DJANGO UNCHAINED

Posted on June 25, 2012 by LiteMoteef

If you haven’t heard about ‘Django Unchained’, well, you’re either “too cool” for Tarantino OR it’s your first time online. Welcome to the Internet.

An equation like Q.T. meets Foxx in a spaghetti Western = a shitload of fan art and one hell of a hype hangover. But hey, I haven’t stopped drinking.

For those who’ve been squashed under a rock, ‘Django Unchained’ is yet another bloody tale of revenge from genre master Quentin Tarantino. Django (Jamie Fox) is a black slave promised freedom by bounty hunter, Dr. Schultz (Christopher Waltz) – s’long as he assists in the hunting down of the Brittle Brothers. Once they’re dead, Django can go rescue his wife from an axe-wielding plantation owner, Calvin Candie a.k.a. Leonardo DiCaprio.

Anyway, don’t think Q.T.’s team will have to do much of their own marketing – they’ve a fairly empty website. Why..? Unofficial posters of top quality have been popping up everywhere; the Emerging Artist Contest has wannabe filmmakers creating promo vids (I’m wondering whether I should have a whack at it, I’ve always wanted to go to Comic-Con – if you’re a baby director, check it out); then there’s the fan sites, dedicated entirely to bringing us Django news, clogging up Google with rumors; and Twitter’s just off the wall with Jonah Hill’s addition to the cast, although apparently it isn’t as the character initially planned for him. There’s also some jibes at Will Smith having turned down the role of Django, some joking that it’s ‘cos Q.T. would never allow Will to rewrite it.

Don’t mistake my tone, obviously I’m hitting up all of the above. See, even though Tarantino borrows from classics all the time, it’s always classy referencing, nothing like highway robbery, and it’s always delivered with his own flair. (I’ve just seen MIB3 and that was a pile of dry digested grass, courtesy of an old heifer - nothing new, no twists, no style, I’m tired of sequels, prequels etc). This new Western pays homage to those gone before, Q.T. giving Franco Nero a cameo – the dude was a star of the original ‘Django’ films of the 60s – but has a real punch, addressing the slave history of the United States. My only concern is, just how’s he gonna top the killing of Hitler?

Below is the official U.S. trailer, followed by the international. Note the difference in the amount of blood on the cotton fields and that the international includes unedited scenes.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUdM9vrCbow?rel=0]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ekxROBok84?rel=0]