Planet Terror

Robert Rodriguez expands his half of the "Grindhouse" double feature for this two-disc special edition. Think of "Planet Terror" as his fantasy drive-in movie: a scruffy, over-the-top zombie action film starring Rose McGowan as a go-go dancer with a machine gun leg, filled with action, horror, gore, tough guys, sexy chicks, and of course ocular trauma. It's a film he was born to make. Rodriguez is a sloppy screenwriter and has been embracing production shortcuts and in-your-face jolts since "El Mariachi." Where he once distracted from his script's dead/loose ends with directorial excess for the sake of excess, here he revels in both, and then bangs up the entire feature with scratches and splices and soundtrack hisses and pops. Rodriguez's "Machete" trailer precedes the film, which still has the jokey "missing reel," and Rodriguez provides both commentary and his signature "10-Minute Film School" -- still the most interesting and practical making-of series on DVD. The two-disc set also features an optional "audience reaction track" (pretend you're at the movies!) and five more behind-the-scenes featurettes.