Planet Terror

It's still awesome. All those ideas in one place, great actors, and an incredible action with so much blood and gore that you just have to enjoy it because Rodriguez still knows the limit when it's not really disgusting. That's good because then you just have to enjoy this wonderfully B-movie. Of course, if you like B-movies. (04/16/2015)

Unbelievable as it may seem, Rodriguez's cinematic knowledge trumps even Tarantino's, and his Planet Terror is an absolutely perfect concentration of genre deviations, quirks, and flaws. The only person who can search for a more meaningful plot is someone who abhors the trash aesthetic or has never tried it on his own spectator senses. This is the most daring film of the year, which piles one idea after another, culminating in Rose McGowan, whom I hereby dub the hottest tigress of this film season, and Rodriguez the bravest freak who is bothered by absolutely nothing (the deaths of animals or children). I want Machete immediately, or Grindhouse II! (10/21/2007)

An honourable ruler of trash cinema with a lot of ideas, beautiful girls and a likeable cast, but it’s such bullshit that there’s no way we can fear for the characters and no mentally sane viewer will find anything to relate to in that crazy, impersonal world. Some of the characters are great (in particular the brother duo of the Sheriff and the butcher) and as a homage to trash cinema, the premise was fully exploited, but at the same time, it’s mostly lacking the true cinephile satisfaction and the elegance that was present in its sibling film Death Proof. Rather than to the classics, Rodriguez refers to Tarantino or even himself, creating a thematic world that is entertaining, but hardly acceptable. 70% (04/04/2019)

While the dialogue was Tarantino’s Achilles heel, in Rodriguez’s case, it is the story. Despite these failings, both of the Grindhouse movies provide some delicious entertainment, and Planet Terror is an absolute king of the trash genre. On the “Troma scare”, I’d give it five out of five; on a normal scale, it gets three stars. (08/24/2007)

Where Robert Rodriguez loses out to Quentin in terms of filmmaking, inventiveness, polished style, and form in general, he paradoxically gains in fun precisely because, unlike his colleague, he does not attempt to squeeze “that little bit more" from this genre than it has to offer. This is just a dumb D-movie, and it’s well aware of that, and thanks to exaggeration and reasonable duration it manages to entertain the entire time. (07/14/2007)