I'm enjoying just writing this and laughing at the absurdity of the concept that is pulled off. The movie isn't shot with B-movie effects, when people's heads explode or the tire uses its power it's realistic. It's shot lovingly with smooth rolls capturing the excitement of the tire. When you get lost in the story it becomes real to you, Quentin pulls you in deeper by having the wall between viewer and actors broken.Quentin knows when your watching the movie and what your thinking. Sometimes guessing exactly what you might have been considering.
Talking with him before, he knows his own strengths and weaknesses and he'd admit them to you. Rubber wasn't rushed or pushed or a labor of love. Quentin had a great time making this movie and so did the actors. Stephen Spinella, Jack Plotnick and Wings Hauser were perfect in their rolls. Stephen as the Lt was funny while being serious. Plotnick comes off as the perfect creep and Hauser the grouchy old man who needs to shut up, there not even the main star which is a tire.
Let me just stop and tell you the hilarity and beauty of seeing the tire get up before you, become an animal and then a serial killer. It's like watching a creature that shouldn't exist grow in front of you. From a comic-fan, gamer, cartoon-watcher, it is totally surreal still. The tire never becomes anthropomorphic it remains a tire, which is totally bizarre. You don't question, you just follow this tire's adventure.
Spellbound by a mere rubber tire, after watching it again I showed it to friends. There reactions of "No way!", and bursts of laughter showed me it's cult status growing. I had forgotten how bloody it got, bloody good.
Extras include a interview with the director and a blow up doll, this is shown with the footage in reverse and the director's smoke going back into his cigarette while in French in reverse. Rubber camera test might actually be the early footage Quentin shot to show he could do the movie to his producer.
The Blu-ray copy captures a perfect HD transfer and with Quentin's excellent music backing up what you see coming down the road.. I would have liked a better cover, maybe the British version, you see to the right and below. Or the Olly Moss poster, you've seen on the site before, there's always Collectors' Editons.
I can't recommend this movie enough, it's my all time favorite of 2011. Something to watch with friends and laugh your ass off. Something to watch with film students to see how he pulled it off with such a small budget. Something to watch with a younger brother or sister to scare them horribly and then take them to a tire store.
Buy it from Amazon now $23.99
