My least favorite QT film

The Films The Hateful Eight
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Ive been a huge fan of QT since 1992 but Hateful is easily my least favorite movie by him.

A few reasons:

  1. 70MM: I think the 70mm version may have been cool to watch in the theater but how many more times will you see it in that format? Try none. Youll be watching it forever on your TV while eating a bowl of hot stew. So that whole massive super duper UltraPanavsion widescreen scope aspect wasnt really too interesting for me. Not only that, why even use 70mm in a room? To see everyone at once sitting around not talking? If I want to watch a one room stageplay Ill goto one.

  2. Channing Tatum?! That guy was thrown in the middle of all these amazing acting legends. WHY? Hollywood is FILLED with acting veterans who couldve played that role. Wasnt happy about that. They couldve had a stuffed dummy play his part with more style

  3. Bruce Dern: Guy is one of the greatest actors around and hes sitting in a seat not talking almost the whole time. Didnt like that either. Then to top it off Tatums dopey character gets to sit across from him telling him to shut up and not give them away? lol! wtf?

  4. The whodunit setup I thought that it was pretty goofy as a main point of the story. I didnt like QTs voiceover that much either. It was like watching a school play. Who poisoned the coffee? I dont even care if it was Grouch Douglass or Marcos the Mexican. Zzzzz. It was inspired by The Thing but compared to that film it had all the impact of a fart in the cold wind.

  5. One room potboilers: QT already hit the mark with Reservoir Dogs which is wayyyy better than Hateful, always will be. Lets not even debate that

  6. The gore: I dont mind it really (I loved it in Kill Bill for example) its just not all that thrilling here. It just turned into a big blood pukin, balls blown off goopy mess.

  7. Westerns: As part of that genre I thought it was pretty meh. It def doesnt rank up with any of my favorites.

ALL THAT SAID: I still think its a good QT movie with some great performances (Jennifer, Walton, Kurt, Sam are excellent) and a lot of laughs too (Demien Bichir is hilarious as Mexican bandit). Its just not on QTs best list for me.

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Hateful is my least favorite as well… I didn’t find it as funny or as suspenseful as his previous films. I really could have cared less about the characters. It’s the only QT movie I haven’t rewatched dozens of times. I also don’t particularly care for westerns as a genre… just my preference so that could be why I like it least. I really enjoyed Death Proof and lots of people seem to dislike that one.

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On the contrary I really enjoyed The Hateful Eight and I see it as a great movie. However the previous person who pointed out some flaws, are spot on. Like the casting of Channing Tatum. I tried to convince myself that QT made a good choice but he didn’t. I don’t expect him to be Daisy’s brother and leading guys like Pete, Grouch and Marco. I can imagine Tatum as some sort of criminal but not as this infamous outlaw leader. In the original script reading, James Remar was Jody and he would have been stellar had he been cast in the film.

I also disliked the QT narration. Kinda downplayed the mystery really. It’s not the most complex mystery put in film but considering that it’s a western and everything, would have been nice if there was no narration. It felt as though QT thought we were too dumb to think so he added the narration.

Other than that, I love this movie. It has a high rewatchability value to it. As to my least favourite QT film, it’s Death Proof. I love the whole idea of a serial killer who uses a car as his main weapon. That is dope! But unfortunately Quentin made Stuntman Mike the only likeable character in the film

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Hateful Eight is my favorite Tarantino film and the only one I could easily watch once a week.

I’m not the greatest fan of theorization as far as appreciating a film or not is concerned, but although not sufficient to fully explain why I love the film so much, there are obvious reasons I can give.

I’ll start with this mesmerizing 4 minutes opening.
Richardson shots rhythmed by a Morricone score is an absolute winner which gets me completely immersed in the film from the start.
Richardson makes it simple but stunning and Morricone delivers one of his finest work in decades - if not ever.

Then there is the way the whole plot is structured.
I simply never get bored, I find all the chapters entertaining, and although classic in its setting - à la “Murder On The Orient-Express“ -, the whodunnit is originally conducted and captivating.

I know some find the long pieces of dialogue boring and/or self-indulgent but they work very well for me - that stagecoach part is pure gold - as this has always been his style and I’ve always loved it.

The acting has been so carefully worked out you can almost think all these lines could have never been played differently. Using their voice, accent and tone, each actor brings specific “music” and rhythm which give volume to every scene. I actually made myself an MP3 file of the film just to listen to it.

The cinematography, the set designs and the costumes are splendid - esthetically elegant and highly sophisticated - and mix together so perfectly that pretty much every shot could be a painting - their storyboard must have been quite something.

Cast and crew considered, he hired exceptional technicians which, of course, tends to make things easier, but he really made something out of it that very few directors could have achieved by creating a sense of oneness and coherence which makes the whole greater than the sum of its (stunning) parts.

And that epic ending with Chris reading the Lincoln letter next to Marquis makes me cry every time, it’s as simple as that.

It’s a touching moment and the symbolic behind it is beautiful which leads me to point out the remarkable finesse with which Tarantino ultimately paints a very accurate metaphor of America - not as we all would like it were but as it really is, with all its contradictions and weaknesses but also beauties and strengths.

Not only my favorite Tarantino - and God knows how huge a fan I was way before it came out -, but also the film of the decade as far as I’m concerned.

My only reproach would concern the length. It’s too short in the sense that I would have loved to see these characters as leads in their own film.

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youve made some great points. And I dont consider it a bad film by any means, Im just putting it up against all the other QT films and in that context its my least favorite. If you think its one of his best thats your personal point of view as a fan. i can respect that

thanks for your thoughtful reply!

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And thanx for your answer as well as giving the opportunity to discuss this film which has generated highly polarized debates among the man’s fans.

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This is tough for me, but I suppose I’d have to go with Death Proof. I don’t dislike it by any means, but by his own admission it’s a minor film. Although I think it’s a little unfair to judge it too harshly, because I still think of it primarily in the context of Grindhouse, which is a slightly different animal than a straight Tarantino film, which I don’t think Death Proof ever entirely set out to be in the first place.

Second to that I’d say The Hateful Eight. I have somewhat complex feelings about it, because many of the things I love about it are also things I consider to be weaknesses in a way, such as the pacing and even the score, which is great and totally works but is such a departure from his normal mode of music selection that I still have a bit of trouble with it. The main thing I’ve found that bothers me in that film though is the acting, which seems strangely forced to me, like a filmed version of a stage play where the actors seem like they’re going through the motions just a bit. But again it works for the piece in a strange way as well, because the setting evokes that quality anyway.

And my final choice is actually Reservoir Dogs. I know I know, don’t get me wrong. Its classic status is entirely justified, but again I think its strengths go hand in hand with its weaknesses, those being the low budget and youthful exuberance with which it was made. It’s bursting with energy and wildly entertaining, but rough around the edges. And the faulty squib takes me out of the film every time.

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I dont think Dogs has any weaknesses really. Ive watched it at least 100 times since 1992, and I can keep watching it and still enjoy it for the characters, action, music, humor. A low budget isnt a weakness and a squib isnt a weakness. Thats the first time Ive ever even heard someone point that out

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I can only speak from my own perspective. I don’t mean to suggest that I don’t love it despite or in some ways even for those very reasons though. That’s something about QT’s films that I find fascinating. I can simultaneously love and dislike the same aspects of them. That’s also what makes it difficult for me to think of them in terms of favorites or least favorites.

Re: the squib… really? A character just drops dead without anyone actually shooting him and you’ve never heard anyone suggest that it could be a problem? Ultimately it just becomes kind of an amusing part of the fabric of that film for me, but it definitely jumps out at me as a mistake.

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What squib are you referring to? Theres a lot of gunshots going off in it

And a single off kilter squib effect in a theatrical film isnt enough to ruin a entire film for me. If I was that particular about little goofs or errors I would hate a ton of movies.

Note: NiceGuy Eddie also leaves his phone on the table as they leave in the opening credits. Thats a huge goof. But its there and I dont care

Theres things in movies I dislike, but its usually about big things like the overall quality, story/plot, actors. I think I described everything I didnt like about Hateful Eight in detail. It wasnt “The lighting wasnt right in that shot” or SFX type stuff

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I’m talking about the squib that went off accidentally, causing Chris Penn to act like he got shot even though no one actually shot him. It was a total goof, but they didn’t have the budget to do it again. If it was something small I wouldn’t care, but Nice Guy Eddie literally dies for no reason. That’s a fairly major problem in my eyes.

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Oh the Who Shot Nice Guy Eddie thing. That really never bothered me. I think the movie is still great regardless of that goof.

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Don’t get me wrong. I still think it’s a great movie too. It’s just things like that which keep it from being one of my favorite QT flicks. I just like him having a bit more control and precision in his filmmaking choices. On the other hand, the music alone is nearly enough to make it one of my favorites anyway. Regardless, it’s easily one of the best debuts ever.

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Not my favorite QT film but I think its way better than Hateful 8 even with its goofs.

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Oh I agree. It was a hard call between Death Proof and The Hateful Eight as my least favorite. Reservoir Dogs just gets an honorable mention from me. I love them all anyway though. For better or worse, Tarantino is probably incapable of making a film I don’t love. It’s only the nature of this topic that forces me to look at them with a more critical eye.

For that matter, there are aspects of Kill Bill Vol. 2 that I don’t care much for, such as the Rodriguez score and certain scenes which I think could have used a bit more editing. Yet as a whole Kill Bill is my favorite Tarantino film, and Vol. 2 has some of my favorite things he’s ever done, such as the whole Paula Schultz/Pai Mei sequence. I’m just full of contradictions. Lol.

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My least favorite as well. Given it about 10 full length tries… Love the cast, love the setting and the idea… But it just click with me and can’t put a finger on it.

I honestly think the score hurt it… Got rid of the Tarantino vibe and became a bit too sadistic for my liking. Very grim and made many of the jokes lack a punch. Score was good but groovy or unique soundtracks are part of what makes a Tarantino movie. Everytime I see a trailer for H8 with different music I love it… Like the Shaft one.

Some people love it though… Like top 3. Wish I could see it the same way they do. I think reading the script didn’t help.

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Also I’ll add showing the coffee being poisoned and narrating was really questionable… It would have been way better to have Kurt Russell start randomly vomiting and the audience shocked trying to figure out what the hell is going on…

The length is the biggest complaint I see. I would have either liked to see it more fleshed out in 2 volumes, so we could learn about these characters more… Especially Jody, and the crew really… Otherwise we don’t really care either way about them. Same with Sam Jackson, would have been nice to see some flashbacks of his bounty hunter says fighting off racist folks. Or, cut it down more. It actually depresses me a bit, the idea of the story was perfect for Tarantino, could have been his best or second best, except something was just off. I wonder what H8 would look like as his 4th film… Where he was still in that single room mastering phase… Less theatrical… more editing

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Very good description! In a nutshell, filming good, inside and out, dialogue good but too long, especially with Jackson’s war story and other timely issues.

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I have to go with Dogs, raw and a masterpiece. I can watch it over and over, it gets better every time. My son treated me to the 25th Anniversary this year in NY, Tribeca Film Festival the cast had a talk on stage after the movie was over! Excellent🔫
You are all very informed and intelligent.
Thanks,
Mike D.

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Im watching The Hateful Eight again now, and I have to say there is something very compelling about the atmosphere of this film. I may have underrated it. I think I actually like it more than Django Unchained at any rate.

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