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Review #442 of 365
Movie Review of Planet Terror (2007) [R]
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 7 April 2007
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: 16 October 2007
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez (Sin City)
Written by: Robert Rodriguez (Once Upon a Time in Mexico)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Rose McGowan (The Black Dahlia) • Freddy Rodríguez (Bobby) • Josh Brolin (Into the Blue) • Marley Shelton (The Last Kiss) • Jeff Fahey (Messages) • Michael Biehn (You Are Here) • Naveen Andrews ("Lost") • Quentin Tarantino ("Alias") • Michael Parks (Kill Bill: Vol. 2) • Kevin Cacy (Idiocracy) • Bruce Willis (The Astronaut Farmer)
Soundtrack: Download now from 
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
For this review of Planet Terror, uncommon among most critics, the take shall be to review the Grindhouse double feature in three parts. This part will include an extensive review of just the Robert Rodriguez-directed segment called Planet Terror.
For a short review of rest of the Grindhouse material click here.
For an extensive review of Death Proof click here.
Planet Terror. Robert Rodriguez. Zowie Rob Zombie. Planet Terror gives us an evil scientist who conjures up a biohazardous weapon of the most diabolical kind. This one putrefies your flesh before turning you in a cannibalistic zombie. The only thing better than this film would have been if it had been called "Cannibalistic Zombies from Space". Maybe that was already a movie? Anyway, the clever casting director placed this role in the hands of "Lost's" Naveen Andrews who come across convincingly enough as the profiteer scientist willing to sell out every ethical principle there is for some cold hard cash and the testicles of anyone who gets in his way—yeah, sorry, that's just the beginning of the gross parts. The ingenious aspects of this plot which involves many major characters whose lives intersect at a rib joint called The Bone Shack run by TJ (Jeff Fahey) are numerous. First, there is the mysterious way the film opens and unfolds.
"Robert Rodriguez has created something very special…truly the first film of 2007 that I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing a second time."
We meet the chief protagonist Cherry (Rose McGowan) a Go-Go dancer right away as she sadly abandons her life of job security and Go-Go boots for a better life. Later, we meet her long-lost boy friend, Wray (Freddy Rodríguez) who looked for his jacket she took when she left him for two entire weeks thinking he must have lost it. Wray is not just anybody, he's a well known sharpshooter who never misses infamous among cops and robbers. Next, we meet husband and wife doctors, William (Josh Brolin) and Dakota (Marley Shelton) Block. Well, actually, William is more of the antagonist and Dakota a fellow protagonist, but anyway, we meet them and find out that, well, Dakota the magic, syringe-wielding anesthesiologist has been sort of messing around on the side with……a long-lost girlfriend. The other main character of interest is the local sheriff, Sheriff Hague (Michael Biehn). He's no fan of Wray's and keeps trying to lock him up and keep him without a gun—a sort of necessary tool to fight off cannibalistic zombies by the way. He's the evil landlord brother of JT, and he might know something about some of the others as well. The key gimmick of the entire film, however, is the amputation of Cherry's leg and subsequent hobbled approach she has to life with a peg leg followed by a specially fashioned machine gun attachment the likes of which have not been seen since the Maskatron™ doll that came out just after the $6 Million Man doll which had all sorts of attachments that could be plugged into the arm and leg sockets for a really bad android creation. Cherry's talents at wielding this new weapon grows with each gun battle. Sometimes gruesome, sometimes hilarious, sometimes inventive, sometimes cruel, there's no denying this was a stroke of genius. It's the penultimate culmination of minds working hard to recreate the perfect exploitation film heroine. Cherry will stand as an movie icon for decades to come. Her action figure will become one of the most collected of the year. It's a given.
Well, I've given away already too much information. Suffice it to say the plot is excellent when it comes to fulfilling the goals, though it honestly surpasses the genre to which it was intended to pay tribute. Despite the scratched film effects that were a bit annoying after a while, in every other way, the film satisfies. It doesn't have a traditionally dumb ending. Cherry and Wray are outstanding characters with a complete history (past, present, and future). This was not a cheeseball plot with cheesy acting. Quite the opposite. Despite some intentionally 70s exploitation filmesque dialogue, these are really well-drawn characters with actors taking the job of making them credible within the incredible very, very seriously. Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodríguez had on-screen chemistry the likes of which I've not seen, and yeah I'm going to say it, since Bergman and Bogart. I don't care if people think I'm crazy or exaggerating or out on a limb with that suggestion. I've seen Bergman and Bogart a million times (now that is an exaggeration, but anyway), and these two fell right in that same vein for me.
Robert Rodriguez has created something very special in Planet Terror. This is not a traditionally great movie. Taken out of the context, it might be ridiculous, however, the context is key. And within the context Planet Terror is a fascinating, highly entertaining, riotously good fun with every detail covered exquisitely. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I applaud the talent and ingenuity behind the creation of this film. Also, look for a fun cameo from a big celeb who, frankly, has recently taken a liking to uncredited cameo appearances. Here's a fairly big hint.
Well, I've given away already too much information. Suffice it to say the plot is excellent when it comes to fulfilling the goals, though it honestly surpasses the genre to which it was intended to pay tribute. Despite the scratched film effects that were a bit annoying after a while, in every other way, the film satisfies. It doesn't have a traditionally dumb ending. Cherry and Wray are outstanding characters with a complete history (past, present, and future). This was not a cheeseball plot with cheesy acting. Quite the opposite. Despite some intentionally 70s exploitation filmesque dialogue, these are really well-drawn characters with actors taking the job of making them credible within the incredible very, very seriously. Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodríguez had on-screen chemistry the likes of which I've not seen, and yeah I'm going to say it, since Bergman and Bogart. I don't care if people think I'm crazy or exaggerating or out on a limb with that suggestion. I've seen Bergman and Bogart a million times (now that is an exaggeration, but anyway), and these two fell right in that same vein for me.
Robert Rodriguez has created something very special in Planet Terror. This is not a traditionally great movie. Taken out of the context, it might be ridiculous, however, the context is key. And within the context Planet Terror is a fascinating, highly entertaining, riotously good fun with every detail covered exquisitely. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I applaud the talent and ingenuity behind the creation of this film. Also, look for a fun cameo from a big celeb who, frankly, has recently taken a liking to uncredited cameo appearances. Here's a fairly big hint.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Planet Terror (2007)
Cast Members
Rose McGowan
• Freddy Rodríguez • Josh BrolinMarley Shelton
• Jeff Fahey • Michael BiehnNaveen Andrews
• Quentin Tarantino • Michael ParksKevin Cacy
• Bruce WillisWriter / Director
Robert Rodriguez
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Planet Terror (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Robert Rodriguez has created something very special in Planet Terror. This is not a traditionally great movie. Taken out of the context, it might be ridiculous, however, the context is key. And within the context Planet Terror is a fascinating, highly entertaining, riotously good fun with every detail covered exquisitely. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I applaud the talent and ingenuity behind the creation of this film. Planet Terror is truly the first film of 2007 that I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing a second time. Count me in as the newest fan of Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodríguez as well.
1 comment:
i watched planet terror on cable last night. halfway through the movie i was saying to myself (A) THIS MOVIE IS COOL AND (B)THIS IS WHAT THE RESIDENT EVIL MOVIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN. i don't know if rodriguez ever played the games but he made the movie from the games. zombies, gunplay with shots to the head, even the gas was like the viruses that started the zombies in racoon city.
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