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Dom Robinson reviews
Buena Vista Home Video
- Cert:
- Cat.no: D 881273
- Running time: 106 minutes
- Year: 2003
- Pressing: 2004
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 19 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English (and for the hearing-impaired)
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: The Making of Kill Bill, Music Videos, Kill Bill Trailers
Director:
- Quentin Tarantino
(Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vols 1 & 2, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs)
Producer:
- Lawrence Bender
Screenplay:
- Quentin Tarantino
Music:
- The RZA
Cast:
- The Bride: Uma Thurman
O-Ren Ishii: Lucy Liu
Vernita Green: Vivica A. Fox
Elle Driver: Daryl Hannah
Bill: David Carridine
Budd: Michael Madsen
Sofie Fatale: Julie Dreyfus
Gogo Yubari: Chiaki Kuriyama
Hattori Hanzo: Sonny Chiba
Johnny Mo: Gordon Liu
Earl McGraw: Michael Parks
Buck: Michael Bowen
Boss Tanaka: Jun Kunimura
Bald Guy (Sushi Shop): Kenji Ohba
Edgar McGraw: James Parks
Charlie Brown: Sakichi Satô
Kill Bill was Quentin Tarantino’s fourth film, and it went on so long once he’d included everything he intended that it was to be split into two movies, which were released six months apart from each other in the cinema – so, just enough time to release the DVD for No.1 while No.2 hits the big screen.
And after watching this, I don’t know how they managed to show clips of it on TV without it appearing massively violent because it’s inescapable when watching it in full, even if most of it is done in an OTT style.
The story is basic, as is the way the whole thing plays out, it not jumping back and forth endlessly like his previous films did. Four years and six months ago, a wedding party and all the church staff were wiped out by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, made up of the main man Bill (David Carridine) and his four henchmen and women (Lucy Liu, Vivica A Fox, Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah). However, not all of the party were murdered. One was left alive, she’s known only as ‘The Bride’ (Uma Thurman), and now we’re in the present, she’s about to come out of her coma…
And there’s only one thing set on her mind – revenge. But since there’s five who deserve to die, and the film’s split into two halves, you’re not going to see all of them this time.
In the acting stakes, no-one seems to be really pushing the boat out. Uma Thurman’s sexy, if too tall for my tastes, and the only baddies you get to see going head-to-head against her are O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) and Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox), the latter shown first despite happening second in chronological terms and making for a great in-home fight sequence.
Kill Bill Vol.1 is brilliantly stylish and hugely entertaining, but way too OTT to be considered one of Tarantino’s finest compared to his earlier films which were far stronger on characterisation and lulled you into a false sense of security, at times, by appearing to deviate from the subject at hand with discussions about cheeseburgers and radio stations playing old hits from the ’70s.
And there’s lots of silly dancing around in the multiple fight sequence which is what pissed me off about Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, since although I know that aspect of it was meant to be fantasy, it didn’t gel like it should’ve done and I just got completely fed up with it.
It’s amazing how The Bride manages to coax her legs back into action after spending four years in a coma. I know that it’s not the easiest thing in the world, as my Mum spent a few months in hospital once, after contracting septacemia, and it took her a while to literally get back on her feet.
On other random musings, when I saw a clip of The Bride dishing out some punishment to Buck the orderly with a knife I wondered what on earth he’d done to deserve that. Then I saw why in the film, and that was the least of his worries given what came next. I loved the way O-Ren Ishii’s backstory was told in anime form, and also the argument in the sushi shop in Okinawa between the owner and the bald guy.
There are plenty of gory moments to rewind and watch again and again, fantastic music from the theme tune to music from The Worst Week of my Life, and Michael Parks reprises his brief role from the opening scene of From Dusk Till Dawn as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw, but you know that since he was bumped off quickly in that one, he will see the scene through here.
One confusing thing – I know Uma’s character was only intended to be known as ‘The Bride’, so why write her name into the script? And while we never get to hear her name, that’s because it’s always bleeped out. This bleeping is, therefore, intentional as mention is made of it in the subtitles, but I didn’t see the relevance of doing this.
As the film comes to an end, there are snippets of who’s still to come in Vol.2, as well as a cliffhanger, but while I enjoyed it as I watched, upon reflection it just felt like a series of set-pieces rather than a whole movie, and I hope Tarantino’s not becoming too selfish about who he’s making films for. Perhaps when I’ve seen Vol.2, it’ll all come together more.
No problems at all with the picture and sound. The film is presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and is perfect throughout, although some of the extras do flicker from time to time, either when playing initially or after fast-forwarding through parts of them. This isn’t restricted to happening in the same places each time so it’s definitely a mastering problem with that section of the disc.
The sound is in both DD5.1 and DTS5.1 and is exceptional when required, for both music and sound FX of gunfire, knife fights, Gogo’s ball, and everything else.
When it comes to the extras, could it shout “Two-film Special Edition DVD coming out at Xmas” any louder, given the paucity of material on offer here?
The 22-minute Making of Kill Bill mixes film clips with chat from everyone concerned, there’s two tracks, running for 6 mins, played on Lucy Liu’s set from the godawful ‘band’ “The 5, 6, 7, 8’s” I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield and I’m Blue (shown in 2.35:1 letterbox), plus trailers for this film and a ‘teaser’ for the sequel. That’s it. Very disappointing.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.