QuentinTarantino, The Hateful Eight Samuel Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Panavision 70mm, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern
Quentin Tarantino The Hateful Eight
in 70mm
A bit of cinema magic is currently showing in theatres. The HATEFUL EIGHT, written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino recaptures the glory and grandeur of classic Hollywood films. To do so, Tarantino, because of his long-running success at the box-office, did what probably few other Hollywood directors would dare do. Shoot this classic western movie in 70mm film.
Knowing most theatres are no longer equipped to show these kinds of films Tarantino had the audacity and power to have Hollywood execs. gather-up and restock select theatres with projection cameras that would be able to show his latest movie.
Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh in 70mm film The Hateful Eight.
The plot of The Hateful Eight takes us back to six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War. A stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice.
Back in the 1950's and 60's, when major motion pictures were released, it was an event everyone wanted to attend. You would go to the theatre, receive a 'playbill' sit and watch cinema magic in super HD - shot on classic 70mm film. So, "What makes 70mm film so special?" Let me tell you...
Ultra Panavision 70 refers to Panavision’s unique anamorphic camera lenses that capture images on 70mm film in an incredible aspect ratio of 2.76:1.
(Almost all films you see today are shot in ratios of either 1.85:1 or 2.39:1.) So, to put it simply, Ultra Panavision 70 provides an amazingly wider and more detailed image. At 24 frames per second "true moving pictures" appear to come to life. It's a lost art form in today's instant gratification, digital world.
Quentin Tarantino while filming The Hateful Eight.
Says Tarantino of this special film and art form,
“The thing about the 'roadshows' is
that it made movies special. It wasn't
just a movie playing at your local
theater. They would do these big
musical productions before the normal
release of the film. You would get
a big colorful program. It was a
presentation. They would play a
Broadway show overture version of the
soundtrack. If you’re going to shoot your
movie and release it in 70mm, it’s really
the way to go: twenty-four frames a second
flickering through a projector, creating
the illusion of movement.”
Samuel L. Jackson in Panavision 70mm, The Hateful Eight
While taking his prisoner to Red Rock, bounty hunter, John Ruth and his fugitive Daisy encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie's Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass.
Quentin Tarantino (l.) Directs his ensemble cast in The Hateful Eight
When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Demian Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while his mother is away is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern).
As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all...
