First Reactions to Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED Praise the Film’s Strong Humor and Action

by     Posted: December 2nd, 2012 at 6:34 pm

django unchained jamie foxx

It’s only been three years since writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s last masterwork hit screens, but the wait for his Inglourious Basterds follow-up has nevertheless felt much longer.  At last Django Unchained is set to be unleashed across the country over the upcoming Christmas holiday, but the first screenings of the film took place this past weekend.  Tarantino has yet to make an outright bad movie (the quality of Death Proof may or may not be a point of contention), so hopes have been high for the Western Django Unchained.  Full reviews are still under embargo, but a few well-respected professionals provided some quick reactions on Twitter following the first screenings, and it appears that QT has delivered yet another winner with an especially keen sense of humor.  Moreover, the runtime has been revealed to be a lengthy 2 hours and 40 minutes. Hit the jump to read some reactions.

Industry veteran Anne Thompson, who runs the blog Thompson on Hollywood, singled out the film’s violence and a couple of standout performances:

 

Looper writer/director Rian Johnson was also at the screening, and he has high marks for Oscar hopeful Leonardo DiCaprio:

 

An especially encouraging “Tweet Review” came from writer David Ehrlich:

 

And here are a few other reactions from those who were in attendance:

 

 

 

 

 

As the review embargo is still up there’s not much by way of detailed opinions on the film’s merits, but these quick reactions are definitely encouraging.  Look for more on the film closer to release.  Django Unchained opens on Christmas Day.

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  • paul tracy

    calm down, adam.

    ~ t

    PS: i still love you despite your fetishizing QT’s very overrated catalogue (let’s be honest, RD and PF were really his only arguable “masterworks”).

    • Straymo

      although Pulp and Dogs are great fun and feature lots of stylish iconic moments, Kill Bill (1/2) and Inglorious are fuller richer and better films at the end of the day.

      • Grimcicle

        I did quite enjoy Basterds, however the film would have been significantly less entertaining had it not featured Christoph Waltz. The man stole the show.

      • Anonymous

        Kill Bill is better than Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction??? I’d ask you to go back and watch those films again.

  • SP1234

    Great to hear praise for DiCaprio. And from Rian Johnson no less. :)

    • gerard kennelly

      praise for DiCaprio from Rian Johnson

      no mention of BRICK star gordon levitt leaving the project !!!!

  • Sartana

    Dissenting view:

    Overlong, muddled, unable to establish Jaimie Foxx as its lead character, with poorly staged but grotesquely violent action scenes here and there, but mostly a lot of the usual Tarantino loquaciousness extended to unbearable lengths by a misguided belief that the scripts estimation of faux Southern gentility means the dialogue needs to be elongated even moreso than usual in a QT film.

    Only critics who know nothing of the spaghetti western (let alone the DJANGO subgenre which this aspires to be a part of) will praise this as anything more than a subpar spag clone–one which promises far more in its trailer than the film comes close to delivering. And yes, three of the performances (Wolz, Jackson and DiCaprio) are a lot of fun for awhile…. and then just go on and on and on until you want them to be over. I swear, there is a really dull dinner scene which must occupy at least 30 minutes of run time.

    • Goop

      So… I take it you just don’t like Tarantino. Fair. I’ll take Rian Johnson’s word over yours though.

    • Pocketses

      Protip time!

      ~if you want to try and question anyone’s knowledge of a film, including it’s genre and subgenre, it might help to not sound like an idiot when completely misspelling an actor’s name.

      • Robin

        “Protip time!”? What has it go in it’s Pocketses mind?

        If you’re a “Pro,” please reveal the Man (or Woman) behind the curtain. Misspelling a relatively unknown actors name is not a godawful mistake. Did they misspell “diCaprio”?

        Pick thy nits elsewhere, please.

      • cadavra

        “Relatively unknown?” He’s an Academy Award winner, f’chrissakes!

  • Magic8

    Sartana, I’ll take your word for it. Tarantino’s been making nothing but schlocky, b-’homage’ films since Kill Bill, and this one looks no different.

    P.S. Anyone who liked that pile of shit Inglorious Basterds needs to be weeded out of society and done away with, imo.

    • El Leon

      Personally i love a movie where Hitler gets shot in the face repeatedly. I can’t believe that someone with such high standards and a deep understanding of cinema such as yourself didn’t like Inglorious Basterds which i felt was a love letter to european cinema. Just one blokes opinion.

    • AManWithAKilt

      I totally agree! Only people who like well written dialogue, suspense, acting, and, you know, directing would like such a obvious rip-off of classic film tropes that we don’t see much of anymore.

      You know, I think there is a movie in theatres right now that you might enjoy more, I’m having a hard time remembering the title though. I think there’s a “Part 2″ in it somewhere? I seem to recall seeing people fighting on ice, the main character is played by a piece of cardboard. That movie looked like it shared none of the problems that Inglorious Basterds had.

    • Spanky

      I think it would be easier and quicker to get rid of the turds like you.. since going the other way will take a hell of a long time!

  • El Leon

    Personally i love a movie where Hitler gets shot in the face repeatedly. I can\’t believe that someone with such high standards and a deep understanding of cinema such as yourself didn\’t like Inglorious Basterds which i felt was a love letter to european cinema. Just one blokes opinion.

  • El Leon

    Personally i love a movie where Hitler gets shot in the face repeatedly. I can\\\’t believe that someone with such high standards and a deep understanding of cinema such as yourself didn\\\’t like Inglorious Basterds which i felt was a love letter to european cinema. Just one blokes opinion.

  • LE

    No dis to DC, (I want it to be great) But these special screenings and consequent reactions are bullshit, they give the first and sometimes final word to a handful of people whose opinions are documented over and over to suggest a faux consensus. Films deserve much more thought than that.

  • Robin

    Yes, @Sartana. Cannot stand the fetishizing of “QT.” Sorry kids, but violence and gross acts of human behavior doesn’t do it for me. Pulp Fiction is one of the only movies I’ve walked out on, and like Spike Lee has come mighty close to that. Both of these have taken their own monstrous sense of self so f**king far beyond what I see on the screen, that it makes me question the vast majority of their admirers (and I know a few) sense.

    I know everyone in Hollywood wants to work with him, but count me out.

  • Ordell Robbie

    I doubt this will be better than Jackie Brown which is his best & most mature film. The only film of his where all the characters don’t sound like dummies whose speech is being controlled by the grand ventriloquist Tarantino. I guess it helps that the screenplay was adapted from a book.

  • Map

    Saw the movie last nite in NY. Freaking loved it. Waltz is great so is fox and Leo. Great action and was really funny in a lot of scenes.

  • Map

    You guys are going to love this film. Trust me. It is on the level of Pulp Fiction. Freaking great I can’t say that enough.

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  • Josh Gonzales

    I saw this film last night in Scottsdale AZ and I must say, this movie is a masterpiece. Highly entertaining, great acting, and amazing direction from the best film maker of our time. DiCaprio, Jackson, and Waltz all deserve oscar nods. Without a doubt the best movie of the year!

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