Quentin Tarantino Vs. Robert Rodriguez: Which Filmmaker Is Best?
Round 5: Best Highest-Grossing Film - Django Unchained Vs. Spy Kids 3D: Game Over
Sadly, due to Rodriguez's Sin City missing out on the top spot to Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, for the title of his highest grossing film, there is absolutely no competition between the third instalment of that annoying franchise and Tarantino's superb Oscar-winning exploitation Western. Rodriguez can be praised for being a creative director and a true innovator when it comes to cinema, as not only can he make action-packed films with dangerous stunts and realistic looking special effects rather cheaply, but he also manages to consistently attract large ensemble casts filled to the brim with talent.
Rodriguez also likes to be inventive with the format of his films, with the third Spy Kids film being filmed in 3D. Many of you may be thinking, why that's not impressive at all, every other blockbuster these days is 3D, well in 2003 when Spy Kids 3D was released, 3D wasn't a very big or popular feature of a film at all, and it certainly wasn't a money-making trend like it is now. Rodriguez's eagerness to push the boundaries of what cinema is and can do could be seen again in 2011's Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World in 4D. This film was not only filmed in 3D, but it also included 'Aroma-Scope' which allowed the audience to smell odours and aromas through the use of a scratch and sniff card.
Rodriguez's creativity can also be praised, as too can the fact that he must be one of the most diverse directors around, due to his fondness of filming mexploitation films like Machete and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which are filled with violence, death and gangsters, but he also has quite the history of filming family-friendly films such as the Spy Kids franchise. However as I have never been a fan of these films, my praise of Rodriguez in this round must cease.
Not only is Django Unchained Tarantino's highest-grossing film, but it also won two Oscars, one for Christoph Waltz's portrayal as Dr. King Schultz, and also for Best Original Screenplay. Up until 2009's Inglourious Basterds, a few people began to think that Tarantino had lost his mojo, and that Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, his first two films, would remain his best. However, since 2009, fans world-wide as well as critics have been treated to two Oscar-winning films from Mr. Tarantino, cementing his place as one of this generation's greatest writers/directors and also definitively ending any thought of Tarantino being past his best.
Django is a great film, brilliantly directed with an original plot and a cool soundtrack to boot. Waltz certainly gave an Oscar-winning performance, but it is a shame that neither Samuel L. Jackson nor Leonardo DiCaprio could receive a nomination for best supporting actors, as they were also brilliant. The brutality and honesty in this film truly captures a dark time in America's history, but also manages to infuse it with some great action and even humour. This round unquestionably goes to Tarantino. If only Sin City had made a bit more money.