By Drew Turney

Tarantino’s first big film after ”Pulp Fiction” and like the ”Star Wars” prequels, it could never stack up to what was in many ways the most impactful and innovative movie of the 1990s, so my first impression was what a big disappointment this was.

One can be more forgiving with the passage of time, but Tarantino is still much better when directing his own script, although few writers are tailor made for his eye than Elmore Leonard.

The story of a high stakes double cross, airline stewardess Jackie (Grier) is ferrying guns between the US and Mexico for fearsome gun runner Ordell (Jackson), who’s surrounded himself with a band of Taranintoesque misfits including former colleague just out of prison (De Niro) and his kooky stoner girlfriend (Fonda).

Meanwhile Jackie has the burgeoning friendship-cum-romance with bail bondsman Forster and has fed Keaton on her tail every step.

It’s going to take all her wiles and smarts to stay one step ahead with the loot and her life intact, and Tarantino treats it all with a style you could almost guess was his if you had no idea he directed it, every frame an artwork to both a bygone era and something we’ve never seen before.

Blu-ray details and Extras :

Much like “Pulp Fiction”, the new Blu-ray release looks a treat (1080p, MPEG-4 AVC, 2:35:1) and sounds sublime (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) but the real goods don’t so much lie within the looks and sees as it does the bonus features compartment.

Firstly, to the new stuff : There’s a roundtable discussion on the making of the film, a new featurette on the making of the movie, some deleted and alternate sequences, the ‘chicks with guns’ clip with Tarantino commentary, an old Siskel & Ebert review of the film, and a look back at the film with QT Q&A.

Older stuff you’ve likely seen before, but is no less interesting, includes a trivia track, an MTV featurette on the film and some classic trailers of films starring vets Pam Grier and Robert Forster.