Customer Reviews

Planet Terror (Two-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After seeing Grindhouse in the theaters, it became an instant favorite of mine. I've gone through a few DVDs so far (US DVD and Japanese 8-disc set) before getting the blu-ray - I have to say there definitely is an upgrade here (despite the old/torn up/dragged through the dirt look of the film). I'll start off by saying that it looks exactly as it was intended to look (and I hate it whenever people say that, as it usually means "It doesn't look that good, but it's not supposed to, so I give it 5 stars") - there is a significant increase in the sharpness of the film, but the blu-ray also includes an exclusive version of the film without the "grindhouse look" - a nice clean print if you ever just want to sit down and watch it without all of the damage (a very cool extra, even if just to check out). Overall the video is a significant jump from the DVD Release and looks very nice. Great audio track to go along with the video - definitely a fun action/horror movie to sit back and crank up the volume to. All extras from the DVD release are carried over and round out the package nicely (the only new extra being the scratch-free version mentioned above)

For anyone who has seen Grindhouse in theaters, it's important to note that this is only the Planet Terror portion of the film - it has been extended (almost half an hour longer) - this may be a good or bad thing based on which version you like. I personally like both versions (extended individual versions and the double-feature) for different reasons - currently, the double-feature isn't available on DVD or Blu Ray in the US, so there aren't many options.

What could have made it better? Picture in picture track and all of the theatrical trailers on the disc (currently the disc only has Machete on it).

If you don't have it on any format, I highly recommend it. It's a nice zombie/action movie - don't expect too many scares, but if you want to sit back and have a fun time, this is the perfect movie. If you own it on DVD, I still recommend the upgrade to the Blu Ray for the extra feature (scratch-free version) and the significant A/V upgrade.

I'll forgo a movie review since there's an abundance of them online and there's a good chance you've already seen it. Here's a review of the Blu Ray:

Video: 4/5

This is a grindhouse experience, so the film was given a rough, blemished appearance. Now despite this rough look, the video is still quite sharp and pleasant to see. Grain appearance is just right, not overdone like Spider Man or Weeds 1st Season on Blu Ray. Now if the rough look isn't for you, don't worry: there's a "scratch free" version included which also looks quite nice. I won't lie: although I enjoy this movie, I was worried the scratches/rough look was going to equal nasty picture. But really, it was a pleasant surprise.

Audio: 4.5/5

The audio options include English TrueHD 5.1; Dolby 5.1 English, French and Spanish; Dolby 5.1 English (crowd reaction track)

The high def audio is just as thundering as the surround track found on the DVD release. The surround effects do their job well enough, are immersive as best as an action movie may offer. Bullets whiz by and the flame sounds surround, but the subtle ambiance that makes you look over your shoulder is missing. Nevertheless, the audio is not bad. The crowd reaction track is also a welcome inclusion and something I enjoyed on the DVD release. Perhaps not for everyone, but it makes you feel like you're in the theater again.

Conclusion: If you have the DVD, I'm sure watching it upconverted isn't going to be a huge jump in quality for you. However, if you wish for a scratch free version or a bump in audio, that is what the Blu Ray offers, so give it a rent and see if it's for you.

What more is there to say about what, in my view, is a brilliant, unashamed exploitation zombie movie that's already a classic? Yes, I know, the Grindhouse double-feature didn't too so well in the theaters but maybe the public wasn't yet ready for such advance cinematographic material. Maybe it still isn't and maybe it will never be. I know that I will never get myself tired of anything Tarantino or Tarantino-related and a movie where Tarantino, if fact plays a part and it's supposed to be the B-movie to Quentin's 'Death Proof' is a Tarantino movie to me (sorry, Robert Rodriguez). Just for the fun of name-dropping, did you know that Fergie (yes THAT Fergie) ends up eaten here? That Bruce Willis falls flat on the floor, as it decomposes? That Carlos Gallardo (El Mariachi) plays the main gunslinger? That Robert Rodriguez kills (the character played by ) his own preschool son - his son plays a part where he ends up dead. That his real-life family doctor actually plays a doctor? There's so much to learn and talk about and it's all on second disk's extra but Rose McGowan absolutely steals the show. She played a relatively short part in Death Proof but her Planet Terror role is likely to be the role of her lifetime. She's simply perfect, sensational, stunningly beautiful and deadly accurate when it comes to shooting with that leg-mounted machine gun.

But, I wasn't planning to talk much about the movie itself. I only wanted to make some brief remarks about the Blu-ray edition of Planet Terror.

To my surprise, Planet Terror goes a lot farther than any of the previous Tarantino-related (yes, I know, it's Robert Rodriguez) Blu-ray releases in actually taking advantage of the Blu-ray technology. A lot farther than Death Proof, Kill Bill or Reservoir Dogs.

Disk one, has TWO versions of the movie. The 'scratched' original and, surprisingly (because Death Proof lacks it) a mostly 'clean' copy. In addition to the 'regular' and the traditional 'commentary' sound track it's possible to select the 'audience reaction track' (available on the 'scratched' version only. Interestingly, the 'clean' version does not include the 'Machete Man' introduction.

The sound track is Dolby TrueHD or Dolby 5.1 in English and it is so on both the 'regular' and the 'audience reaction' tracks. French and Spanish tracks are also available in Dolby 5.1 only. Subtitles are English or Spanish but not in French.

As it is the case with Death Proof, BD Live is one of the options listed as a 'special feature' but, when selected, you are told to that it is not available at this time and to 'check back later'.

The second disk is full of rather interesting featurettes. There's an 11 minute one titled '10-minute film school' where Robert Rodriguez talks about the making of the movie, there are shorts on 'the gals' and the 'boys', extras on the special effects, trailers, etc., etc., etc. and, to my surprise, the quality of extras is quite decent.

Briefly: it goes a long way but not 'all the way' toward taking advantage of Blu-ray, some of the options and features implementation are confusing (see above), for reasons impossible to comprehend it claims to have BD Live but it does not, the second disk, full of extras is actually worth watching.

This edition earns its 4 stars.

this is why we watch movies boys and girls. get lost in the mayhem and enjoy..

I thought Planet Terror was awesome and the better of the two Grindhouse movies! We first meet Cherry Darling doing a sexy go-go dance, but she wants to quit. During this time, some Military men are meeting at a Military base with a scientist named Abby. The Military need a huge amount of deadly biochemical agent called DC2. When the deal goes wrong, Abby shoots the DC2 and it all fills the night air and infects some of the town's residents. Then we meet Dr. Block and his wife, Dakota. They work the graveyard shift at the hospital. Meanwhile, Cherry runs into her old boyfriend, El Wray. During a ride in his truck, they run into some trouble with zombies! Cherry loses her leg, and Wray takes her to the hospital. At the hospital, the bodies keep rolling in, and the zombies take over. Cherry, Wray, Dakota, and the sheriff all meet at the sheriff's brother's BBQ place called The Bone Shack. They try to figure out how to survive the zombie outbreak, and get taken to the military base where the final battle between the living, and the dead plays out! There were a lot of awesome gore scenes! If you love zombies, and action, you'll love PLANET TERROR!!!

It's "Night of the Living Dead" meets "Showgirls" meets "Smokey and the Bandit"...!

When toxic biochemicals are released into the Earth's atmosphere, transforming innocent bystanders into flesh-guzzling zombies, mankind's only hope lies with former go-go dancer Cherry (Rose McGowan), who wears a machine-gun in place of an amputated leg...one of her many "useless talents"...

That's the bizarre plot of PLANET TERROR, writer/director Robert Rodriguez's homage to the blood-spattered, beaten-up horror movies of the 1970s. This was originally part of the double-feature presentation "Grindhouse" along with Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF, and whilst both movies play well as a double feature, you can easily enjoy PLANET TERROR as a stand-alone movie experience.

Rose McGowan is a natural fit for the role of Cherry; and it's a complete mystery--to this reviewer at least--why it's taken her so long to be the leading lady of an action/horror film; she's perfect! Rodriguez's script is totally tongue-in-cheek with lots of fun references and cliches for the veteran horror experts. Marley Shelton, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Freddy Rodriguez, and "The Crazy Babysitter Twins" co-star.

The Blu-ray comes stacked with extras, including director commentary, cast interview featurettes, "scratch-free" version of the movie, audience reaction track, "Film School" tutorial featurette and BD-Live components. The perfect movie for starting a lazy weekend!

Great movie, others have said it all.

Good quality Blu-Ray disc and packaging...I'm a happy guy.

A deadly military experiment is accidently released as a gas turns some of the soliders into vicious flesh-eating mutant zombie-esque ghouls that begin to spread a virus through their bite that can turn people into the same creatures. Sexy stripper Cherry Darling (Rose Mcgowan) whom just got her leg ripped apart by those creatures joins forces with a maverick (Freddy Rodriguez), a female smuggler (Naveen Andrews), a restraunt owner (Jeff Fahry) and a female doctor (Mary Shelton) as they must battle every one of those abominations and find out what is behind all this madness.

Co-starring Bruce Willis, Tom Savini, Quentin Tarantino and Josh Brolin this is an electrifying and funny Sci-fi horror action packed rollercoaster ride of a film. Writer-director-producer Robert Rodriguez ("Sin City", "Desperado", "El Mariachi" and "From Dusk Till Dawn") with producer and co-star Quentin Tarantino have conjured up the best of the two stories on 2007's experimental cinematic flick "Grindhouse". It's got lots of great performances including some 70's 16mm style grainy filming including a brief missing reel part to make it seem like the audience is in a grindhouse theater, i also love how the heroine in this movie is very sexy yet original as she's like no other heroine to hit film before yet she kicks ace. This movie is loaded with non-stop action and graphic scenes of gore such as castration, cannibalism, exploding heads, brains exposed including everything but the kitchen sink.

This 2-Disc Blu-Ray set offers awesome surround picture and sound that will rock your home-theater as it's presented in it's uncut and extended version with footage not shown in theaters. There's some great extras like audio commentary, audience reaction track, Trailer, additional scratch free version, BD-live, 10 minute film school featurette, featurettes, reel of casting and poster gallery.

Also recommended: "Night of the Living Dead (1968 and 1990)", "Re-Animator", "Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004)", "Day of the Dead (1985)", "Return of the Living Dead 1 2 and 3", "The Hills Have Eyes (2006)", "Dead Alive (a.k.a. Braindead)", "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (a.k.a. Living Dead at The Manchester Morgue)", "Nightmare City", "Hell of the Living Dead", "Demons", "The Toxic Avenger", "Redneck Zombies", "Scanners", "Fido", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Shaun of the Dead", "Undead", "The Stuff", "Battle Royale", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Tokyo Zombie", "Bio-Zombie", "Tokyo Gore Police", "Wanted", "Heavy Metal", "Evil Dead 2", "Kill Bill 1 and 2", "Dead Heat (1988)", "Cannibal Apocaypse", "Resident Evil Trilogy", "Resident Evil Degeneration", "Akira", "28 Days/28 Weeks Later", "Bad Taste", "Lifeforce", "From Beyond", "Bride of Re-Animator", "Beyond Re-Animator", "Night of the Creeps", "Night of the Comet", "Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)", "The Blob (1988)", "The Dead Next Door" and "American Werewolf in London".

As far as bad movies go, this one has it all. Cheesy one-liners, extreme gore, nonstop action, some bad language, gratuitous sexual content; and, a hot chick with a machine gun leg. This is one of those movies where you will laugh and cringe at the same time. Acting is intentionally overdone; so, it's actually good acting! The picture is ok; but, has been edited to make it look faded, scrathed-up and older. That's because it's paying tribute to the Grindhouse films of old. Sound is great; but, a little too good for a grindhouse film. The only thing about the blu-ray is, that I wish they would drop the scratch-free version; and, add the theatrical cut in whole. On the whole, I liked Planet Terror a little better then Death Proof.

I'm a big fan of Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. I didn't know about this movie until a friend told me. I bought this on Bluray and LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEEEEED IT! It was a fun movie. No big Oscar contender. Just an awesome movie. I loved it. Thoroughly satisfied.