The Hateful Eight (2015)

Snow is a very powerful enemy. For both humans and animals, snow provides a need to find shelter from the cold harshness of Mother Earth.  More specifically, trying to find warmth to counteract the cold. But to others, snow is seen as a threat. This more prominent in Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 feature “The Hateful Eight”, a long tribute to the western and the chance of seeing movies on the big screen. Quite literally. However, there are some big, glaring issues ascertain to the overall production that needs talking about. Despite this, the movie itself is quite good within its own execution. “The Hateful Eight” is a production where time is definitely a villain, but the true enemy is snow.

The plot surrounds the titular eight characters stuck up in a cabin in the mountains of Wyoming, during an excessive blizzard. At this cabin, we meet our eight players. These include the following: a major (Samuel L. Jackson), a bounty hunter (Kurt Russell), a criminal (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a new sheriff (Walton Goggins), a housekeeper (Demián Bichir), a prosecutor (Tim Roth), a cow puncher (Michael Madsen), and a general (Bruce Dern). Together, these eight individuals are stuck in this cabin, until the storm decides to die down, and learn some amazing truths about each other. All while the snow is falling heavily outside.

“The Hateful Eight” does have quite a lot of things going for it. And for the stuff that is good here, is really good.

For starters, the cast is well suited within the confines of their roles; Jackson, Russell, and Leigh deliver great performances with their characters, and are some of the really stand out performances of the movie. On top of this, the rest of the cast do outstanding jobs, as well. Everyone is fitted well with their roles, and each actor and actress do a great job with what they are given.

Next, the costume design by Courtney Hoffman fits the time period perfectly. It recaptures the time period of a post-Civil War era, as well as trying to survive a snowstorm.

Normally, Tarantino does not use a form of an orchestrated score; mostly he uses already used songs, and compositions. But, for “The Hateful Eight”, he does make an exception with this one film. Ennio Morricone, who is mostly known for Spaghetti Westerns, delivers a minimalistic, but effective score to the movie. It pops up when needed, and is most prominent during the opening credits of the film. For this film, Tarantino made a good call with the music on this one.

Finally, the production design on this movie is absolutely outstanding. This just may be one of Tarantino’s best looking films. And it is the truth provided here. As stated before, the costume design is absolutely stunning. Plus, with all of the characters in a large set, filled to the brim with antiques from the era, the visual eye candy that is presented here is through the roof. And lastly, the sound design and editing is simply one of the best. From the wood creaking, to especially the howling wind producing snow, the sound is given here to full effect, and is greatly accustomed to the setting of the film.

With all of this praise given to “The Hateful Eight”, this film is far from perfect. And in the case of this movie, there are some major flaws.

For starters, the movie is extremely long. Tarantino does like doing long films, as with the case of projects like “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill”, but with this, we can make an exception. At nearly three hours in length, the film does drag and extend its scenes more than necessary. If the film had been shortened by a certain amount then it would have worked.

The above statement coincides with the movie's most glaring issue: the story. Tarantino does deliver some great and original stories, which pay tribute to classic Hollywood genres; the kung fu action with “Kill Bill”, and war with “Inglorious Basterds”, coming to mind. But with this one, it is one of his weakest. The characters are likable, but some of their actions see a little off-putting; the sheriff in particular. The action is directed well by Tarantino, but as stated above, the scenes dragon on for what seems like an eternity. Especially when there is a brief, but graphic depiction of sexual conduct that sort of feels unnecessary. And then there's the big twist to the film that kind of feels like an afterthought, or a script revision to make the movie more pleasurable to Tarantino’s liking. “The Hateful Eight” may not have a convincing or investing story, unlike Tarantino’s other works, but it does make up for everything else.

Overall, “The Hateful Eight” is a glorious production that rebels within the confines of its own setting, and a strong cast to boot, but the story and pacing just does not do it for this viewer. However, there is one thing I can fully agree on: the true villain of this film isn't human, it's snow.