Any fans of “Death Proof” out there? While often labeled Quentin Tarantino’s weakest film, I’ve always had a soft spot for this grindhouse revenge gem.
Kurt Russell’s turn as Stuntman Mike remains, in my opinion, one of his finest performances, and Zoë Bell absolutely deserved more opportunities after showcasing her action talents here.
In a recent interview at the Burbank Film Festival, Tarantino admitted that the lukewarm reception to Death Proof in 2007 shook his confidence:
“You work really hard on a movie and the opening weekend happens; people either go see it or they don’t. At the time, they didn’t,” said Tarantino. “We thought people would follow us anywhere, but they didn’t follow us there.”
“At the time, it felt like the moviegoing audience was my girlfriend and my girlfriend broke up with me,” Tarantino exclaimed.
Tarantino turned to two of his filmmaking mentors—Tony Scott and Steven Spielberg—both of whom knew what it was like to weather box office disappointments. Their advice was straightforward but grounding.
“Did you make the movie you wanted to make? Yes. Are you happy with the movie you made? Yes. Well, there are a lot of people who can’t say that,” they told him. “Just remember how lucky you are to work in this business, making the films you want. Sometimes the audience connects, sometimes they don’t.”
Spielberg, however, added a little extra perspective:
“Quentin, you’ve been pretty lucky. But the next hit you have, you’re going to enjoy it more than all the others put together—because now you know what it’s like to flop. When the success comes again, it’ll feel easy.”
For me, “Death Proof” has always been one of Tarantino’s more underrated films. Part of the backlash stemmed from its release as half of the Grindhouse double feature with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. The standalone director’s cut, which premiered at Cannes in 2007, shows the film in a much stronger light—freed from being a companion piece and allowed to stand on its own.
Over time, the film has earned cult status abroad, with acclaimed directors like Claire Denis, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Arnaud Desplechin, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Bertrand Bonello, and Claude Lanzmann all praising it.
Lean and stripped down compared to Tarantino’s other works, “Death Proof” still delivers everything you’d expect: sharp dialogue, a tense setup, and a climactic car chase that’s as thrilling as it is refreshingly practical—no CGI, just raw stuntwork by Bell and her fellow stuntwomen.
It may seem like an outlier in his filmography, but I’d argue it’s also his loosest, most playful effort—a film made with pure joy, and one that still radiates that energy years later.