If nothing else, one must give Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez credit for their goofy ambition. In 2007, they joined forces to create Grindhouse, a three-hour, 11-minute double feature meant to emulate cheap drive-in cinema of the Seventies.

Though a minor fan base ate up this nutty premise, the mass audiences stayed away in droves. Grindhouse crashed and burned at the box office. Despite those two prominent directorial names over the marquee, the flick took in a craptacular $25 million.

Perhaps to avoid a similar fate on home video – or maybe to milk the profits – the distributor the decided to split Grindhouse for its initial home video run. For the second of two releases, we get Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, which ran as the first flick during the theatrical edition.

Set in middle of nowhere Texas, some creepy doings are afoot at a military base. An Army leader named Muldoon (Bruce Willis) unleashes a potent chemical virus upon the locals for reasons we discover as the film progresses.

What does this virus do? It gives its victims all sorts of pus-filled lesions and essentially turns them into killer zombies. They wander the area, chomping and infecting everyone they meet. A small group of survivors tries to battle off this horde of nasties.

Funny how perspectives change, as when I saw Grindhouse theatrically, Terror seemed to be the clear winner of the evening’s two flicks. It offered the wild, crazy piece of cinematic action the whole Grindhouse premise promised, while Tarantino’s Death Proof lacked the same kind of pizzazz.

Indeed, after 90 minutes of gore, guns and goo, the subdued, character-based opening of Proof nearly put the audience to sleep. It’d wake them up eventually, but there’s no question it was tough to adapt to the low-key Proof after the lively Terror.

As I reflected in my review of Proof, I liked that flick much more on second viewing. The opposite effect fell upon Terror, which loses a lot of its charms when seen again.

When a movie’s first 10 minutes include a scene in which a guy’s balls get cut off, you know you’re not in “PG” territory, and Terror plays up its “R” rating to the hilt. You need a really high tolerance for gross material to make it through this movie. I can stand it, but I can’t say I like it.

Once you get past the adolescent “I can’t believe they showed that!” shock value of the footage, the film goes a bit sour. Really, it seems like Rodriguez spent most of his time on gross-out concepts and not enough on the other parts of the flick.

Characters are one-note and not remotely interesting. All of them tend to come across like badasses, without much variety.

Freddy Rodriguez tries to pull out his inner Eastwood, but he can’t convey the right sense of toughness. Maybe it’s his baby face, as his attempt at chin pubes can’t make him look any older than 15.

As go-go dancer turned wannabe comedian turned amputee, Rose McGowan easily does the best work of the crew. She’s the only one who pulls off the toughness at all, though this makes sense. She dated Marilyn Manson, after all, and an experience that disturbing would have to harden a woman.

McGowan is really the only redeeming factor among the main actors, as she presents the movie’s most impressive moments. Heck, even I can’t dislike a flick with an amputee who has artillery strapped to her leg stump!

Again, on first viewing, the constant action, mayhem and gore attacks us so heavily that we don’t particularly mind the film’s flaws. Terror sure comes as a wild ride, and that novelty keeps out attention.

After that side wears off, though, we’re just left with the flaws. When you know what's coming, the action seems less thrilling, and the monotony of all the blood becomes more apparent.

The goo budget on this flick must’ve been huge, as so many scenes revel in fluids of various sorts. This always remains gross but doesn’t provide more than generic shock value.

Someone once commented on the difference between Terror and Proof. That person essentially said that while Rodriguez made a spoof of a 1970s “B”-movie, Tarantino made a 1970s “B”-movie.

That’s an essential difference and part of the reason I think Proof works better than Terror. The Rodriguez film always keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek.

It looks at the genre from modern eyes and constantly winks at the audience to let us know the filmmakers are in on the joke. On the other hand, Tarantino plays things relatively straight, and the movie benefits from the absence of so much self-awareness.

I don’t want to sound totally down on Terror, as I think it offers good entertainment – once. After you get through that first screening, though, its returns rapidly diminish. There’s just too much campiness on display along with too much reliance on gore and goo.

Note that while Death Proof omitted all the “fake trailers” that came during Grindhouse, Planet Terror retains Machete, the ad that preceded it theatrically.

Planet Terror appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. How in the world do I objectively critique a film with so many intentional flaws? Carefully, I guess.

As the prior statement implied, the major issue here came from print defects. Terror wants to look like a flick that’s been run through the projector about 2000 times.

That means plenty of blemishes, scratches, streaks, breaks, gaps and misfires. Every single one was put there on purpose, so it becomes a mistake to really call them “print defects” – they’re stylistic choices. I can’t say they distract because they fit the goofy nature of the production, but they certainly crop up with great frequency.

Otherwise, Proof looked quite good. Sharpness only occasionally betrayed any concerns.

A few shots came across as a little soft, but the majority of the flick seemed well-defined and concise. No jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and I noticed no edge enhancement.

Colors tended to be a bit oversaturated and heavy, but this was another stylistic choice. Toxic green was the dominant hue, all intended to match the poison gas.

The movie wanted a dense Seventies feel and it achieved that goal. Overall, the hues appeared pretty warm and rich, and they matched the tone of the movie.

Blacks were deep and dense, and shadows showed really nice delineation. Because so many of the “flaws” were intentional, I couldn’t fault the transfer for them. This was a solid reproduction of the film.

Note that the theatrical version of Terror came with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Why did director Robert Rodriguez turn this into 1.78:1 on home video?

I don’t know, but I would guess Quentin Tarantino insisted on 2.35:1 for his half of Grindhouse and he convinced Rodriguez to use that ratio theatrically so the two films would match.

Rodriguez almost always uses 1.78:1 or the similar 1.85:1, so this theory makes sense to me. Free from the need to stick with the same ratio as Death Proof, I guess Rodriguez felt free to revert to his preferred dimensions.

As for the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Planet Terror, it also succeeded – though I’d have preferred a more limited scope. Personally, I think the flick should’ve better embraced its Seventies inspirations and gone with a straight mono mix.

That’s what a movie of this one’s ilk would’ve boasted 45 years ago. The decision to give it a worn-out Seventies look but a modern sound didn’t make sense to me.

Despite my mild disappointment with that choice, I can’t knock the results, as the track seemed very strong. The soundfield boasted many opportunities to open up the action, and it did so well.

With all the gunfire, explosions and other moving elements, the effects made sure to put us in the center of the mayhem. All five channels received good usage, as the track blasted at us from start to finish. This was an active, involving soundfield.

At all times, audio quality excelled. Speech was consistently natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded terrific, as both songs and score seemed lively and dynamic. Effects fell into the same range. Those elements were accurate and vivid. I found a lot to like in this mix.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? The lossless Dolby TrueHD mix offered stronger dynamics than its lossy predecessor.

As for the visuals, the “scratched-up” nature of the source limited improvements somewhat, but the superior capabilities of Blu-ray still made this a good upgrade. The BD looked better defined and more vivid.

As we shift to the extras, we begin on Disc One with an audio commentary from director Robert Rodriguez. He provides a running, screen-specific chat.

Rodriguez starts with a few notes about the Machete trailer before he gets into the script and its development, working within the “grindhouse” motif, cast, characters and performances, music and editing, sets and locations, changes made for the longer cut of the film, effects, and a few stories.

I really enjoyed past Rodriguez commentaries, and this one continued that streak. I do have to admit, however, that Rodriguez doesn’t provide the same whirlwind fact-a-second tour we usually hear.

He’s still informative throughout the chat, but he goes silent more often than normal – primarily because he almost never slows in his other commentaries – and he just seems a little less involved than normal.

Regard these criticisms as nit-picks, though, as even half-speed Rodriguez is still more interesting than 99 percent of the other directors out there. This is another good chat with plenty of useful notes.

(I do hope someone told him that an “anecdote” is a story, not a shot used to cure an illness, though. It’s a little embarrassing when he says “anecdote” instead of “antidote” twice!)

Another audio option comes to us via an audience reaction track. This lets you feel like part of the crowd as you watch the flick accompanied by the recorded hoots and hollers from a Terror screening.

And when I say “you”, I mean “you”, as in “not me”. If I watch to watch a movie at home, I don’t need to hear the reaction of some yahoos. Anyway, it’s there if you want it.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray, we find a Scratch-Free Version of Planet Terror. This delivers exactly what it promises: a rendition of the flick that lacked the phony “print flaws” of the original. “Scratch-Free” also comes without the added “grain” of the main presentation.

While this clearly makes the movie a more attractive presentation, it also seems to negate the spirit of the “Grindhouse” concept. Still, I appreciate the option. Even though I suspect fans will prefer the “scratcher-up” Terror, I like that we can choose.

Note that at 1:41:08, “Scratch-Free” runs 4 minutes 25 seconds shorter than the primary version. That’s mainly because it drops the Machete trailer at the start. “Scratch-Free” also only offers lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio instead of the main attraction’s Dolby TrueHD track.

Also note that this version doesn’t completely lack “print flaws”. At a little past the 61-minute mark, we see some “defects” that lead to the disintegration of the frame and the “Reel Missing” text to cover for a sex scene.

Over on Disc Two, we find six featurettes. 10-Minute Film School actually runs 11 minutes, 52 seconds as Rodriguez as he discusses various effects like Cherry’s leg, aging the film and tints, stunts and a few other visual elements.

Though much of the information repeats from the commentary, the presence of demo footage makes “School” valuable. We get to see the different stages and work done to bring the elements to life. The combination of good notes and cool footage allow “School” to become a strong program.

For the 11-minute, 49-second The Badass Babes of Planet Terror, we hear from Rodriguez, and actors Rose McGowan, Marley Shelton, Stacy Ferguson, Electra Amelia Avellan and Electra Isabel Avellan.

“Babes” looks at the movie’s female characters and the actors who play them. Again Rodriguez repeats some info from his commentary, but the show broadens out enough to become engaging and useful.

Next we learn about The Guys of Planet Terror. In this 16-minute and 31-second piece, we find remarks from Rodriguez, McGowan, Shelton, producer/actor Quentin Tarantino, and actors Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews, Josh Brolin, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey and Tom Savini.

“Guys” offers a male version of “Babes”. It offers the same pros and cons, so it’s another good show.

Casting Rebel goes for five minutes, 33 seconds and features Rodriguez, Shelton, Brolin and actor Rebel Rodriguez. We hear a little about how Rodriguez cast his own son in the role and the kid’s performance. There’s nothing much new in this short piece, as most of the info comes up during the commentary.

After this we go to the 13-minute and 17-second Sickos, Bullets and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror. We hear from Robert Rodriguez, McGowan, Shelton, Freddy Rodriguez, stunt coordinator Jeff Dashaw, and special effects coordinator John McLeod.

The featurette looks at various stunts, some weapons training, and other action elements. Plenty of good behind the scenes footage helps make this another fun and informative piece.

Finally, The Friend, The Doctor and The Real Estate Agent fills six minutes, 41 seconds with notes from Robert Rodriguez, Shelton, Brolin and actors Skip Reissig and Dr. Felix Sabates.

We hear about some of the non-professionals who act in the movie. Once more, Rodriguez’s commentary renders this one somewhat superfluous. It’s fine on its own, but you won’t find much that you don’t already know.

In the International Poster Gallery, we find 35 stills. Most of these cover Terror, but we also get a few ads for Machete, the currently non-existent flick advertised during Grindhouse. We also locate the International Trailer for Terror

Theatrically, Planet Terror seemed like the better half of Grindhouse, but in retrospect, I no longer like it as much as its partner. Terror throws enough at us to entertain through one screening, but when seen again, its grossness and one-dimensionality wears thin. The Blu-ray offers intentionally flawed picture, strong audio and a solid compilation of bonus materials. Terror brings spotty entertainment.

To rate this film, visit the DVD review of PLANET TERROR