He frees a black slave, Django (Jamie Foxx), by force from his owner. Schultz and Django then become partners in a spree of collecting bounties. Django tells Schultz that he wants to free his (Django's) long-lost wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from slavery.
Schultz tracks Broomhilda to a cotton plantation owned by slave trader Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Schultz attempts to fool Candie into selling Broomhilda as part of a package deal, but Candie's loyal house servant Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) discerns the interlopers' true intentions. A slaughter ensues, with Django somehow coming out on top, because it is a movie.
How others will see it. It seems that every Tarantino movie is a great success. Django Unchained had the advantage of being politically correct, since not even Republicans would go so far as to advocate slavery. The film was nominated for four major Oscars, winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Waltz).
At imdb.com, Django Unchained has the enormous user vote totals and lofty user ratings associated with Tarantino-directed films. The numbers here are a whopping 1.8 million user votes and a remarkable 8.5 (out of 10) user rating. Needless to say, most everyone enjoys watching Django and his buddy Schultz wipe out innumerable detestable white slavers in the pre-Civil War South.
How I felt about it. The flaw in this story, the one that ruins it, is that there is no need for Django to accompany Schultz to the Candie plantation to free Broomhilda. Schultz could have gone there by himself without arousing the immediate suspicions that accompany Django's presence.
We also note that the 1858 South would not have tolerated Django killing white people, let alone overseers, without becoming bounty material himself. The South would have regarded Schultz and Django as a team, and killings committed by one would have been charged against the other as well. The manhunt after the two, and their notoriety, would have been substantial before they arrived at the Candie plantation.
And the final reel is absurd. Dozens of whites die, and the blacks come out unharmed, with the exception of race-betrayer Stephen. The ending is pure Hollywood, though admittedly satisfying in that all the bad guys get exactly what is coming to them, characteristic of a Tarantino movie.
The story goes that the part of Django was first offered to Will Smith, and was even written with him in mind. Fortunately, Jamie Foxx got the role instead. He brings a likeable everyman vibe to the character.
The film does get better when the ever-charismatic Leonardo DiCaprio finally shows up. Not every DiCaprio movie is good, of course, but he is in so many good movies that he must be an asset, and he is here.