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Film: Planet Terror

Planet Terror is the more action-oriented half of Grindhouse. A 2007 Robert Rodriguez film in which a military transaction goes awry and an experimental poison gas is released on a small town in rural Texas, turning the unsuspecting civilians turn into bloodthirsty zombies. The only people who can stop them are a Go-Go-Dancer with a gun for a leg, her expert gunman ex-boyfriend, a pair of crazy babysitter twins, a shellshocked doctor, a Jerkass cop, a crusty sheriff, a scientist obsessed with balls, and many other trailer-park freaks from deep in the Heart of Texas.

Planet Terror provides examples of the following tropes:

Adrenaline Makeover - Dakota
After the End: The epilogue.
An Arm and a Leg: Cherry.
Attempted Rape
Bare Your Midriff: The female deputy after the "missing reel"..
Bi the Way: Dakota Block, who is married to a male doctor, but has a lesbian lover on the side and seems attracted to Cherry Darling.
Bittersweet Ending: DC-2 spreads around the world and no one has any way of finding a cure but Cherry is leading survivors to humanity's last foothold on the Mexican coast.
Body Horror: By the buckets.
Bond One-Liner
Boom, Headshot: Poor, poor Abby.
- Muldoon says he delivered one to Osama bin Laden, along with a shot to the chest. Back in 2007, it was kinda funny; in 2011, it became really funny because that's how bin Laden really died.
Brain Food: The zombie-like mutants eat Fergie's brain, prompting the gag "Looks like we've got a no-brainer." Similarly, a repeated line throughout the film is "I'm gonna eat your brain and gain your knowledge," first said as a small boy is playing with his action figures, although by the time Josh Brolin starts saying it, it gets creepy/hilarious.
Bury Your Gays: Tammi is Dakota's lesbian lover on the sly, and ends up getting eaten by zombies.
The Cast Show Off: Marley Shelton has hyper-flexible wrists. This came in ''real'' handy.
Catch Phrase:
- "I never miss."
- "Best in Texas."
- "Two against the world, baby."
- "I'm gonna eat your brains and gain your knowledge."
Cluster F-Bomb: Cherry unleashes a choice one at El Wray.
Combat Stilettos - Cherry, on her good leg.
The Danza: Skip the club owner is played by Skip, Robert Rodriguez' realtor.
Deliberately Cute Child - Played by Robert Rodriguez' son, Rebel. Sadly, Infant Immortality is averted.
Everything Is Better With Explosions: The sheriff's car even explodes spontaneously for no reason whatsoever.
- Also, the entire end of the film when it comes to a new leg replacement.
Exact Words: J.T. mentions that will never his brother his BBQ recipe, even if he is dying in his brother's arms. When they are both mortally wounded, J.T. shares his recipe and his brother dies in his arms.
Explosion Propulsion
Eye Scream
Fingore - Poor, poor Dakota Block.
For Science!: Abby.
"Science comes first but business comes a close fucking seconds."
Four Eyes, Zero Soul - Dr. William Block. And keep in mind, that was before he was turned into a zombie. You gotta admit, those specs look good though.
Gatling Good
Girl on Girl Is Hot - "Goddamnit, girls. If you're gonna do that, do it on stage!"
Godzilla Threshold: In the wake of the sicko outbreak, the police force breaks out the "All or Nothing" box, which involves giving everyone a badge, a gun, and a deputy rank. Though they still won't let El Wray use a gun.
Groin Attack: Abby seems fond of them, cutting off people's balls and keeping them in a jar. And the rapist soldier's testicles actually melt off.
Homage: The action may be all Robert Rodriguez, but the horror suspense elements, down to the synthesizer music, is pure John Carpenter.
Infant Immortality - Averted, in one of the film's only genuinely horrific scenes. Robert Rodriguez said he used his own kid, Rebel, as Tony because he didn't want to 'kill' anyone else's kid.' He also made a less-violent cut of the film where Tony survives the movie for Rebel to watch.
Ironic Echo
- "I'm gonna eat your brain and gain your knowledge."
- "It's go-go, not cry-cry"
- "No dead bodies for Da-Da tonight."
  - "What did I tell you, Tony? Don't point the gun at yourself. Didn't I tell you that?"
Leg Cannon: Cherry Darling had her leg eaten by zombies, and replaced it with an M-4 assault rifle, which she used to kick much ass. And then later, she had that replaced with a full-on minigun. It's a bit ambiguous how she fires it, though, since we never see her reaching down to pull a trigger.
Lost In Transmission - The audience sees "MISSING REEL." During the missing reel, it's implied, we'd have gotten to see Rose McGowan totally naked, plus the entire plot surrounding Ray's mysterious origins would have been explained. And when the film comes back, everything's on fire, and we'll never know why. Possibly the best cut in movie history.
- There's a Meta-Gag in there as well. An presumed urban legend (re-told in the novel Fight Club) is that older movies would have their nude scenes cut shorter and shorter as projectionists removed a few choice frames for their collection. Notably, all of the sexier bits seem a lot more grainy, as if they've been watched more than the rest of the film.
Made of Plasticine - Everyone, human and zombie alike.
My God, What Have I Done?: Subverted with Dakota after she gives her son a loaded gun to defend himself with, only to have him shoot himself in the head. She then starts cradling the kill and when her husband shows up, she shrieks blame at him for it.
No Name Given: We don't really know what Cherry's real name is. "Palomita" was just something Wray gave her.
- Also El Wray's name itself, as per his Mysterious Past.
Noodle Incident - The "missing reel". Cut to the diner on fire. Sheriff Hague had been shot. Dakota and her father, the babysitters, the go-go dancing club owner and some of the dancers somehow made it there.
Pair the Spares: Hinted at the end of movie, with Cherry and Dakota.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: El Wray is just about the shortest person in the whole movie. And yet, many an ass is kicked.
Rated M for Manly
Reckless Gun Usage: Dr. Dakota Block gives a gun to her child, when she leaves him alone in a car. He shoots himself in the face (accidentally or not) within a few seconds of her leaving the car.
Rocket Jump: Cherry does this with her grenade launcher leg. One of the only non-videogame characters to perform this move.
Rule Of Cool
The Savage South: Zombies everywhere in good old Texas!
Serious Business: Barbecue.
JT: "No Texan's ever gonna give up his barbecue recipe, and that's a fact! I could be bleeding like a stuck pig, I ain't gonna tell ya! I could be dying in your arms, I ain't gonna tell ya!"
Sexophone: Planet Terror's opening theme, played over Cherry's go-go dance routine. Later spoofed by the saxophonist playing it in the prison cell.
Sole Surviving Scientist: Abby, or he would have been if he hadn't gotten killed. This is lampshaded in the movie.
Cherry Darling: I don't suppose anyone else here is a bio-chemical engineer?
Someone to Remember Him By: Cherry's baby from Wray.
Smoking Barrel Blowout: Requires some flexibility, as it's Cherry blowing on the automatic rifle attached to her leg-stump.
Staking the Loved One: Earl does this to his wife.
Theme Music Power-Up: Subverted: The groups' only way of escape is via a helicopter on the other side of a military base filled with zombified soldiers. Abby (Naveen Andrews, aka Sayid from Lost) sternly says "Follow me!"; the music starts pumping, you think you're in for the Crowning Moment of Awesome... and as soon as he peers around the corner, his head gets blown to pieces.
There Is No Kill Like Over Kill: The Rapist (played by Tarantino) tries to have his way with Cherry. He is smashed over the head with a table leg, impaled in the eye by the leg's broken end, has his privates melt off from the infection taking over him, has a syringe launched into his other eye, melts into an inhuman monster, pukes up his guts, then finally is shot in the crotch with a grenade launcher. Good grief.
- Possibly justified, since Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil.
Took a Level in Badass: Cherry in a big way.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Muldoon just wanted to find a cure for himself and his men. Wray acknowledges this by saluting Muldoon for his service to his country, just before shooting him.
Woman in White: Cherry in the ending.
Word of Dante: The vehicles driven by the undead U.S soldiers are emblazoned with "UNIT 31" so maybe that's the name of their regiment. It hasn't been stated otherwise.
Unusual Weapon Mounting: Gun for a leg, anyone?
Your Makeup Is Running
Zombie Apocalypse