stuntman who uses his "death proof" cars to execute his murderous plans.

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writer:

Quentin Tarantino

Stars:

Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kurt Russell	...	Stuntman Mike
Zoë Bell	...	Herself
Rosario Dawson	...	Abernathy
Vanessa Ferlito	...	Arlene
Sydney Tamiia Poitier	...	Jungle Julia (as Sydney Poitier)
Tracie Thoms	...	Kim
Rose McGowan	...	Pam
Jordan Ladd	...	Shanna
Mary Elizabeth Winstead	...	Lee
Quentin Tarantino	...	Warren
Marcy Harriell	...	Marcy
Eli Roth	...	Dov
Omar Doom	...	Nate
Michael Bacall	...	Omar
Monica Staggs	...	Lanna Frank

Storyline

In Austin, Texas, the girlfriends Julia, Arlene and Shanna meet in a bar to drink, smoke and make out with their boyfriends before traveling alone to Lake LBJ to spend the weekend together. They meet the former Hollywood stuntman Mike, who takes Pam out in his "death-proof" stunt car. Fourteen months later, Mike turns up in Lebanon, Tennessee and chase Abernathy, Zoë and Kim, but these girls are tough and decide to pay-back the attack.

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Plot Keywords:

stuntman | stuntman mike | group of friends | 2000s | comic relief | 

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Taglines:

It's Going To Be A Wild Ride

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

18A

Details

Official Sites:

West Video [Russia]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 May 2007 (Hungary)

Also Known As:

Death Proof

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£407,525 (UK) (21 September 2007)

Gross:

£707,262 (UK) (28 September 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Troublemaker Studios, Rodriguez International Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min (international) 87 min (Grindhouse) 121 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The only Quentin Tarantino movie that takes place completely in chronological order.

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Goofs

When Kim is driving the Mustang to the diner with the other three girls, the key is in the "off" position.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Arlene: [shouting to Jungle Julia] Hold on, I gotta come up! I gotta take the world's biggest fuckin' piss!

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, the Troublemaker Studios logo remains in it's original form but the Dimension Pictures logo has been rendered in a 1970s style.

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Connections

References Crash (1996)

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Soundtracks

Jeepster
Written by Marc Bolan
Performed by T. Rex (as T Rex)
Courtesy of Muscadet Productions, Inc.

User Reviews

Fun throwback to the 70s exploitation

The thing about Tarantino is that it has become a trend that he makes movies for the sole purpose of them being 'cool'. I'm not really complaining since I love the living sh*t out of every single one of them, but it also kind of bugs me that someone with huge talent would just kind of repeat him self. Not in the real sense, he is always working in a different genera or sub-genera of movies (it's more sub- genera's he's interested in), but it always comes down to him just inserting Roger Corman-isms in his movies (in a sense of him exploiting everything, out of this world movie violence... you can tell when it's him by those things). I have no problem with that, I love each and every one of his flicks (yes, even Four Rooms... I LOVE IT), Pulp Fiction, Reservoir dogs and Kill Bill i would say are some of my favorite movies in like EVER! But this kind of film-making kind of makes it immune to criticism. And that's most apparent here. I mean, every problem that one can possibly have with this movie is intentional because it's an homage to 70s B-movies that Rodriguez and Tarantino grew up on and love. No problem with that, Spielberg and Lucas made their careers out of combining shi**y television they grew up on in the 50s and film classics they got introduced to later on, and it worked. One thing that should be noted is that this movie was a part of a double feature, and Death proof is Tarantino's cut of that segment. So I don't really know about everyone else but it was in my opinion way too long (one thing that i liked about directors cut is that lap dance which was cut out of Grindhouse... don't judge me, it's exploitation, that's what it's for). As far as the story and structure go, i would say that if Psycho and Escape from New York had a baby, it would be Death Proof. And i don't like Psycho all that much. First half of the movie got me really invested, but then right at the middle we get 'Psycho-like' explanation of exposition and what just happen, we get a character explaining how we should interpret it and 'explains' how Stuntman Mike's mind works... And after that story just repeats in self. Then the movie lost me. I love how in movies like Phantom of Liberty you change your perspectives and main characters (only thing i liked in Psycho) but here it just didn't work for me. But bunch of people loved it, so it's really subjective. just because something is an homage or intentional doesn't make it immune to criticism and doesn't mean it's great out of the bat. But, like I said, I don't hate a single one of his movies... And this one i no exception, even though I wasn't that much invested into the second half, You still have some great characters and some great Tarantino dialog's. And bunch of chicks kicking some major ass. I can't help but think that if it was more cheesy (like Planet Terror was, that movie threw all the logic out of the window and it worked... it was funny as hell and i enjoyed it) i would have love it more, it is what it is. If only Tarantino was to move on from this trend of making movies, PTA started out similarly but he moved on to direct some great stuff. Jackie Brown was a really serious film with great characters (characters in that one are probably the best he had filmed because fist half of the movies is just you hanging out with them, getting to know them...) and Inglorious Basterds opening chapter was a great suspense ride (wish the rest of the movie was like that, but it went strait to exploitation again, until it got to be this really interesting 'love story' for a few minutes and then went to something that was clash of all of those... would love to see all of those movies separately but Inglorious Basterds will do).