Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3952 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-10
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The lower-profile half of the Grindhouse double bill that flopped at the US box office in early 2007, Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror comes with lesser expectations. However, don’t let that fool you: this is a fun, pacey zombie film, that displays less self-indulgence than Tarantino’s Death Proof, and doesn’t skimp in the entertainment stakes either.

The plot is thin and quickly covered, but basically amounts to the release of a gas that creates lots of zombies. Stuck in the midst of the zombies is a small bunch of people who try and fight them off (among, er, other things). It doesn’t, fortunately, take long for Planet Terror to set all this up, and the stage is soon set for what we all paid our money for. Action. Violence. Characters of ill-repute. And, heck, a bit more action too.

Thus, Rodriguez delivers his tribute to the grindhouse movies he’s clearly inspired by, and Planet Terror proves to be a fine piece of work. With fast, exciting action sequences, leg-less Rose McGowan turning in sterling work in front of the camera, and stylish work behind it from Rodriguez, the film gels well.

Its director has perhaps bettered it himself with From Dusk Til Dawn, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not plenty to enjoy here. Taken either with its double-bill partner or as a standalone dish, Planet Terror is well worth your time. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
Director Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY) pays homage to his favourite B-movies with PLANET TERROR, an old-fashioned zombie film that's infused with enough gore and giggles to please even Peter Jackson (BAD TASTE). Rose McGowan (CHARMED) plays Cherry, a go-go dancer whose night is interrupted by a vicious zombie attack that leaves her missing a leg. Her ex-boyfriend, Wray (Freddy Rodriguez, SIX FEET UNDER), takes charge, fashioning her a new leg from a machine gun and killing zombies along the way. PLANET TERROR plays as a pleasing ode to the horror and exploitation films that once played in grimy grindhouses across the country. Rodriguez splashes plenty of blood, guts, and gore across the screen, while also taking the plot into some wonderfully bizarre territory. PLANET TERROR was originally released as part of the GRINDHOUSE double feature with Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF.

Customer Reviews

Better than Tarantino's Effort
I bought this together with 'Death Proof' while working in Canada. I made the mistake of watching Death Proof first and nearly didn't bother with this which would have been a mistake. Where Death Proof is simply a tedious mess, 'Planet Terror' is a genuine 'homage' to the grindhouse genre, with sexy babes, tough lawmen, a mysterious action hero and a toxic gas which turns its victims into 'The Thing'-style zombie monsters. Unlike Death Proof, it also has a plot, narrative drive and character arcs. The script is witty in parts and it all looks good, although the fake scratches and jumps in the film can be a little annoying at times. It isn't a classic, but it is diverting and amusing for most of the running time.

Near the mark
The film commences with "Our forthcoming presentation" an excellent fake trailer for "Machete". However if you check the IMDB you will find that Machete is a film in production! In the trailor for Machete the whole plot seems to be given away - now doesn't that sounds familiar. So what about Planet Terror? Well having recently watched Death Proof I really wasn't expecting much, but this is much nearer the mark than Tarantino's effort.

A zombie movie, with classy B movie actors who supply the type of performance you would expect from a major production that pays homage to many movies from the 1970's and 1980's. So long as you've got a reasonably strong stomach and you don't mind the slightly 1970's misogynist edge to the whole thing its really entertaining.

I was never a fan of Rodriguez until I saw Sin City, and this is almost as good as that. It only lets itself down in one area, that is the fake early 1970's era scratchy film quality which is over-played hugely. Its a one-joke technique played for 1 hour 40 min. Overall though great fun.

Oh just buy it
This is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. I wondered for a while if I was misinterpreting it but once I saw the hero wheelie down the road on a mini-moto and caught Bruce Willis desperately trying not to corpse I realised I was, thankfully, in on the joke. It's a shame the Grindhouse thing bombed, it was actually a great idea. Lots of movie cliches are beautifully overplayed knowingly and Rose McGowan's machine-gun leg is priceless. What more do you want for £4.98? Hilarious.