DEATH PROOF
Year: 2007
USA: Genius Products / The Weinstein Company
UK: Momentum Pictures
Cast: Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Sydney Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoe Bell, Michael Parks
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Country: USA
USA DVD: 113 mins
UK: 114 mins
USA Rated: R for strong graphic bloody violence and gore, pervasive language, some sexuality, nudity and drug use (as part of GRINDHOUSE)
USA DVD Rated: Unrated Extended
UK Certificate: 18 contains strong violence and gory moments
USA Release Date: 5 April 2007 (as part of GRINDHOUSE)
USA DVD Release Date: 18 September 2007
UK Release Date: 21 September 2007
UK DVD Release Date: 14 January 2008
UK Distributor
Soundtrack
Synopsis
A creepy stunt driver whose taste for stalking lovely young ladies gets him into big trouble when he tangles with the wrong gang of badass babes. Their confrontation escalates to an extended mano-a-mano car chase with one of the girls strapped to the hood of a thundering Dodge Challenger.
For Austin's hottest DJ, Jungle Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poitier), dusk offers an opportunity to unwind with two of her closest friends, Shanna and Arlene (Jordan Ladd and Vanessa Ferlito). This three fox posse sets out into the night, turning heads from Guero's to the Texas Chili Parlor.
Not all of the attention is innocent: Covertly tracking their moves is Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), a scarred, weathered rebel who leers from behind the wheel of his muscle car. As the girls settle into their beers, Mike's weapon, a white-hot juggernaut, revs just feet away.
Demonstrating to perfection Tarantino's passion for exploitation B-movies, Death Proof was inspired by the unique distribution of horror classics of the sixties and seventies, complete with shockingly bold features replete with missing reels and plenty of exploitative mayhem. As Tarantino says, "That shit was raw. The shit was off the hook. Sexuality was wild. You couldn't even believe some of the sexuality and brutality that they got away with in these movies, and gore."
Referencing some classic chase movies - from H.B. Halicki's self-financed Gone in 60 Seconds, which contained a non-stop, forty minute car chase, to Vanishing Point, the nihilistic chase flick, to Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, a Peter Fonda vehicle - Tarantino once again mixes genres to perfection, fusing the chase and slasher flicks and coming up with something truly original. Death Proof is also Tarantino's most linear film: Events are presented chronologically and breaks in time are punctuated with title cards. Though the action is sequential, the contents of this unfamiliar structure are no less intriguing than that of any of his previous films.
DVD EXTRAS (UK region 2)
Hot Rods of Death Proof
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
Poster Gallery
Trailers
DVD EXTRAS (US Region 1)
Finding Quentin's Gals
The Guys Of Death Proof
Kurt Russell As Stuntman Mike
Introducing Zoe Bell
Quentin's Greatest Collaborator: Editor Sally Menke
Double Dare Trailer
And International Poster Gallery
Languages: English 5.1, French 5.1, Italian 5.1
Subtitles: English and Spanish