Death Proof is my favorite Tarantino movie. Is the rest of his work arguably better? Absolutely, without a doubt. Barely even a discussion.

...but Death Proof offers all kinds of things other than quality. Women, nacho grande platters, the fellowships of fascinating individuals like Warren. Death Proof is just a lubricant for all that is Tarantino.

To start with the obvious, an absolutely outrageous soundtrack littered with the deepest of cuts is the telltale sign of a QT production. Every single musical choice hits in Death Proof but it's not just the rock jams. Moments like the music with Stuntman Mike staring at Butterfly while parked outside of the bar or the driving percussion in chases provide just as much ambience and tension as the storm flipping from a drizzle to pouring rain or the revving of an engine as it crawls towards maximum RPM. Not a moment of this movie is wasted while working toward a cacophony of car wreck and cracked bones. Tarantino is the king of audio in my world, and Death Proof is literally music to my ears.

Sally Menke's editing elevates Death Proof to god tier hangout cinema and she doesn't ever get enough credit for being Tarantino's number one partner in crime. Arguably, Sally is the most important part of Tarantino productions but no movie of his benefited more than Death Proof. The intentional jump cuts, the film stock barely spliced together with scotch tape and hope, the soft hum of audio crackle, the muted colors, grain, grain, grain. The atmosphere Sally creates is critical to the success of emulating 42nd Street's favorite flicks. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to be a master of your trade and intentionally make something that feels organic to the sticky theater floor experience of watching a midnight movie at your local shithole. The second half of the movie looks much cleaner and helps to cement the old school vs new school aesthetic that Grindhouse as a whole set out to accomplish, while still peppering in intentional stuttering and jump cuts to remain authentic to the experience. Without Sally, I genuinely believe this movie wouldn't be the joy ride that it is with her involvement. Sally was Tarantino's go-to editor for every feature from Reservoir Dogs up through Inglourious Basterds. Without Sally, Tarantino is not Tarantino. His words, not mine.

Yeah, I'm still writing about this fuckin movie.

This is easily my favorite character that Kurt Russell played. Stuntman Mike is a living, breathing psycho hiding behind a facade of charm and masculinity just waiting to burn rubber and bridges. He ties both halves of Death Proof together effortlessly but to focus on only Stuntman Mike would miss the point and understate how remarkably casual and natural the conversations feel between Jungle Julia, Shanna, and Arlene, or how well Rose McGowan sells the shift in tone in the story from fun bar room romp to terror. These women are prey, for both Stuntman Mike and the scumbags populating the bar room, and they are all helpless to what is coming their way despite being well aware that alarms are blaring. More on this in a bit.

Death Proof is a part of the Grindhouse double feature with Planet Terror, but Death Proof may as well also be two different movies, and they're both perfect. Tarantino flips the switch from a hangout stalker flick into a pedal-to-the-floor-of-your-moms-car stunt epic with Josie And the Faster Pussycats featuring some truly insane stunts from ultimate badass Zöe Bell in car chases that would wake the dead. The first half of the movie features the trope of the helpless woman in peril, and the second half says fuck that shit while underlining that Stuntman Mike is no longer the danger— he's in danger. New school has woken up to the old games and they're not taking this shit for a single second, and it is an amazing inversion of trope that propels Death Proof into a sleezy masterpiece of empowerment and revenge storytelling. I lose my mind cheering for Kim, Zöe, and Abernathy as they out drive and chase down a terrified and sobbing Stuntman Mike to talk shit, throw hits, and provide the most satisfying ending any movie of this kind could achieve. Everything that made Mike feel like a man was done better by the women and it exposes Mike for the fraud that he is. The message of the movie is loud and clear: you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger, and you don't fuck around with Kim.

Death Proof has Kubrick levels of detail and is definitive evidence, as if any was needed, that Tarantino lives and breathes movies. This is overflowing with direct references and allusions to b-movie classics and nearly all of Tarantino's filmography. There's obvious things most Tarantino fans would pick up on like the Big Kahuna Burger, Red Apple cigarettes, the Reservoir Dogs roundtable, the car sporting The Bride's yellow and black jumpsuit colors from Kill Bill, and a cheeky inversion of the signature trunk shot. I'm not going to pretend like I picked up on other deeper references on my own. Check out this post with an absurd amount of detail about how much love was poured into this movie. That kind of affection is undeniable and Death Proof is exactly what I go to the theater for, and is one of the only movies I've gone out of my way to see any time there is a showing, is on TV, or is spinning in my DVD player. I've logged this four times since registering with Letterboxd and have seen it far more than that. It's the fastest two hours in cinema. It's the feel good flick of 2007. It's a car I will jump into every time I hear the horn honking.

I. fuckin. love. this. movie.

Hold tight. Mask off. Five fuckin stars.