Is There More to ‘Django Unchained’ Than What Meets the Eye?

When Django Unchained hits theaters on Christmas Day audiences will definitely be getting their money’s worth. Quentin Tarantino’s new epic is full of 165 minutes worth of non-stop, heart-thumping action, brutal violence and, as always, a dash of comedy.

But during production some of Hollywood’s elite argued that the film is too long for audiences used to a traditional 100 minute film. One of the opponents was Weinstein Company head honcho and ‘Django’ producer Harvey Weinstein. Harvey proposed that the film be cut into two separate parts, like Tarantino did with ‘Kill Bill’, but Quentin completely rejected the idea.

“You have to follow Django’s journey to the end,” Tarantino told The Playlist. “There are so many emotions – there’s the action adventure, the gallow’s humor comedy that runs through it, there’s the pain of the story, there’s the catharsis, there’s the suspense, and hopefully at the end there’s cheering, if the audience isn’t cheering then I haven’t done my job.”

Tarantino did admit that if he was going to release the film again he would’ve done things differently.

“If I had to do this whole thing over again I would have published this as a novel and done this after the fact. Maybe next time. I could do what Kevin Costner did with the expanded edition of ‘Dances with Wolves,’ and I could very well do that. Because if I put some of that in I have to change the story. But I want this version to be the story for a while.”

While Tarantino would like to release an extended cut of the film at some point, he wants the world to see his masterpiece before making any drastic changes.

“I’m going to wait until the film goes around the world, does what it does,”  Tarantino added.  “And then I’m going to make a decision.

‘Django Unchained’ opens in theaters on Christmas Day and stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson.