![]() And Rodriguez seems taken with Tarantino's technique of rubbing violent set pieces together with twisted comedy and watching the sparks fly. ![]() Both are hooked on busy camera work and editing both take glee in using (and lampooning) exploitation material. The pair are actually a good stylistic match. Writer Tarantino clearly dominates the guys-on-the-lam segment, while director Rodriguez holds sway when the setting moves to Mexico. The plot halves neatly match the film's dual parenthood. That's mildly intriguing, and also part of the problem: The filmmakers' references, their winks and nods to the audience, are far more diverting than the picture itself. "The Getaway" is the outlaw refuge and metaphorical inferno where the damned get their due. The tipoff comes when Seth says their destination is "El Rey," which in The doors of the bar are mysteriously locked and all hell breaks loose (in the breathtaking style of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento - not for all tastes). Here's where Rodriguez and Tarantino pull the switch. Their first stop in Mexico is a sleazy tavern to end all sleazy taverns. They kidnap Keitel and his kids (Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu) to help them cross the border. (It could be a chilling / funny portrayal, but Tarantino's acting abilities are not improving.)Īfter a horrific Southwestern crime spree, the Geckos head to Mexico, where they've been promised sanctuary in exchange for cash. But Richard is a full-blown looney, using his gun frequently because of his terminal paranoia. Seth is relatively normal: He only kills when necessary. The outline is borrowed from Thompson's "The Getaway," with Seth and Richard Gecko (Clooney and Tarantino) substituting for Doc McCoy and his wife. But don't fear: There's enough heavy gunplay and vampire-slaughter to please the thrill-seekers. For those with the inclination to probe, Tarantino tucks in a theme of personal redemption (as in "Pulp Fiction" ), via Keitel's character, a minister who's lost his faith. The game this time is to start a gruesome crime movie, with two murderous brothers on the run, and abruptly switch to a special-effects vampire horror show. "Desperado" ) have reached that movie-making plateau where they can play whatever games they want. What gives is that Tarantino (he wrote, acted and produced here) and Rodriguez ( "El Mariachi," "Dusk" is a bizarre exercise in genre-crunching that will leave even Tarantino worshipers wondering what gives. And, yes, there is still a character nicknamed “Sex Machine”.Add some of the most sought-after names in filmmaking - Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Robert Rodriguez - and heartthrob TV star George Clooney ( "ER" ), and you've got the current hot movie ticket. Given the breadth of the show, there’s also a larger supporting cast, with room for some of the offbeat bit players that Rodriguez, who wrote and directed some of the episodes as well as overseeing the project as executive producer, is so fond of. Added to the ensemble mix is a young Texas Ranger, Freddie Gonzalez, pursuing the Geckos in the name of his veteran partner Earl McGraw. Also featured is the suspect Carlos, with his links to an underworld that plainly means different things to different people, as well as the seductive Santanico Pandemonium, a representative of the undead with a taste for humans. ![]() Here’s our comparison guide to the movie and the series: CharactersĮssentially they’re all present and correct: on the run bank robbers and brazen killers Seth and Richie Gecko, the RV-owning Fuller family – former minister and widower Jacob, his daughter Katie and adopted son Scott, who the Gecko boys kidnap to help them cross the Mexican border. The latest hopeful is From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, a reinvention from the creatively fertile mind of Robert Rodriguez, the one-man Austin, Texas production house, of the low-budget horror and crime mash-up he concocted with Quentin Tarantino in 1996 in the wake of the duo’s ascension with the likes of Desperadoand Reservoir Dogs.Ī pulpy hostage thriller overtaken by a fight against vampires, the movie gives way to a 10-part series that screens on SBS 2, Tuesdays at 8.30pm (watch episode 1 above). Turning a successful movie into a television show is a tricky matter, as the demands of two hours versus 12 or even 24, the limits of small screen production budgets and the necessity of a contained storyline against that of a long form work can all swiftly become fatal flaws for every Fargo, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and M*A*S*H, there is a Clueless, Highlander and Casablanca (don’t know about the terrible 1983 television series? Keep it that way). ![]()
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