The Hateful Eight: 8 Reasons It's Quentin Tarantino's Best Film Since Pulp Fiction

4. It Doesn't Feel Too Long (For Once)

My biggest problem with Tarantino's films, particularly those post-Jackie Brown, has been length. They regularly go over two-and-a-half-hours, yet there's rarely any reason for it; Django Unchained goes on for half an hour after the death of the two most interesting characters where very little essential really happens. You sometimes just wish an editor would rein everything in. After all, Reservoir Dogs was his best film and that packed everything into a tight 99 minutes. The Hateful Eight doesn't fix the runtime issue per se - at 187 minutes (or 167 minutes in its general release form) it's the director's longest film - but it never once drags or feels too long. This is partially down to the intermission serving as a respite and the engrossing characters and sparky dialogue you expect from Tarantino keeping you engaged, but it's primarily to do with how the story's structured. The film is broken up into six chapters (five numbered and one "Final Chapter", with three either side of the intermission), and while their length is incredibly inconsistent, they all serve a clear purpose. Each one introduces a new element - location, character, or whatever - and as we go on they start to subvert the expectations the previous ones established, making for a narrative that is highly unpredictable while still ultimately imbued with purpose (and has that racial element running constantly under the surface).