Sony Pictures have released the first images from Django Unchained. There are only two pictures, but they’re enough to get anyone excited. Leonardo DiCaprio looks to be channelling Daniel Day-Lewis’ Bill “The Butcher” Cutting for his role as sadistic plantation owner Calvin Candie. Meanwhile Jamie Fox and the brilliant Christoph Waltz certainly give us the impression they’re ready to cause some trouble.

As you’d expect from a Tarantino flick the film has an all-star cast of supporting players, including: Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Sacha Baron Cohen (Hugo), Kurt Russell (Death Proof) and Don Johnson (Planet Terror).

Django Unchained‘s rather lengthy synopsis tells us this film’s destined to be quite the ride (as if Tarantino would offer us anything less):

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, “Django Unchained” stars Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival…

Tarantino’s latest creation hits Kiwi screens on January 24, 2013.

Here are the pics:

So do you like what you see? Are you excited for Django Unchained?