After Inglourious Basterds, celebrated director Quentin Tarantino followed up with another historical movie and one of the best westerns streaming on Netflix today, Django Unchained.
The movie became an instant classic when it hit theatres and it’s the highest grossing of Tarantino’s movies to date according to Box Office Mojo. However, not everybody’s opinions of the movie are completely in line. Given that the movie is one of the director’s outright funniest, but also features his most graphically violent scenes too, there are more hot takes about this movie than any other in his filmography.
The Ending Is Terrible
Though this Reddit user believes that the movie is Tarantino’s best, for the most part, they argue that the ending is terrible, claiming that Dr. Schultz would never have shot Calvin Candie after paying the $12,000. And they continue by saying that Django would have been quicker on his feet and been able to have stopped Shultz’s killer due to the accuracy skills he had developed over the winter.
But given how intense the whole room was and how many guards there were, the absolute bloodbath that happened was foreseeable from the very beginning, and everything that Schultz did was so calculated.
It’s A Modern Day Blazing Saddles
The 1974 movie Blazing Saddles is a comedy about a Black railroad worker who becomes a sheriff and has to deal with boatloads of discrimination, and at the time, the movie was supremely daring. One Redditor has gone in depth to explain how Django Unchained is a modern-day Blazing Saddles because they are essentially both westerns that depict Black people in white roles, and that Django is just as daring.
The thing is, as gory and gratifying as Django Unchained is, it isn’t half as risky as Blazing Saddles is. And given how the latter was released 47 years ago, there’s nothing that Tarantino could do that’s as daring today as Blazing Saddles was back then.
King Schultz’s Plan Was Way Too Convoluted
When it came time to tracking down Django’s wife and coming up with the plan to act as if they were in the market for a Mandingo fighter when they really wanted to buy a German-speaking slave, not everybody was thoroughly convinced. One Redditor argues that Schultz’s plan was way too convoluted, and he could have simply asked Calvin Candie how much it would cost to buy Broomhilda from them. However, there’s a convincing theory that it’s all a game to Schultz, which gives weight to the plan.
The “I Like The Way You Die, Boy” Line Is Stupid
As Django gets trained to become one of the very best bounty hunters there is, he becomes a pro pretty quickly. When hunting down John Brittle, Django shoots him right in the heart, and as he collapses to the ground, Django says, “I like the way you die, boy.” One user explains that the line is cringeworthy and dumb, but they’re in the minority, as it’s one of the most-watched clips from the movie on YouTube, and it’s one of the most iconic quotes out of all of Tarantino’s movies.
The Wild Dogs Scene Wasn’t Necessary
Though the film is very much a colorful retelling of the era and Tarantino puts a very imaginative twist on it, one of the most grounding and realistic moments of the movie was when an escaped slave is eaten by wild dogs. It was sickening and hard to watch, and one Redditor thinks it was way too much for the film because it was “too serious.”
A movie about slavery isn’t all fun and games, and Django was never an all-out comedy, and though it was gruesome, it was the most mature scene that showed the true horrors of that era. Not just that, but it was necessary to show just how evil Calvin Candie really was too.
It’s Tarantino’s Best Film
Though most fans of Tarantino have different favorites, when it comes to the best, the general consensus is that nothing can beat Pulp Fiction, as it’s currently ranked as the eighth greatest film of all time on IMDb. But one excited fan thinks that Django Unchained is undoubtedly the best, arguing that the gunplay and diverse soundtrack is unrivaled in Tarantino’s canon of movies. And while it is an unpopular opinion, Django Unchained is still a great film in the latter half of the filmmaker’s career.
It Isn’t As Good As The Hateful Eight
As Tarantino has written and directed two western movies, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, it’s a given that the two will always be compared to one another. The general consensus is that, while The Hateful Eight is very good, Django Unchained is far superior, but a small minority disagree. They argue that Django is generally more accessible, but there’s more to The Hateful Eight that begs for repeat viewings. However, which one is better will always remain up for debate.
It Should Have Ended Half An Hour Earlier
Being two hours and 45 minutes in length, it’s one of Tarantino’s longest movies, but to most fans, the runtime passes by in an instant due to how entertaining it is. However, that isn’t the case for everyone. One Redditor argues that the movie should have ended with the explosive massacre at Candyland just after the two-hour mark. But though it does seem like things are wrapping up at that point and the Australian slave owners seem a little unnecessary, fans wouldn’t have gotten one of the best action scenes if it did end at Candyland.
It’s So Self-Indulgent To The Point Of Parody
As the movie imitates western movies at any chance it gets and features violence that seems almost slapstick at times, one user has accused the movie of being way too self-indulgent that it’s almost a parody.
It’s understandable as to why fans would think that as violence, banter, and cool soundtracks have become expected in a Tarantino movie, but have all been turned up to 11 in Django. But that’s why it’s such a thrill to watch in the first place, as it’s full of great musical moments, and even though there is more on-the-nose humor than usual, it’s balanced out with some heavy subject matter.
King Schultz Is Almost Identical To Hans Landa
One critic of the movie claims that Schultz and Hans Landa, who is also portrayed by Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, are too similar. It may be that Waltz plays both characters in an almost goofy manner, but the two couldn’t be any more different. Landa is a depraved Jew hunting Nazi, whereas Schultz is an empathetic bounty hunter.
Landa would never spill blood himself, but Schultz takes pride in being an expert gunslinger. Both characters are so detailed and have completely different characteristics, even if there is a fan theory that they are literally the same character.