Just before I saw the film for the first time--and had not read any spoilers--I thought that what might happen in the end would be for the Manson family to show up at the Tate house, but then Cliff and/or Rick hears what's going on next door and "rescues" them. Or get slaughtered along with the people who did in real life. Or something I just thought about typing the above--the Manson killings go on just as they really did, and Cliff and Rick are too stoned, tired, and/or listening to music too loudly to hear anything go on. Then the next day they wake up, see all the cop cars and be like "Whoa, that could've been us"/feel bad about not hearing the commotion and trying to do something about it. (Then they get disillusioned w/Hollywood, most likely).
Remember when this movie hadn't come out yet and people were upset because there wasn't enough focus on Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate? Yeah, we're still there. This movie is not about the Manson murders, but around the Manson murders. The movie is about Rick and Cliff. That said, I still have more respect for someone who's upset about a fictional history than someone who's upset about A PLANE IT'S WITHIN A FEW YEARS DANG JUST LET IT GO
I suspect the intended reaction at the end was more towards a sigh of relief that we didn't see this precious woman die horribly, not a "WTF they didn't kill her??". The rest of the "historical accuracy" throughout is a product of Tarantino's love for this era, clearly.
No not his best but but very good and I saw it three times and enjoyed it more with each viewing. It's in my top five I think.
I think it was a Dual. I thought Cliff shot his wife with a speargun. I read today it was a flare gun?
At it's core are two completely fictional comedic characters. Does anyone say, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure completely distorts Napoleon!"
In my top three, for sure. I'm not into manga, anime, or Hong Kong action movies, so this film is a much better fit for me than the Kill Bill series, which is great in it's own right. I always felt QT was trying hard to prove he was at the cutting edge cool by staying on top of the latest magna/anime trends, but I'm ambivalent to all that stuff. Why do I love "Hollywood?" I get to see long time screen legends Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in two of the best roles of their lives, in a wonderful nostalgia-filled movie, accompanied by a great soundtrack with the songs of my childhood? What's not to like?
Something I just noticed about the soundtrack CD. We have an actual Simon & Garfunkel MONO mix now in legitimate release, but we have the Real Don Steele voiceover on it and it's lifted directly off of an aircheck and not a master. So close but so far!
I think it's Tarantino's best film, but I'm generally not a fan of his to begin with. It is in my Top 10 favourites films of all time, though.
If I'm understanding you correctly, the basis of your criticism seems to be that the movie is essentially grounded in reality up until the point at which the killers break into Rick's house instead of Tate's house. You seem to be saying the film should either have clearly been shown to be an alternate reality prior to that, or else should have continued to adhere to reality. That's a puzzling criticism to me. This is an alternate reality storyline, a trope that is very common in science fiction and comic books. In many alternate reality storylines, the essential conceit is that everything is the same up until the point of divergence. This is not an unusual idea, and I think it works well in many stories besides this one. Yes, Tarantino primes us for the loss ahead, and then pulls a swerve. The intent there is to surprise the viewer, and in my case he succeeded. If he had shown more clearly that this was an alternate reality throughout the film, he would have undercut the element of surprise, which would have undermined the cathartic effect of the film. He sets up a situation in which the viewer is expecting something truly horrible to happen, and then not only doesn't it happen, but instead there is a happy ending. For me (and I suspect most other viewers) the happy ending is more cathartic because we were expecting terrible tragedy. I can understand if this particular story didn't work for you, but certainly this type of plot is common and a valid storytelling device. The notion that he shouldn't have employed such a storyline is puzzling to me.
After letting this simmer and set in for almost a month after first seeing it, I think this is now my favorite Quentin film.
