Breakdown - The Hateful Eight: Extended Version (2019)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, it's certainly been a while since we last discussed director Quentin Tarantino's 2015 Western film The Hateful Eight. But, something I find fascinating is that, in 2019, Tarantino released an extended director's cut version of the film in the form of a four-episode miniseries on Netflix. Yep, that's right. There are two versions of The Hateful Eight: the original film release, and the four-episode miniseries extended version. But, before we get started, I would like to dedicate this movie breakdown to the memory of actor Michael Madsen, who sadly passed away on July 3rd, 2025. Madsen, who was a frequent collaborator of Quentin Tarantino, portrayed the character of Joe Gage in The Hateful Eight. 

      Now, are there any major differences between the original film and the extended version miniseries? Well, there are a few notable differences, which is mostly in terms of dialogue. For example, we get a few added bits of dialogue between the characters of Major Marquis Warren, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and O.B. the stagecoach driver, played by James Parks. The added dialogue between the two is mainly how Warren agrees to give O.B. a cut of his $8,000 bounty upon their arrival in Red Rock. The extended cut also takes a few scenes of dialogue and restores a few lines that were cut from the original release of the movie. For example, there were entire conversations between Chris Mannix and Joe Gage that were cut from the original film, and it definitely changes how viewers see the way that Chris is suspicious of Joe Gage when Chris and Warren are trying to find out who poisoned the coffee. 

       Now, the key story beats of the movie are still in tact. Warren, looking for a ride to cash in a few bounties in Red Rock, joins in a stagecoach ride along with John Ruth, who is bringing a criminal named Daisy Domergue to Red Rock to be hanged, and they stagecoach eventually runs into Chris Mannix, who is on his way to Red Rock to become the new sheriff. And, of course, the various events in Minnie's Haberdashery are still part of the movie, including everyone eating stew, Warren telling a story to General Smithers about an encounter Warren has with Smithers' son, John Ruth and O.B. dying from poisoned coffee, the flashback to earlier in the day, where Joe Gage, Oswaldo Mobray, Señor Bob, and Jody arrive at Minnie's, and kill their stagecoach drivers Ed and Judy, along with Minnie, Sweet Dave, Charly, and Gemma, and set up to ambush John Ruth and free Daisy. 

        So, in reality, there isn't a whole hell of a lot of difference between the original film and the extended version of The Hateful Eight. Well, with a few exceptions. You see, the movie has a number of title cards dividing each chapter. For the extended version, those title cards come at the start of each episode, with title cards reading "Episode One: Last Stage to Red Rock," "Episode Two: Minnie's Haberdashery," "Episode Three: Domergue's Got a Secret," and Episode Four: Last Chapter." And, as I said, there are added lines of dialogue to already existing scenes, as well as entire conversations that were omitted from the original film. For instance, one extension of dialogue is when Warren is interrogating Bob, Oswaldo, and Joe Gage about who made the pot of coffee that was poisoned, and they point that John Ruth made the coffee. Now, in the original film, Warren cuts straight to talking about the pot of stew. In the Extended Version, however, Warren inquires why John Ruth made the coffee in the first place, and it apparently was due to Bob's coffee being not to John's liking, and Joe Gage admits that Bob's coffee wasn't all that good, either. 

      Another significant change for the Extended Version is that the entire scene of when John Ruth and Daisy enter Minnie's, while O.B., Bob, Warren, and Chris are putting the horses away, has been added, and expanded to include Joe Gage's perspective, to the scene where we see John and Daisy enter Minnie's from the perspective of those inside. Now, the original version as shown from the perspective of when John, O.B., Warren, Chris, and Daisy arrive at Minnie's is still intact at the end of "Episode One: Last Stage to Red Rock," but they added it to the middle of "Episode Four: Last Chapter" to give more context to the scenario, given the additional context added to the scene in that particular episode. And, something else that restoring the scene does is that it takes two lines of dialogue, where Daisy alludes to the fact that Warren and Chris are traveling with her and John, and turns it from random dialogue to a warning for Oswaldo and Joe Gage, the latter of whom is looking for an opportunity to kill John. On top of that, each episode opens with the opening credits of the movie, followed by a title card for the episode title, and ends with the film's closing credits. Although, the end credits song from the movie is only at the end of the last episode. And, yes, the bits of narration by Tarantino himself are still, very much, a part of this version of The Hateful Eight. 

        So, I suppose the real question is this: is it necessary to watch the Extended Version of The Hateful Eight? Not really. I mean, the original theatrical film version is still the most straightforward version to watch, which is probably preferable to most. In actuality, the Extended Version isn't significantly different from the original, aside from being more dialogue heavy and an entire sequence shown in an earlier point in the movie repeated near the end of the story. This isn't like with Zack Snyder's Justice League, which is, in truth, the superior iteration of that particular film. All we really get from the Extended Version of The Hateful Eight is more dialogue, interactions not shown in the original movie, and that's about it. However, one thing I will say is that, unlike with Zack Snyder's Justice League, which is a massive four-hour endeavor, you really don't need to watch the Extended Version of The Hateful Eight in one sitting, as each episode is edited in a way that makes it easier to take a break when needed. So, in the end, I guess it's a "pick your poison" situation whether you want the more straightforward version or the more dialogue heavy version of The Hateful Eight. 

       Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you in the next review.