From Dusk Till Dawn

I've seen quite a few films featuring writer/producer/director/actor (that last credit is given grudgingly) Quentin Tarantino's involvement in some form or other, my favorite being True Romance (1993) and my least favorite being Natural Born Killers (1994), both of which he wrote. One thing I've noticed throughout is Tarantino must be one of the biggest movie fans (he seems to thrive on the exploitive) I've ever seen, perhaps even bigger than me. How do I figure this? Because his films seem to be comprised of many other films, hucking parts of them into a blender, adding a dose of his own, skewed originality, a pinch of spunk (figuratively or literally, whichever you prefer), and hitting purée. Many adore him, many hate him (I fall somewhere in-between), but for me, he does entertain, and what more could you ask (a lot, I suppose, but you probably ain't gonna get it)? From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) features a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, and directed by Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Sin City). The film stars George Clooney (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Harvey Keitel (The Piano), Juliette Lewis (What's Eating Gilbert Grape), and Tarantino himself. Also appearing is a myriad of notables including the very curvaceous Salma Hayek (Frida), Cheech Marin (The Shrimp on the Barbie), character actor Danny Trejo (Con Air), special effects artist and actor Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead), 70's blaxploitation star Fred Williamson (Hell Up in Harlem, Black Caesar), Michael Parks (Escape from Bogen County), John Saxon (Enter the Dragon), and Kelly Preston (Mischief).The film begins with two brothers, Seth (Clooney) and Richard (Tarantino) Gecko, on the run from the law. Seems these two have been very bad boys, first robbing a bank, and then killing a number of law enforcement agents during their escape (the brothers being the ones escaping, not the law enforcement agents...geez, why would law enforcement agents be trying to escape? Stay with me here). As we spend time with the brothers, we learn that the killings probably occurred at the hands of Richard, as he seems to be on the violent and unstable side (great combo, by the way), while Seth appears to be the brains, and possessing a much more firm grasp on reality. Anyway, the boys make it to Texas, their intent being to take the money from the bank job and live a life of luxury south of the border. Only problem is the law enforcement types, especially angered at the death of a few of their own, have thrown up a dragnet, and are closing in on the pair. Seeing their chances of making it across the border on their own ranging from slim to none (and slim just left town), the pair hitches a ride with Jakob Fuller (Keitel), his daughter Kate (Lewis), and Jakob's adopted son, in the family's recreational vehicle. The group does manage to slip through the border, and end up in the seediest biker bar you'll ever see, where Seth and Richard await contact with an associate who'll take them to the promised land, that is if they can survive the night as the bar turns out to be the equivalent of a vampiric roach motel, humans check in, but they don't check out.I can see where this film might put some off, and I'm not just talking about the copious amounts of graphic violence (the film was actually toned down in this regard, if you can believe it. Look for the deleted scenes in the special features section to see what was cut). The movie starts off as one film (and action-type thriller), and then about an hour in, breaks off into an entirely different film (vampires, and those who kill them). The transition isn't entirely seamless, but I went with it anyway. Probably the best element in the film is George Clooney, as he not only has many of the best lines, but also delivers them in a convincing manner. Harvey Keitel is certain worth watching, yet he seemed to take his part just a bit too seriously at times, in my opinion, but this was offset by Clooney and his underlying jovialness. Lewis, whom I don't care for in general, did alright, and actually looked kinda cute, albeit a trifle skinny for my tastes. Tarantino was probably the weakest element in the film, but at least he and director Rodriguez had the good sense to populate the film with enough talent to offset this factor. If you're not a fan of the graphic violence, then you should avoid this one, as its loaded with visceral goriness (I read they decided to go with green blood for the vampires as to get much of the violence past the censors). I thought the direction by Rodriguez to be very strong, as he kept the film rolling along at a swift pace, and set the mood wonderfully not only with well thought out shots, but also a lot of interesting and applicable musical selections. I especially liked the song played during Selma Hayek's seductive dance routine. It was as beautiful as the actress herself...and speaking of Hayek, I don't think I've ever seen anyone fill out a bikini as well as she does...that scene might be worth the price of the disk alone.The non-anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) picture is very good, and the audio is superior. Special features include a commentary track by Tarantino and Rodriguez, along with ads, two music videos, outtakes, three featurettes, still gallery, deleted/alternate scenes, and cast/crew bios. Also included is a 2nd DVD with a full-length feature titled Full Tilt Boogie, a film shot during the shooting schedule of From Dusk Till Dawn. The film was followed by two direct to video sequels, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) and From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000). There is a box set with all these movies, but compare the price against the individual releases (I think the latter is cheaper).Cookieman108

A good scary movie

I finally got around to transforming my home entertainment center into a full HD experience late last year, with the final step (a new Sony blu-ray player... 3D capable w. built-in wireless) occurring just weeks ago.When I upgraded the TV from a picture-tube unit (albeit a very nice one) to a big flat-panel HD monitor, I discovered what "anamorphic widescreen" really meant. Far too many of my favorite movies, which always look "right" on my standard-def 4:3 tube, suddenly were totally inadequate on a 1080p 240hz high-def monitor. For anyone who's not familiar with it, you may have noticed it once or twice... "non-anamorphic widescreen" means that the image is actually recorded in 4:3 image ratio, with the "black bars" actually being part of the recorded image! So, play a "non-anamorphic widescreen" movie on a widescreen display, and you get a 4:3 image (including black areas) in the middle, with big black areas on either side as well... basically, a postage-stamp image of the movie in the middle of a sea of black! NOT acceptable... (and there's no excuse for egomaniacs like James Cameron REFUSING to allow upgraded versions of their movies ... "Titanic," "The Abyss," "True Lies," and so forth... unless they, personally, oversee the entire transfer process... hence why none of those flicks have decent transfers yet!)SO... I discovered that my DVD of "From Dusk Til Dawn" was non-anamorphic. And I decided to upgrade it to a blu-ray disk.Now, this disk is a "Canadian" disk... which surprised me a bit. There may be a "domestic USA" version which is different, but this is the one I bought from Amazon, so that's what I'm reviewing. (I had no idea that it was "Canadian" until it arrived, by the way.)Okay... so, here are the PROS:1) This is a truly beautiful transfer. The image is perfect, as far as I can tell. I saw no artifacts, no noise, no blur... nothing. This actually looked better than it did when I saw it on the big screen. I'd rate the image as a 9.5/10 (and thats' simply because I never rate anything as "perfect").2) The sound is also a wonderful transfer. My home theater system allows full HD audio (in this case, DTS-HD Master Audio, though I also have Dolby TrueHD capability, which is a bit less common but sounds at least as good as DTS-HD MA). Using the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, it sounded very nice... but using the DTS-HD track, it was phenomenal. (Mind you, I have a very nice 7.1 sound system... if you're going off the TV speakers, you almost certainly won't hear any difference between the two!) The surround effects were well-used... hearing "bat wings" fluttering behind my recliner, clearly moving from one side of my living room to the other, was pretty impressive!So, the movie itself is nearly perfect.But there are a few CONS:1) There are ZERO "extras" on this disk. I know that there were extras on the DVD... I've got it right here. It's a shame that they chose not to provide those on this disk.2) As a "Canadian" disk, this has the original English soundtrack (Dolby Digital, and DTS-HD MA, as described before). It also has a French Dolby Digital soundtrack. But that's it. This is perfect for me, but if you're buying it in the USA, you're going to get some other language choices (for instance, you'll almost certainly get Spanish).SO... if you only want to watch the movie, in the original form and with the original sound, in the best possible quality, this is a wonderful choice. If you're one of those who likes "extras" as part of your entertainment purchases, you'll be disappointed in that part of it.

From Dusk Til Dawn is an enjoyable movie for me. I think what makes it unique and appealing is how the movie starts with George Clooney and Quinten Tarantino as criminals on the run but after a little over half way through the movie it turns into an over the top vampire horror setting. It's such a bizarre twist for a plot but they pulled it off well. It's very much a dark humor theme, nothing really scary about it.I do want to note though that this movie seems to be another unfortunate victim of an Amazon streaming audio level bug. Or something like that, I'm not sure what the deal is but this is the 2nd movie I've watched on Amazon where the audio levels are all messed up. In some scenes you can barely hear what people are saying and in other scenes the sound effects and music are too loud. It's very unbalanced and I know for a fact that the film was not originally like this. And it's not my hearing either, I've watch plenty of Amazon movies, have a fairly sized library of purchases and this movie along with Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight have this problem. I see that another reviewer also mentioned this so hopefully Amazon can look into it and have it fixed.Other than that it's a great flick but if you haven't seen it before and you really want to understand every piece of dialogue in the movie then you might want to turn subtitles on if you're streaming it on Prime.

Everything with Quentin Tarrantino’s character just has not aged well. I’d say this is a cult classic despite those scenes. That being said, I didn’t remember this movie being this funny, and it is deliberate in its humor. And The dance scene with Salma Hayek is still iconic!

La calidad de los discos y la caja es muy buena. Lo malo es que no lo puede leer casi ningún reproductor DVD aquí en México. Y no trae subtitulos al español. Solo para colecciónistas.

Arrived on time and in excellent condition

Réalisé par Robert Rodriguez et scénarisé par son pote Quentin Tarantino, "Une nuit en enfer" ou "From Dusk Till Dawn" est désormais une comédie horrifique culte des années 90 au goût de tequila frappée , teintée de polar et road-movie sanglant à la sauce "Grindhouse"qui a les faveurs d'une très belle édition blu-ray, tant du point de vue du contenu que du contenant. Soit un film déjanté, tournant à 100 à l'heure et avec une belle brochette de gueules ciselées au cordeau. L'auteur a depuis récidivé avec "Planète Terreur" et "Machete".Sans vouloir dévoiler une intrigue dont je laisse la surprise au néophyte, c'est un des films les plus "iconoclastes" de Robert Rodriguez, dans lequel il met en scène certains de ses acteurs fétiches - Tarantino, Salma Hayek,Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin , le groupe Tito y Tarantula- dans des rôles parfois à contre-emploi, mais donne aussi l'occasion à d'autres de déployer un certain talent pour l'action - Georges Clooney, Harvey Keitel et Juliette Lewis en font partie.L'intrigue se veut d'abord sombre, nerveuse et tendue pour retranscrire l'enfer de la cavale jusqu'à la frontière avec toutes les forces de police du Texas aux trousses, comme dans tout polar qui se respecte. Puis elle bascule progressivement dans le fantastique et le gore lors de l'arrivée au Mexique et de l'arrêt pour la nuit dans le bar "Titty Twister", repaire de cammionneurs, motards, mais pas seulement... Soit deux films en un seul réunis en quelque sorte. A ce titre, les effets spéciaux et maquillages restent particulièrement réussis, et la présence du maquilleur Tom Savini dans le casting est un bien bel hommage que rend Robert Rodriguez à cette profession à qui le fantastique doit tant de choses.L'image de ce blu-ray a été magnifiquement restaurée, donnant aux paysages du Texas des couleurs éclatantes mais aussi beaucoup de relief aux décors composant le "Titty Twister" : les couleurs crèvent littéralement l'écran.Le son est dopé aux effets, les coups de feu et explosions retentissent dans vos enceintes comme si vous y étiez. En VOST HD, l'éditeur ne s'est pas moqué de vous. Vous en aurez pour votre argent.Même chose concernant les bonus : Le 2ème blu-ray contenu dans ce boîtier en contient une sacrée dose (plus de 3 heures) pour vous plonger dans les coulisses de ce film unique en son genre.J'avoue ne pas avoir encore eu le temps de tout explorer. Mais ce n'est que partie remise...Un excellent produit à dévorer sans modération car le plaisir est garanti.

Bellissimo, peccato solo la qualità video non al top e l'assenza di sottotitoli in inglese ma solo in italiano (che probabilmente ricalcano le anche troppe libertà che si sono presi nell'adattamento).

If I was to review this as a film its an easy 4/5 all the way. As time passes its important that we get bigger and better releases to give you a good reason to re buy or double dip as they say on a item you already own twice over.So From Dusk Till Dawn gets released on Blu-Ray, instantly if your like me you check whats new about it and to be honest at first glance there was nothing but I was happy with that as the new picture quality is why I wanted it in the first place but also the extras off the 2nd disc from the DVD release.There is where I have a problem as on the 2nd disc on its collector's edition there is a documentary on the making of the film called "Full Tilt Boggie" which is like 60 min plus maybe longer of pure behind the scenes footage and in lots of ways shot just like a film.This Blu-Ray does not contain the documentary. The DVD does but not this one, its crazy to think how cheap that is. As always its going to be a copyright issue but as these new upgraded releases come along its all about going forward but this time this Blu-Ray for me is going backwards as its not complete without that Doc.It's gonna appear somewhere down the line on a all you can eat release, maybe a anniversary edition but I just don't like when this happen, and for me it sours the taste of buying it all together so studios need to think better than giving us something like this without that added bonus for the extra cash we invest.It does have extras by the way, its not completely bare bones but the real fans of the film will and should not be pleased with this.