Review of From Dusk Till Dawn: Collector`s Series (2 Disc Set)

Introduction

Who doesn`t already know the films premise? George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino play Seth and Richie Gecko and are on the run from law enforcement and need to cross into Mexico. With practically everyone chasing them, they come across Harvey Keitel and his family and force them at gunpoint to smuggle them across the border. They are to rendezvous at a bar called The Titty Twister and wait for Carlos, their escort into El Ray. Except they have no idea what they`ve let themselves in for at The Titty Twister! All is not what it seems and this is where the tempo of the movie changes.

Make no mistake, this movie is a typical genre movie, a B-movie exploitation thriller with tongue firmly in cheek. Okay, the story is a little hokey but this is the whole idea and shouldn`t be taken seriously in the slightest. It`s meant to be fun and it has this in spades. Tarantino`s dialogue is as sharp as ever and he knows how to make even the most vile things sound poetic. This is just one of the slick elements here and with Clooney`s perfect delivery you get the impression that he is not someone with whom to mess. We really get a sense of the characters as the story builds and we know just enough to get us through it.

The cast here are very cool, you wouldn`t normally get these many stars in a movie like this, so it`s great that they`re here. Harvey Keitel plays his part well and it`s good to see him up against Clooney and Tarantino as the Pastor holding his own. Clooney and Tarantino are perfectly cast as the antiheroes with parts from Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, the wonderful Cheech Marin and even a cameo from John Saxon. Not to mention the lovely Salma Hayek, all I`ll say is that my heart melts when she appears on screen here!

Monster effects are a little OTT, but then this is the idea and KNB have done well with these OTT creature effects. Although it does look somewhat dated by todays standards, it`s well suited to the B-movie feeling that`s instilled. There are some CG effects and these blend in well. Rodriguez`s choppy editing style is slick and to the point and keeps good pacing throughout. Does it work as a movie? Absolutely. It entertains, it`s fun and there`s no other reason for it. If only there was a bar like The Titty Twister here, I`d be there!

Video

I found the 1.85:1 anamorphic print to be a little on the soft side and as a result I didn`t see as much detail as I would have liked, but on the whole this is a pretty good transfer. The colours and contrast came through well enough with good colour balance. There are a few scratches and a little dirt on screen at the beginning of the movie, but then this seems to get cleaned up and you certainly won`t notice much while you`re watching the movie. There are a few minor signs of compression but this is in just one scene and it`s very minor, not enough to spoil the film.

Audio

The quality of the sound and music in this movie is good. There`s good dynamic range and the sound field is spot on. I was expecting one scene to be more forceful seeing the action onscreen, but there are a lot of scenes for the speakers to work with so I wasn`t too disappointed by it. The dialogue is clear and Tarantino`s words just flow from start to finish. There was good bass here too. In particular you can hear the sound of the bats swirling around you bringing you right into the action later in the movie. I think FDTD has really good music too, the soundtrack is a must if you like what you hear in the movie (it`s not all ZZ Top!) and has Chet`s Speech.

Features

There are the now customary adverts for other movies before you get to the menu, thankfully you can skip the trailers. So what do we get here on this disc? First up there`s the commentary track with Rodriguez and Tarantino. This is really good and was taken from the track recorded for the previous laserdisc version. Listening to it now it still sounds fresh, engaging and is quite funny too and you can feel the enthusiasm as the pair rattle on. It`s a shame that you can`t change audio streams mid-playback since I was looking forward to getting some Director Commentary here and there without having to go through the menus.

The Outtakes are good, I haven`t seen any of this stuff before so it makes for interesting viewing. You sometimes forget about the numerous takes involved before a scene is `right` and watching Clooney getting it right is amusing. Hollywood Goes To Hell is a 13 minute featurette which is easy going and there are a couple of sneaky peek trailers for other Buena Vista titles as well as one for this movie.

Then there are two music videos here, one with ZZ Top performing "She`s Just Killing Me" and one by Tito and Tarantula, "After Dark". The former is a proper music promo, not the usual music to film cuts that are seen these days. Tito and co are in the film anyway so their performance is from the film cut with more footage of them performing, though this looks ungraded and bit out of place. The Still Gallery is good for a change and has dozens of stills of the cast and crew, not just the usual grabs taken of the movie itself. On a last note, I found the animated sequences with the vampires in the menus to be quite frightening!

With all these little extras however, the real star here is "Full Tilt Boogie" on the second disc. It`s a 90 minute extravaganza and is never a dull moment. This has been on TV perhaps once or twice already, so it`s good to see Buena Vista release it here at last. Sarah Kelly has been given unprecedented access in order to make a proper filmmaking documentary. It`s not just about the movie but about the crew, the actual day-to-day production, the difficulties and provides a really interesting insight for those who are interested in the behind the scenes goings on within a filmmaking set.

The cast are amazing about having this done, they play up to the camera having fun along the way and even the production crew love it, they get to be on camera like everyone else. There are crew bios here for the Full Tilt crew but the garish backgrounds with the text make it difficult to read. Thankfully all you need to do is play the documentary and forget everything else. The last thing in this package is the From Dusk Till Dawn CD-ROM game sample and film Production Notes in the slipcase which contains the usual cast and crew biographies.

Conclusion

This has been a longtime favourite of mine since it first came out and I was convinced that I`d wear out my old laserdisc version. I know from experience though that the audience will be divided on whether they like this film or can`t stand it, I think it`s pure entertainment with good casting and shouldn`t be taken seriously. Tarantino`s dialogue makes this film better than it has a right to be, and this is one of the reasons why it`s so appealing.

The addition of the documentary, Full Tilt Boogie, with all the other extras make this a good package and is a must have for all fans of the film. It`s not really a horror movie as such but it certainly is exciting and has more than its fair share of thrills. Plus, if you really like it you can also buy the soundtrack and get the script, I guess you can tell I`m a fan! Highly recommended!