The Movie:

Hot on the heels of the 'un-rated and extended' two-disc release of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof comes the 'un-rated and extended' cut of Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror. While it would have been nice to see the theatrical experience that was Grindhouse maintained, that didn't happen and the two films have been given individual releases. So with that said, let's take a peek at what we have been given, rather than lament what we have not.

A go-go dancer calling herself Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) leaves the club she dances at and winds up at a BBQ joint run by J.T. (Jeff Fahey) where she runs into her old flame, El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez). He gives her a ride and on the way they roll his truck. When they get out of the vehicle, some infected people have chewed off Cherry's leg, promptly destroying her dreams of becoming a stand up comedian. El Wray takes her to the hospital where Dr. William Block (Josh Brolin) and his wife, Dakota Block (Mary Shelton) are dealing with some unusual marital issues. It turns out that the hospital is overrun with people arriving with strange growths and infections and before you know it, there's an outbreak. The local Sheriff (Michael Parks), who happens to be J.T.'s brother and who desperately wants his BBQ recipe, arrests El Wray but as the outbreak spreads, everyone soon has to band together to survive against the hordes of the infected. If that weren't bad enough, a covert military group (lead by Bruce Willis) is involved in a struggle with a shady 'scientist' named Abby (Naveen Andrews), whose hobbies include collecting the testicles of his enemies. It seems there might be an antidote available...

By taking all the insanity of zombie/infection films like Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City and turning things up about two hundred percent, Rodriguez has made a deliriously fun splatter film that takes itself just seriously enough to work but not so serious as to overshoot its intentions. This is an homage to films from the likes of Romero, Fulci, Lenzi and even Antonio Margheritti (parts of the picture feel a little bit like Cannibal Apocalypse) with a dash of John Carpenter thrown in for good measure, and on that level, it works quite well. The film doesn't shy away from the gore or the gratuitous language and it peppers the film with clichés and outlandish characters (the marketing material, even the DVD cover, completely give away what happens to Cherry once her leg is gnawed off) and if the whole thing feels like cheap exploitation, well, so much the better. There's no real deep subtext to Planet Terror nor is there really much of a message to the picture - but sometimes there doesn't have to be. What Rodriguez has crafted here is plainly and simply a fast pace, bloody, bullet riddled horror thrill ride that starts with a bang and holds the breakneck pace for its duration.

As far as the performances are concerned, we're given an interesting cast to watch with Rose McGowan stealing the show. She's sultry, sexy, and sympathetic enough to work as the female lead but when it comes time to tear it up towards the end of the film proves equally capable in an action intensive role. Freddy Rodriguez is likeable enough as the mysterious El Wray, and if we never find out exactly what his back-story is, that's half the fun. He's great in the action scenes - just watch as he takes out some unlucky infected types with a butterfly knife - but he's also well cast as the anti-hero who never misses. Surround them with a supporting cast like the one assembled here and throw in some fun cameos from Tom Savini, Quentin Tarantino and Michael Parks and you've got yourself a fun bunch of performers who are obviously having a ball with the material and with their roles.

From the intentionally degraded look of the print to the well placed 'missing reel' gag (note: the missing reel has NOT been restored in this un-rated version) Rodriguez has done a good job of replicating the fleapit theater experience - this big budget Hollywood film looks like a worn out print you'd see at a second run inner city movie house. He's given us characters to like, a story that provides tension and gore galore to provide shock value - and in the end, has crafted an insanely entertaining film. Who cares if it's deep when it's this much fun?

With that said, what differs in this un-rated cut compared to the Planet Terror that played in North American theaters? Honestly, not a whole lot. As noted, the missing reel is still missing and the vast majority of the new material is simple, superficial bits and pieces like extended bits of gore, short character bits, and slightly lengthier action scenes. The pacing of the film isn't altered much, and basically what we've got here is a gorier version of what we saw in theaters without any major changes having been made.

Video:

Anyone who saw Grindhouse theatrically knows that Planet Terror was intended to look rough and beaten, like a worn drive-in film print, and that's exactly how it looks on this DVD, presented in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen, strangely altered slightly from the 2.35.1 theatrical aspect ratio but not enough to really hurt anything - compositions look fine. There's a little bit of picture information missing on the sides but noticeably more on the top and bottom of the frame - compare the feature to the trailer, which is 2.35.1 - the differences are there, but they're minor. If Rodriguez shot the film in 1.78.1 and then reframed it at 2.35.1 for theatrical play alongside Death Proof, the aspect ratio on this DVD would make sense Either way, the picture looks good in terms of framing.

Whereas Death Proof started off looking scratchy and worn and then cleaned up during the second half, Planet Terror is constantly showing scratches, cigarette burns, print damage, grain and debris - of course, none of it is real, it's all artificial, but the effect that Rodriguez worked for in post production is maintained for the DVD release. Despite all the intended wear to the image, the colors look quite good and there's a fair bit of detail to notice underneath the digital manipulation. There aren't any noticeable problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement and there's only a slight bit of aliasing to note. Flesh tones look strong and the black levels are solid.