PLANET TERROR – Extended Version

This disc is Region 4 and the special features (or lack thereof) may not be on DVD’s from different regions, you have been warned.

Ah Grindhouse, the glorious sleaze filled, blood soaked, bad ass double feature manifested by two of cinemas biggest badasses, I remember when there were just rumors of you, then upon your release a shit fest cum catastrophe hit harder then hurricane Katrina, you bombed and were torn in two.

How unnecessary it would be to rehash the Grindhouse story, it’s everywhere on the net, hell just go to the IMDb message board but take a scuba tank with you to prevent being drowned in the cesspool of whining and bitching that continues to this day (get over it people).

Anyway…Tarantino’s high octane slasher flick, Death Proof, was released as one half of Grindhouse whilst Rodriguez’s incredibly gore zombie fest, Planet Terror, became the other.

When a dangerous gas is released into the atmosphere it causes those it comes in contact with to become hulking, mutated sickos (could you call them zombies? Honestly they’re as much zombies as the infected in 28 Days/Weeks, so you make up your mind), as the ever hungry sickos take over a town in Texas, a small band of survivors fight to stay alive. Lead by knife wielding, gun totting El Wray (bad ass incarnate) and former go-go dancer cum human arsenal Cherry Darling, the survivors uncover the truth behind the chemical weapons creation (they tie in Bin Ladin!!!).

What can I say about Planet Terror? IT FREAKING ROCKS!

I watched it for the first time (along with Death Proof) with a bunch of my friends (SHOUT OUT: Hannah, Laura, Taryn, Teagan & Tim) and we had an absolute blast.

Planet Terror is gory cheese to the max, if you want gore then prepare for more then you bargained for.

When the split was announced there was uproar about the DVD releases, the split would ruin the entire Grindhouse experience, no fake trailers, no aged effects and all the cut scenes (including missing reels) would be added back in. Well in the case of Planet Terror we do get Rodriguez’s Machete trailer (to be expected), there has been no change to all the aged effects but yes all the cut scenes are added back in except for the missing reel (because Rodriguez never shot it).

Well, let’s dive right into the special features of the DVD shall we.

On the first disc we get an Audio Commentary by Robert Rodriguez (Writer/Director) which is great to listen to, yet again Robert keeps his commentaries packed with back story on the film and goes into keeping it cheap, he doesn’t go into the controversy that surrounded Grindhouses release and the reasons for its DVD split.

Comic-Con 2006: Directors and Cast of Grindhouse is just that, the 2006 Comic-Con Grindhouse panel where Quentin and Robert are joined by various cast members to promote the film and answer many a question about the films concepts and what it was like filming Planet Terror (at the time Death Proof hadn’t gone into production yet).

Heading over to disc two and we get one of Roberts patent 10-Minute Film Schools, Robert goes through the ins and out of Planet Terrors effects, including the aging effects, Cherry’s gun leg and the countless other effects that went into the movie.

The Badass Babes of Planet Terror looks at the lovely ladies in the film, from Rose McGowen to Marley Shelton to Fergie to the Crazy Babysitter Twins (Robert’s nieces!), there’s plenty of on set stories to be heard including one in which Quentin got so into playing a sicko that he actually bit Fergie!

The Guys of Planet Terror Just like the previous featurette only this one checks out the badass dudes in the film and their characters, we find out how the El Wray character was developed further after Freddy Rodriguez was cast. Then there’s Josh Brolin, Tom Savini, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Neveen Andrews, Bruce Willace, the guy who played the original Mariachi (for the life of me I still can’t remember the guys name) hell even Quentin gets his bit, and of course…Michael Park and the ever returning Sheriff Earl McGraw.

Casting Rebel is about Roberts very own son, Rebel (what a fucking cool name), who Robert cast for the role of Tony (a.k.a the kid who shot himself!). Yes that’s right, Robert killed his own son. The funniest thing about it is that he didn’t even know that he died!

Sickos, Bullets and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror is my personal favorite feature on the disc, it goes behind the scenes of all the big badass action scenes, including El Wray’s hallway sicko knifing scene, and how each stunt was achieved.

If I had to complain about something it’s that they could have shown us some stuff on the physical effects of the sickos, which they didn’t.

The Friend, The Doctor and the Real Estate Agent is a little something out together by Robert on three people he cast for the film, his friend, his own doctor who plays Dr. Felix and yes his very own real estate agent who plays Skip the Go-Go Bar Owner – It’s go-go, not cry-cry.

-Danny

MOVIE: 5 out of 5

DVD: 3.5 out of 5