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DJANGO UNCHAINEDMovie Reviews
Western drama about a slave whose search for his lost wife leads him to collaboration with a bounty hunter and a run-in with the owner of an infamous plantation. Cast:Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Christoph Waltz, Amber Tamblyn, James Remar, Walton Goggins, Zoe Bell, Tom Savini, Don Johnson, Dennis Christopher, Michael Parks, Robert CarradineDirector:Quentin TarantinoRelease Date:December 25, 2012DVD Release:April 16, 2013From:The Weinstein CompanyRating:RLength:2 hr 21 min
Django Unchained played to very good reviews that at the same time were mixed. • Mick LaSalle wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle, "...the most consistently entertaining movie of 2012... Tarantino has found that elusive spot that all artists strive for, complete spontaneity and absolute control." More Reviews Below...
Alynda Wheat, People: VERY GOOD(cg) "The first hour is brilliant... as funny and smart as 'Django' is, it isn't quite as satisfying as 'Inglourious Basterds'.... leaves a viewer with plenty of conversation afterward..."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 526 words, 12/18/12
David Germain, Associated Press: MODERATE(cg) "Granted, there's something gleefully satisfying in watching evil people get what they have coming. But this is Tarantino at his most puerile and least inventive..."(See all of David Germain's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 594 words, 12/20/12
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "The auteur's fingerprints are all over the outrageous Western, from a blood-spattering shout-out to the rollicking, profane dialogue."(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 126 words, 12/27/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD(cg) "...deliriously kicky and shameless (and also overly long and scattershot)... an almost sadistically literal example of exploitation at its most unironic."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 454 words, 12/14/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...an unbridled two hours and 45 minutes, giving history (and your stamina) a serious pounding.... a jolt of pure cinema, dazzling, disreputable and thrillingly alive."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 723 words, 01/04/13
Claudia Puig, USA Today: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...by turns dazzling, daring, gruesome and astonishingly funny.... difficult to watch but also thought-provoking and consistently entertaining."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 420 words, 12/25/12
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: WEAK(cg) "...unfocused and featuring too many comedy bits that fall flat and action sequences that jar and disorient before they even begin to thrill..."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 876 words, 12/20/12
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...may be Tarantino's most uplifting movie to date.... a fine, accomplished effort and a great way to spend nearly three hours in a movie theater."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 944 words, 12/23/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...digressive, jokey, giddily brutal and ferociously profane. But it is also a troubling and important movie about slavery and racism.... crazily entertaining..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,368 words, 12/25/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT(cg) "...if you're willing to stand for what 'Django' delivers, this rousing magnum opus is so very good at confronting the bad and the ugly."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 462 words, 12/21/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Tarantino is a man unchained, creating his most articulate, intriguing, provoking, appalling, hilarious, exhilarating, scathing and downright entertaining film yet."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,076 words, 12/24/12
Kyle Smith, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...features expertly engineered surprises, plenty of big movie moments and several instances of loopy brilliance, but it's also a rehash of 'Inglourious Basterds'..."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 627 words, 12/21/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "...has its moments of devilish glee... I wish more of the film came from the adult Tarantino, rather than the eternal, talented but blinkered adolescent."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 499 words, 12/25/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...wears out its welcome about two-thirds through.... you'll be checking your watch and wondering how such an entertaining film became so boring."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 304 words, 12/25/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: MODERATE "For all its pleasures, the film feels too easy, too dead-center in Tarantino's comfort zone. He's not challenging himself in any way that matters."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 973 words, 12/21/12
Scott Foundas, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "...fiercely intelligent... like all of the best pop art, it is both seriously entertaining and seriously thoughtful, rattling the cage of race in America on-screen and off..."(See all of Scott Foundas's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,040 words, 12/19/12
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "Tarantino is clearly having a grand ol' time and so are his actors, every one of whom are more than willing to share in his filmic vision, no matter how ghastly it may be."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 780 words, 12/22/12
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...too often Foxx's character seems merely a cipher for Tarantino's ideas of tough-guy cool, and remains one-dimensional despite the costume changes."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 755 words, 12/21/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...there is no earthly reason why this movie needs to be two and three-quarter hours long, other than to indulge its director's love of digressions and monologues."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 207 words, 12/20/12
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a live-action, heads-exploding, shoot-'em-up cartoon. Sometimes it crackles, and sometimes it merely cracks."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 529 words, 12/25/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Tarantino knows how to use our movie-conditioned anticipation against us. Watching his movie is like playing chess with a wiseguy friend who's always four moves ahead."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 646 words, 12/25/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: EXCELLENT(cg) "Whatever you like or hate, or like and hate, about Quentin Tarantino's movies, is in full display here.... Restraint is not his strong suit. Entertainment is..."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 644 words, 12/25/12
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...corkscrewed, inside-out, upside-down, simultaneously clear-eyed and completely out of its mind.... Tarantino has never been more himself than he is here."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,566 words, 12/25/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a B movie with an A budget.... A mash-up of cowboy tropes and blaxploitation violence... Tarantino isn't interested in being 'serious,' at least not now."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 726 words, 12/25/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...the most consistently entertaining movie of 2012... Tarantino has found that elusive spot that all artists strive for, complete spontaneity and absolute control."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 873 words, 12/25/12
Soren Andersen, Seattle Times: WEAK(cg) "Tarantino wants this to be a rousing yarn as well as a commentary, but the movie so revels in its carnage that his larger point is drowned in a sea of blood."(See all of Soren Andersen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 378 words, 12/25/12
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: OUTSTANDING(cg) "While so many ostensibly serious films explore murky moral ambiguity, Tarantino knows that it can be cathartic to see unalloyed villains get their comeuppance."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 503 words, 12/25/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...outrageous in the best sense of the word, a diabolical action-comedy about cleansing the stain on the American soul.... This is damnation unleashed."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 495 words, 12/25/12
Eric Deggans, Tampa Bay Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a masterpiece... something unique: a bold vision of what a black hero can be in a period piece developed with a modern film geek's eyes."(See all of Eric Deggans's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 606 words, 12/20/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: GOOD(cg) "There's plenty of fun here -- Christoph Waltz alone is worth the price of admission -- but you may leave the movie wishing for both more and less."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 473 words, 12/25/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the most brutal film Quentin Tarantino has ever made.... But the movie is also exciting and ironic and, at times, explosively funny..."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 566 words, 12/25/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (11 Reviews)
Scott Foundas, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "...fiercely intelligent... like all of the best pop art, it is both seriously entertaining and seriously thoughtful, rattling the cage of race in America on-screen and off..."(See all of Scott Foundas's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,040 words, 12/19/12
Leanne Cari, Cinema Blend: EXCELLENT(cg) "Appearing in just about every scene, Foxx brilliantly sells the lone bounty hunter cowboy role when needed, but is at his best when sharing scenes with his co-stars..."(See all of Leanne Cari's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 779 words, 12/12/12
Brett Michel, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Tarantino infuses it with the spaghetti sensibilities of Sergio Leone and, more so, the genre grit of that other Sergio, Corbucci (director of 1966's 'Django,' naturally)."(See all of Brett Michel's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 384 words, 12/20/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "No matter how just it seems, in hunting Osama bin Laden or arming schoolteachers or delivering hours of bloody entertainment, vengeance is tragic and brutal and futile."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,193 words, 12/24/12
Alison Willmore, Movieline: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...an unfortunate example of a director disappearing so far into his own vision that he's lost interest in taking a step back and looking at it in its entirety."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 968 words, 12/12/12
John Semley, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "While the rush toward a conventional climax is confusing and disappointing, there's an undeniable pleasure in seeing Tarantino juggle the dynamite of his ideas..."(See all of John Semley's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,244 words, 12/12/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...there is no earthly reason why this movie needs to be two and three-quarter hours long, other than to indulge its director's love of digressions and monologues."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 207 words, 12/20/12
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: EXCELLENT(cg) "Drawing on everything from old Hollywood westerns to blaxploitation B movies to hip-hop music, this movie offers a veritable blood orgy that's brazenly cathartic."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 493 words, 12/19/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...unmissable... I love that a film like this can exist and be this delicious and this smart and this daring and this kickass and take no shit from anyone."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 928 words, 12/20/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (7 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING "...this seriously crazed comedy is also a crazily serious disquisition on enslavement, and how it has been portrayed over the years and decades by slaves to Hollywood."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 12/28/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...digressive, jokey, giddily brutal and ferociously profane. But it is also a troubling and important movie about slavery and racism.... crazily entertaining..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,368 words, 12/25/12
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: MODERATE "The first half of the tale is skillfully balanced... Tarantino is dangerously in love with the look of evil, and all he can counter it with is cool -- not strength of purpose..."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 550 words, 12/31/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Tarantino is a man unchained, creating his most articulate, intriguing, provoking, appalling, hilarious, exhilarating, scathing and downright entertaining film yet."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,076 words, 12/24/12
Dana Stevens, Slate: MODERATE "...provoked a lot of contradictory feelings in me... Hilarity and boredom. Aesthetic delight and physical nausea. Fist-pumping righteousness and vague moral unease."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 933 words, 12/24/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: WEAK "...feels like a three-hour trailer for a movie that never happens... packed with memorable scenes that don't go anywhere... promising payoffs that remain theoretical."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,376 words, 12/26/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: OUTSTANDING "...an immensely satisfying taste of antebellum empowerment packaged as spaghetti-Western homage... bloody hilarious (and hilariously bloody)..."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,131 words, 12/11/12
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: EXCELLENT "...a jokey, discursive, idiosyncratic and spirited film that does to slave owners what 'Inglourious Basterds' did to Nazis.... constantly stimulating."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,734 words, 12/11/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Tarantino is a man unchained, creating his most articulate, intriguing, provoking, appalling, hilarious, exhilarating, scathing and downright entertaining film yet."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,076 words, 12/24/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a long, excessive, indulgent but also quite entertaining and well-acted saga.... The best performance in the film is given by DiCaprio..."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 851 words, 12/12/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...digressive, jokey, giddily brutal and ferociously profane. But it is also a troubling and important movie about slavery and racism.... crazily entertaining..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,368 words, 12/25/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING "...this seriously crazed comedy is also a crazily serious disquisition on enslavement, and how it has been portrayed over the years and decades by slaves to Hollywood."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 12/28/12
20.8 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Django Unchained's reviews are separated by an average 20.8 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Django Unchained (51 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Django Unchained's reviews cover 97.9% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 40,023 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 785 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 3 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Django Unchained's reviews on average broke 3 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Django Unchained's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Django Unchained (51 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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