Saw it earlier today. I went in expecting some crazy shit but was surprised at just how ridiculous it is lol. I've never been to an afternoon showing that was almost full, and the audience cheered at the end. The first few n-bombs clearly threw the audience off guard, but after awhile they were laughing at some of the racial jokes/slurs
Overall I thought the film was good. IMO the first half or so is alright, whereas the second half is pretty damn great. That first half has a few standout scenes, such as Django riding through the town on horseback for the first time (great use of the Sister Sarah track). But at the same time, the first half is quite reliant on Foxx and Waltz...and IMO Foxx wasn't particularly noteworthy - at least not initially; I do think he got better as the film progressed. Likewise Waltz didn't really impress me much early either. I think the issue with both was that a lot of their dialogue felt rather forgettable. Perhaps my favorite scene from the first half (outside of the hooded gang scene which was hilarious) was the campfire scene where Schultz tells Django the German fairytale.
Basically things get amazing once they meet Candie. I thought Leo's performance was great and he brought more out of Foxx than Waltz did. And then there's Samuel L Jackson...wow. Definitely the memorable character of the film, and one of the most memorable I've seen in years; you could tell the role was specifically written for him, and he played it perfectly.
Overall I thought it was a very good movie that perhaps missed out on greatness due to the beginning, and also the first shootout at the house. There's some very odd editing going on there, but overall my biggest problem was that the shootout overshadows the final scene. I feel like it would have been better if Shultz died and Django was immediately beaten up and arrested; then you could have Django escape from the mining shit, save his girl, and then return to the house and kill everyone/kill Stephen/blow up the house.
Also, I HATED the 2pac remix. I hate that Untouchable remix to begin with (fuck Swizz Beats), and adding it to that great remix of Payback seemed like sacrilege. Why not just let the Payback track play through the gun fight. Can't say I liked the Rick Ross addition earlier in the film either; it's not a bad sound, but it just felt odd. This is perhaps the first QT film I've ever had second guesses about his soundtrack selections.
