Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) User Reviews

Tarantino's Blue Period is OVER!

[emperorpasta · 9/10 · 10 October 2003]

Just saw Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and was surprised, to be honest, at how incredibly GOOD this film is. Here is a craftsman (or artist, if you prefer) at the top of his game. Some of the shots are simply incredible; the score is, for the most part, vintage Tarantino selections- and the RZA does a very good job at filling the blanks; Uma Thurman is a great female lead, for sheer presence (and decent acting chops). Even Lucy Liu, who I expected was going to re-hash her Charlie's Angel character, burst on the scene like a flaming nunchuck.

The stringing together of the scenes was impeccable. The transitions, the intercutting between dialogue, the flashbacks... I simply could not get enough. Tarantino IS, indeed, having fun here. He is giving us a film that may not go down as a classic, Pulp Fiction style, but that shows us what is yet to come. I doubt that he's lost his writing talents (as some have claimed), and I actually disagree that the dialogue in the film is "poor", or that there are "no memorable lines" (Empire). The kung-fu genre has never been a particularly good park to display Shakespearean writing virtuosisms. The lines work fine. The plot is simple enough, but Tarantino takes a burger and serves it as "steak tartare with sauce au poivre and asparagus terrine". He basically manages to cram so much information into the film that plot is simply irrelevent. What is relevent is the Bride's thirst for blood, her primal sense of vengeance and our total devotion to her. Bill, of course, is one of the greatest characters to ever NOT appear on screen. Overall, a great movie and an example of how a filmmaker's tool is not his pen: it's his eye.

Kill Bill Is One Hell Of A Thrill

[dommercaldi · 9/10 · 10 September 2020]

Pros: 1. The bright colour palette does a wonderful job at highlighting the over-the-top nature of the film. 2. The entire animated sequence of the O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) origin story is gorgeously animated, as well as being impactful and brutal. 3. The score envelops the movie in a pulsating lively aura, and adds reems of energy to the scenes. 4. The action and fight scenes are incredibly entertaining and brilliantly choreographed. 5. The editing is mostly top-notch, especially with the quick cuts adding a lot of vibrancy to the fight scenes. 6. The costume and set design create the outlandish world perfectly. 7. Both Uma Thurman (The Bride) and Lucy Liu deliver great performances. 8. The sound-mixing is very crisp and clean, and it adds so much weight to the action scenes. 9. The make-up and art production is off-the-charts and, in regards to the gore, helps to make the deaths to feel more potent in their execution.

Cons: 1. The slow-motion used is extremely unattractive and pointless. 2. There is annoying minor usage of stock action screams.

I love this movie, I don't know why, but I just do.

[SafReviews · 9/10 · 26 April 2019]

This is movie is unusual, but it works for me. It kept me intrigued from the beginning with the plot which is not entirely clearly, but that made it more interesting for me. There's a lot of action in the movie which I found excellent and enjoyed a lot. It might not be realistic, but its a movie so it doesn't have to be. The plot is amazing and I can't wait to watch volume 2 soon because of how intriguing volume 1 was.

Tarantino made an amazing Collage with this movie. ⭐

[EVON1TY · 10/10 · 2 March 2023]

I can't explain why you like this movie so much. I don't know how rare this feeling comes to me. Actually this happens only for this movie. I don't know how can I explain why I like this movie so much. I don't like that much Samurai movies, I don't like that much Gangster movies. I don't know how this movie effected me this much. Is it revenge? No it doesn't have the greatest Screenplay.

I really don't know why. If someone would say "This movie is so nonsense, they're in modern times, so why are they fighting with Katanas? At least for not dying they could use guns." I would agree and can't argue.

Tarantino made an amazing Collage with this movie. But the things is I wasn't familiar with those, at least not one by one. So that's also does'nt explains completely why I like this movie so much.

So it could be the technical aspects. Right?

Yes it could be but I don't know any other movie that I rated 10 without amazing storyline.

Revolutionary acting scenes could be the reason.

Or maybe just the brilliant chosen Scores carries the movie?

I don't know there are so many things that could be the reason. I think all of them effects the movie positively. It has simple but effective screenplay that based on revenge. It has great action scenes, great technical aspects, great scores. Most importantly it is the Collage of so many things. It's the only movie that brings you the taste of Western with Samurai movies and so many more. Still I can't say why I like this movie in one sentence but I think the biggest reason is the great Collage.

Fight

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 22 June 2020]

I like how she wears a yellow tracksuit and chops people with her sword

Cinema has rarely been this exciting!

[gogoschka-1 · 10/10 · 28 October 2015]

Having seen Tarantino's 3 previous films, going into the cinema, my expectations for 'Kill Bill' were already over the roof. However, regardless of my high hopes for quality entertainment, I was not prepared for this film. I was dumbfounded. I was blown away. I had quite simply never seen anything even remotely like it.

In 'Kill Bill', the revenge plot serves only as a larger story arc, thus allowing Tarantino to play with as many different genres as he likes, and boy - what a mix he dishes out! With complete disregard for the conventions of filmmaking, he paints an expressionistic masterpiece in his own unique style, the likes of which the world has never seen before. Cinema rarely gets this exciting. With 'Kill Bill', Tarantino proved once and for all that all the hype around his persona is justified: he IS the most daring, original - and entertaining! - filmmaker of his generation. Simply amazing: 10 stars out of 10.

Lesser-Known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget And B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

All-Time Favorite Films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

The Vengeful Bride Part 1...

[Xstal · 9/10 · 13 October 2022]

It's a hefty price to pay, preparing for your wedding day, as your jilted lover Bill, arrives in time to maim and kill, left unconscious, comatose, muscles wasting, decompose, four years later you awaken, and you feel a little shaken, so you start to wiggle toes, then start looking for your foes, there are several scores to settle, you know how to use sharp metal.

The Bride starts to track down her past acquaintances and leaves them under no illusion how cold her revenge can be when it comes to finding the whereabouts of the titular Bill. In the style of several classic film genres from several countries, if the pursuit of ultra-violent and vicious vendetta with serious loss of blood and body parts is your thing, then you've come to the right place. Also contains great dialogue.

Gorgeous!

[C-rocodile · 10/10 · 1 March 2005]

A lot of people have come up to me and said "How can you love Quentin that much, he is just too extreme!" or "Oh come on, Kill Bill is just SO not realistic.." Yes. No.

Mr. Quentin Tarantino is rather extreme, yes, and it's lovely! And No. Kill Bill is not realistic, but it's not meant to be realistic! Just like... Lord of the Rings, that's not realistic either! But because it has clear unreal elements, like wizards, it's acceptable?

You don't go to see Kill Bill, or any other Q.T-film to see "Stepmom", in the same way you don't go to a Marilyn Manson concert hoping that they will play some Spice Girls..

Kill Bill, both volume 1 and 2, is absolutely gorgeous! The art direction is beautiful! The camera angles are perfect... just Gorgeous! The lighting, the sound, the dialogs... and of course, the details! No one works with small details the way Quentin does. I must also say that the soundtrack is brilliant and the whole film is just so well casted! Uma Thurman is perfect in the leading role, Darryl Hannah has never been this good before, ever! And Chiaki Kuriyama, even though she has a quite small role, is excellent, even better than she is in "Battle Royale". David Carradine is painfully perfect, Michael Madsen is ALWAYS excellent, but never as good as when he works with Tarantino. I must also say that Sonny Chiba was great. I've never been a big fan of Vivica A Fox until now, and I used to think that Lucy Liu was just your average actor but she turned out to be fierce. Pretty much everyone who is in this film is ten times better than they've ever been.

But above all things, Kill Bill is artistic, beautiful... Perfect colors, perfect everything... gotta love it.

Instant classic, but not for all audiences.

[Brent_P · 9/10 · 6 March 2005]

I know it's a couple years late, but I had to write a review for some of the few people that haven't seen one of my favorite and refreshing I've seen over the last few years. Kill Bill Vol. 1 is yet another quality film of Tarantino's short, but distinguished list.

Kill Bill involves a nameless woman (Uma Thurman) who is slowing seeking revenge on her former hit squad the Viper Squad and her boss Bill (David Caradine.) Her former hit squad wronged her by gunning down her closest friends and family during her wedding and putting her into a coma while being pregnant. A few years later she awakens in a hospital, without child, and tries to track down each member of the squad. As the story progresses (through this film and the sequel), you find out who she really, why Bill wanted her dead and the fate of her daughter.

The movie is really a combination of Tarantino's love for the 70's over-dramatized Kung-Fu movie era and story of revenge with rich dialog. Yes, this movie is violent, but in a cheesy way. This created some controversy and really had audiences stirred up, failing to realize it was supposed to be over the top without no sense of realism. Like I said, it was supposed to be a tribute more so than a gruesome action flick. With all cheesiness aside, I can understand how some people could feel a little woozy after seeing someone lose an arm and having 4 gallons of Kool-Aid red blood shoot out of the body like a whale's blow hole. What really makes this movie is Tarantino ability to make bad to mediocre actors seem like good ones, a smart and hilarious dialog and a good storyline. Of course, this is what he does in pretty much in all of his movies.

There are various plot holes in the story, but we are really meant to ignore them unlike most movies. Just like the gory scenes, come to grips to the fact that the most of the implausibilities are there just to fill in the gaps of the movie. The movie also features a couple of classic Tarantino showdowns, including an unforgettable one with the Japanese infamous crime lord, O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Lui.) Once again, Tarantino puts his imagination at work again in his story telling by using some of his old techniques like jumping timelines and some new ones like adding Japanese animation for character backgrounds.

I wouldn't really recommend this film to someone who is really not from the Pulp Fiction era. This film is really just homage to flicks that frequently appear on Sunday Samurai Showcase, revenge and Tarantino's continuous fascination with Uma Thurman. This film contains extreme violence and sometimes strange dialog coupled with some pretty good acting and directing. If you're not a fan of Tarantino's films, you should pass on this one because it is doesn't stray to far from his other stuff. If you like his other works, this is a must see due to its originality and quality. And, if you just don't like Tarantino himself, and find him annoying like everybody else, I don't blame you but it's still worth your while seeing.

Sit back and enjoy the expertly-choreographed mayhem

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 10 August 2016]

Tarantino's fourth effort and what a build-up; I hadn't seen a film this hyped up and over-covered since the release of the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. It's a good movie and even better for those who are fans of the same type of cinema as Tarantino: enjoy pretty much any '70s exploitation movie, from Shaw Brothers kung fu to Japanese samurai, blaxploitation and more, and you'll doubtless enjoy this one. However, this is not up to the level of Tarantino's previous offerings: the plot is wafer-thin and the dialogue is far more sparse than we're used to. His witty repartee is gone, instead replaced with plenty of black humour and more simplistic dialogue. The plot, which feels stretched (perhaps splitting the film in two wasn't such a good idea), involves Uma Thurman working her way through a hit list in a simple revenge drama. Tarantino's idea was to make just the kind of overblown trash movies he loved watching when younger, and he ably succeeded with this frenetic outing.

The movie is packed with action, and very violent action along with it. Japanese cinema is referenced in excessively bloody demises, where arterial fountains are the norm and limbs are chopped off like nobody's business. Elsewhere, you can't help but cheer as Thurman batters and mutilates her way through various killers, rapists, and hired help, and it helps that the actress puts her all into the film, especially physically; I don't think many actresses would be willing to undergo the punishment and unpleasant-looking stuff that Thurman suffers here. Of the other cast members, Lucy Liu makes for an ice cold villain whilst Vivica A. Fox has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role. Asian film fans will enjoy seeing cult cinema icons Gordon Liu and Sonny Chiba pop up in welcome cameos. Plus there's an endless slew of film references, my favourite being the music taken from MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE! The infamous House of Blue Leaves massacre is easily the highlight of the movie, a twenty-minute action set-piece of outrageous proportions. Effects are purely basic, like those used in the '70s, with thankfully no CGI, and it pays off in spades. This film looks bloody and brilliant. It's just a shame that characterisation is so thin; Thurman has a cold heart which makes it impossible to identify with her at all. It's best just to sit back and enjoy the expertly-choreographed mayhem. Oh, and keep an eye out for the excellent anime sequence which fits perfectly rather than being out of place, which I feared it would be.

Amazing wonderful fantastic

[sjanders-86430 · 10/10 · 17 November 2020]

The music first is breathtaking. The action is mind boggling. The animation is something magical. I am going to see all of the Kill Bills. Uma Thurman redefines herself and every woman alive. This is Wonder Woman times 10. Bravo Terrantino you deserve kudos for this majestic work.

An adrenaline-driven coaster-ride through gratingly bold and captivating martial-arts extravaganza.

[janyeap · 9 October 2003]

Sure it's outlandishly violent and bloody. Can anyone expect Tarantino's movie not to be a true mind-blowing, adrenaline-pumping shocker? Of course not! Gritty and slick, his first installment of KB rocks with moody western imagery, the '60s and '70s-era of Hong Kong martial arts-action, the influences of the ritualistic samurai swordsmanship, and Japanese anime. Like in all his films, Tarantino never fails to merge dark humor with terror. It's impossible not to smile over the Shaw Bros.' iconic introduction ploy and the De Palma-esque split screens. Observe the `Carrie' blank-starry eyed image settled on The Bride's gory face as she's introduced to the audience. Perhaps, Uma Thurman in her yellow suit is a salute to the yellow-suited Bruce Lee in his last film, The Game of Death. Or is The Bride 'Just another little Western girl playing at being a samurai' - as O-Ren Ishii blatantly puts it?

This film's a sampling of the Tarantino 'fury,' short of the Tarantino customary fiery tongue. It celebrates the Tarantino trademark of avoiding the use of computer-generated CGI special effects. It's almost as if I'm watching a colorful and bloodied kabuki stage that's displaying a stunningly massive tournament of multi-layered kung-fu and female samura sword-fighting styles to dazzle the audience. It's examining how Tarantino catalogues the great stylistic elements of his favorite 'old-school' filmmakers and transforms them into a phenomenally creative and mesmerizing film. Yep, there's a great deal of captivatingly artistic boldness in this film. Powerfully portrayed and not to be easily forgotten. Violently brutal and gloriously gory without doubt, and yet so aesthetically operatic and astoundingly artful. The music and lyrics that accompany the scenes are astounding. They set the moods so appropriately with the events.

Even at 'The House Of Blue Leaves', we get to see Tarantino weaving the artistic styles of Lucio Fulci, Chang-Che, Sergio Leone, Kurosawa, Zhang Yimou and Busby Berkeley to bring the audience a stylistic exhibit of remarkable montage grandeur. The themes of betrayal and revenge come off strong. Every camera shot and scene seems to scream out, non-stop, `Kill Bill and all of Bill's DVAS members.' My adrenaline's still flowing as I'm recalling the scenes. Tarantino has make a solid point with this film to show that martial arts scenes should stick to the artful and realistic choreographic treatment to sustain the true spiritual spirit of martial arts. A+

Revenge Is Never A Straight Line

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 28 April 2019]

Quentin Tarantino is certainly a cinephile's director. Many of the reviews that gut this film laud his abilities and his other works. An undeniably distinctive auteur, Tarantino is often criticized for self-indulgence, but that is what makes each of his works feel like a monument to a vision.

"Kill Bill" feels like a schoolboy's dream about an unstoppable protagonist who faces impossible odds. Take Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon", infuse it with the stylistic sensibilities of anime, and accent it with pop culture references, especially some strong musical numbers. The result is a personal saga that is the stuff of mythology.

Uma Thurman is the nameless protagonist who virtually rises from the dead to seek a vengeance of desolation and mutilation. A perfect blade is fashioned for her mission, and it amplifies her lethality. Thurman gives a multi-leveled performance full of emotion and cold determination. She faces some strong adversaries and their minions, and she suffers through the terrible toll of her quest.

Stylistically, KB plays with slo-mo, bold colors, silhouettes, and "Crouching Tiger" physics. Tarantino uses angles and viewpoints effortlessly.

In one of the film's best moments, Thurman faces off against Lucy Liu, circling to the strains of Santa Esmerelda's introduction to "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"---one of the greatest dance tracks of all time. In a less subtle scene, she takes to the dance floor in a break-dance killing frenzy to "Nobody But Me" by the Human Beinz.

A major question for each viewer is: how much gore is too much? Tarantino never shies from depicting carnage and dismemberment. In fact, he glorifies it in this film which, for my sensibilities, is an unnecessary distraction and a tasteless extravagance. In one scene he creates a literal bloodbath (bath of blood). Consequently, this film is not for everyone.

Over-rated, incoherent and boring

[james_a_young · 3/10 · 20 October 2003]

***MILD SPOILERS***

What a dissappointment, especially after the awesome trailer. I had several problems with this film:

1) I didn't care about any of the characters. There was no introduction to any of them (apart from the super-violent anime section introducing Lucy Liu), so I did not understand or care about their motivation. Why was any of this happening?

2) It lacked the dark humour of Tarantino's earlier films, especially in terms of the sparkling character dialogue (e.g. Samuel L Jackson & John Travolta in Pulp Fiction), of which there was none. The dark moments (e.g. the rapist hospital worker) were humour free and quite sickening.

3) Swapping the timelines around is an old Tarantino trick that worked brilliantly in Pulp Fiction, but added nothing to this movie except you knew the ending about 5 minutes into the film.

4) I got bored. The final battle lasts forever and becomes dull after the first few people get their limbs removed. The scenes where Uma Thurman convinces Sonny Chiba to make her a sword add nothing but minutes to the movie.

Why wasn't it edited down and made into a single, complete, BETTER movie? So dissappointed.

This movie was brilliant!

[Rooster99 · 10/10 · 14 March 2005]

Man, what a film. As a fan of 70's martial arts movies, it was great to see all of the references. I also thought the use of B&W throughout was extremely effective. The cartoon sequences seemed a bit much, but did fit in with the overall feel of the film. I have seen many people posting about the sheer amount of blood and guts, but you have to remember this was Tarantino's homage to Bruce Lee-era action pictures. In those movies, the stories were very similar epics of revenge, and they never had much of a budget for good "gore" effects. It was more or less "throw some fake blood on the guy who just got killed" type of effects, which were duplicated accurately by some of the deaths in this movie. The plot also followed closely the plot of most 70's Kung Fu movies; something despicable happens to the weak hero (whole village razed, family slaughtered, etc..) and the hero goes away for years to learn the secrets of a particular style of Kung Fu. All of these movies contained the "secret move" which the master normally does not teach, except of course, in this rare instance. That move, as depicted in Kill Bill Vol. 2, is always used on the evil leader of the clan whom had brought death and chaos to the hero.

Kill Bill was a terrific modern take on those movies which were always set in ancient China. I was very impressed with Uma Thurman's swordplay, at no point did I feel that it looked scripted or fake. Even when fighting against more than 50 Crazy 8's, it replicated admirably the incredibly one-sided fights from some of the best martial arts movies made 30 years ago.

All in all, a great and original film! R.

Doesn't have to build up to the action because it's all action!

[L-l-7789 · 10/10 · 25 February 2024]

Like many of Tarantino's films, this movie features exaggerated, action-packed, and gruesome fight scenes, but with a darkly comedic element. The main plot of this film is an anonymous woman who is referred to as "The Bride" is shot by a man named Bill, with whom she used to be acquainted with. She is then in a coma for four years and when she awakes is fearless when preparing to fight Bill and the other members of his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. While it is in the style of a classic, action-packed thriller, this movie is anything but ordinary. With exaggerated and comedic, but still suspenseful fight scenes, intelligent dialogue, stellar acting, and more this is a must-see for all Tarantino fans, martial arts movie fans, action movie fans, and anyone else who wants to enjoy the first two of four hours of purely entertaining from start to finish action.

I don't think this would be mistaken for a Disney flick!

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 5 February 2010]

WARNING: No one who doesn't want to see billions of gallons of blood, severed limbs and super-duper graphic violence should ever see this movie...period. It is the most violent film I have ever seen and find it amazing it didn't get an NC-17 rating. I guess you can't show nudity in American films but bloody graphic violence is okay! What a world. This isn't a complaint against Tarantino--but one about the current insane rating system.

This film is not for everyone. In addition to the graphic violence, the film is an Americanized marital arts film with overtones of Italian westerns. If these sort of genres are not something you'd want to see, then once again the film is not one you'd appreciate. As for me, I am a huge fan of martial arts films and Spaghetti westerns, so it was right up my alley--even though I am not a fan of ultra-bloody films. And, because I have loved the films of Sonny Chiba and Shaw Brothers martial arts films, this movie is an absolute must as it is a loving tribute to the genre. So many references to these films are buried within the film, it's best you look through IMDb's trivia section before or after you see the film--then you'll REALLY appreciate the film! In addition to the martial arts angle, the film happens to be perhaps the coolest movie ever made. And, the coolest part of the film, to me, is the music. The soundtrack is simply brilliant and bizarre--from the haunting music of Zamfir to the quirky Japanese all-girl surfer band, the 5, 6, 7, 8s! Almost as cool are the costumes and characters. The 88s, the insane school girl assassin and the rest are really ridiculous but so, so cool. And, the film gets super-high points also for its strange style--ranging from an anime film within the film, a black & white segment and action scenes that go on practically forever! There is a lot more I could say about this film, but considering that it was released seven years ago and there are a zillion reviews for it already, I'll cut this short. While the film is intensely violent, for what it is you simply can't find any better. It is, in the action department, as good as it gets.

By the way, this is not a criticism of the film, but have you ever wondered why folks in films of the genre NEVER use guns to stop the hero? You'd think at least ONE of the 88s would have been carrying a gun in the huge fight scene in Japan!!

Well made action film

[davispittman · 8/10 · 28 February 2018]

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) is a unique film. I've never seen anything quite like it. My commentary for this film is almost all positive. First off, the cast really blew me away, each and every actor did a great job with their respective roles. Uma Thurman is a terrific actress and she was definitely the right choice to play the lead character. Thurman commands this role and you are transfixed by her in every scene she's in. It's not just the action sequences that she is great in, she's just perfect for the role all around. And it wasn't just her that I loved, I also liked Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, and Lucy Lui. They all showed off their acting chops here, especially Fox, I personally loved her short time she's in the film. The writing is well done, I especially enjoyed Thurman's dialogue, the well written dialogue and the impressive way that she delivers that dialogue all comes together to make something great. I think most movie goers will enjoy this acclaimed movie, as long as they're not too conservative that is. I say that because the violence is truly graphic and very bloody, but in a strange way it kinda works for this one. I'm usually not a big fan of that, but here it works. Good job Tarantino! 8/10.

Kill Bill is one of the brashest, boldest and bloodiest movies I have ever seen, so look over your shoulder, because........... 'Here comes the bride, with only one thing on her mind, a roaring rampage of re

[Old Joe · 7 January 2004]

It has been six years since we have seen a movie from one of the world's most talked about directors, Quentin Tarantino, but the wait for me, has been worth the while. Tarantino can now add the martial arts masterpiece 'Kill Bill' to his resume, a film that left me speechless after I had seen it. It certainly is one intense, hateful movie, containing some of the greatest sword fighting sequences ever filmed in a movie. Tarantino has made KB with class, precision and close intense attention to every detail. But, what else should we expect from a movie freak, like Quentin Tarantino?

An entire wedding party is slaughtered during a dress rehearsal in a rural chapel: the pregnant woman in the blood-splattered wedding dress is Black Mamba, better known as 'The Bride'. The assassin, Bill, and his circle known as 'The Vipers' leave 'TB' for dead, however she was merely comatose. Four years later, 'TB' suddenly awakes from her coma, ferociously focused on one mission, to seek revenge on her former master. One by one, she will kill the various assassins. She is saving Bill for last.

I am not sure where I want to start with my review of Kill Bill. I love parts of it, but then find other parts to be extremely difficult to watch. Quentin Tarantino has written and directed another powerful piece of cinema, in a way that only he could. This time we see more violence, the action and the result of that violence, with it being a bit over-powering in the end. But without the violence, KB would have not been the movie it was.

This time Tarantino has not focussed on the dialogue in this movie, when it came to writing its script, more he wanted to show what the characters he had created, and why they were in the position they were in. For me I can appreciate both aspects of what Tarantino shows, as he can express himself either visually or with dialogue.

The other part I like about KB is the way Tarantino dedicated the movie to certain aspects of cinema history. To quote Quentin he said Kill Bill is 'my yakuza movie, my samurai movie, my spaghetti western movie', and it was quite clear for me how passionate Tarantino was in showing these parts. However it was also so much more, with one of the great sections of the movie being presented in Japanese animation. I also believe that there was a clear reference to black and white movies and silent movies, as KB had these sections a few times. I also feel that Tarantino is in some way trying to show his appreciation to Pulp Fiction, the movie that made him successful, via KB. If this is true, I do not feel it is gloating, rather I give Tarantino great praise, because some movie makers ignore the movies that give them success, but not here.

While 'KB' has some interesting characters, none are what I would call 'likeable'. 'The Bride', aka Black Mamba (Uma Thurman) is a girl totally driven by the desire to get revenge. Thurman really suits her part well, as she not only looks attractive, but is really believable as this American martial arts tough girl. Helping 'TB' on her quest is Samuri sword expert Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba). This character brings a very oriental feel to the movie, something I liked. The bickering with his assistant was fun to see being played out.

'The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad' are the cruel callous people who inflict horrific harm on 'TB'. Bill (David Carradine) is their leader, a person we only hear and see in hand gestures, which is reminiscent of Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. Bill still has a very strong presence in the film, even though we never see him. Under Bill are killers like O-Ren Ishii, aka Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu), whose introduction, via the Japanese Animation, was great. Under Cottonmouth is her personal assistant, lawyer and translator, Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), who was present at the slaughtering of 'TB'. When 'TB' sees Sofie once again, she is pretty bitter about what Sofie let have happen to her. What we hear has happened to Sofie at the hands of 'TB', is truly unbelievable.

Another of Cottonmouth's women is a little girl, Go Go Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama), who is more deadly than she looks. Her school girl sound and look is very interesting, while her confrontation with 'TB' highly entertaining. Then there is the evil nurse, Elle Driver, aka Californian Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah), who shows very little emotion towards 'TB', other than hate. Vernita Green (Vivica A Fox) is another woman that 'TB' has on her hit list. Her demise was highly entertaining to say the least, again reminiscent of Pulp Fiction.

All the scenes with fighting in KB are a highlight for me, especially the sword fighting, as they are so fun and intense, with the last hour of the movie purely exhausting, with the final showdown between 'TB' and Cottonmouth & co. being terrific. The middle section of film was also great, as it tells the majority of the KB Vol. 1 story, although parts are pretty disturbing.

Kill Bill is another film by Quentin Tarantino, where I have to say it was 'exceptionally well made'. There is a scene in Volume 1, which reminded me of 'Matrix Reloaded'. Now I have heard that Tarantino hates the Matrix franchise, and you can see what he is making a stand against, film's laden with SFX. KB is 'not guilty' of being that. The violence is very graphic in KB, but at certain times the violence was 'laughable', as it seemed to look deliberately fake. But perhaps I am wrong? Volume 1 ended at a good point, setting up the conclusion, Volume 2 beautifully. So Kill Bill: Volume 2, get here, A.S.A.P.

CMRS gives 'Kill Bill: Volume 1': 4.5 (Very Good - Brilliant Film)

Still good 20 years later!

[vithiet · 8/10 · 1 December 2023]

I did not realize it's been that long until I wrote the title for this review... time flies. But the good thing about it, is that Kill Bill doesn't feel dated. I guess that's the advantage of making an homage movie with elements that are purposefully reminiscent of old movies... the final result is pretty timeless. This is pure Tarantino having fun creating something straight from Wire Fu and Chambara movies I'm sure were part of his childhood. Other movies may have more impressive fight choreographies but to this day the Lucy Liu / Uma Thurman fight is one of the best executed: pacing, cinematography, music... just perfect. Highly recommended as a classic Tarantino that doesn't age.

Fantastic

[mjw2305 · 10/10 · 23 January 2005]

Probably Tarantino's most universal movie to date, with a little less character dependency than most of his films and a more linear approach than usual, Kill Bill Volume 1 is a great place to start for anyone new to his movies. I don't mean to imply this is a shallow film (far from it), i simply found it easier on the mind than Tarantino's other movies.

Uma Thurman, left for dead by her ex-boyfriend (Bill) doesn't die and begins her quest for vengeance, by hunting down Bill's gang members in a search for Bill. Armed with a Samurai sword and a deadly blend of martial arts skills, Uma delivers action, violence and passion as she plays out the character with beautiful precision.

Need i say, this is excellently directed, brilliantly scripted and cast, and should be in everyone's Tarantino collection.

10/10 Second only to Pulp Fiction. Although it has wider appeal (I think)

Ultraviolent film by Quentin Tarantino with lots of action and amusement

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 16 April 2004]

It's a good movie but with loads of gore and guts . It's a typical Tarantino film , several murders , fights and plot twists . The film mingles martial arts , Hong Kong movies , Spaghetti Western , action movies with Japanese Manga or anime .

Uma Thurman is wonderful and overblown . Uma came up with the film's opening shot of her beaten up and wearing a wedding gown . Her struggle with the enemies is incredible , the training with the master ¨Xian Ping¨ has been extraordinary , likeness to Matrix . Although numerous scenes were done by Zoë Bell , Uma Thurman's stunt double , as the shot where the Bride splits a baseball in two with a samurai sword was done for real on the set . Luci Liu is also unbelievable , her performance is breathtaking , as well as the fighting against Uma Thurman . Support cast is frankly well , such as : Vivica A. Fox , Daryl Hannah , Julie Dreyfus , Michael Madsen , Kuriyama , Michael Parks , James Parks , Michael Bowen and Sonny Chiba as the old master . David Carradine makes an invisible intervention , his acting stays for the second part .

Interesting and stirring screenplay , according to Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman the idea for doing "Kill Bill" began during the filming of Pulp Fiction (1994) , the two began talking about the kinds of movies that they would like to do and Quentin said he would like to do a 70's style kung-fu flick . Thrilling and moving musical score by RZA. Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Robert Richardson . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Quentin Tarantino . Rating : Above average.

Style rules substance

[Wix_Moran · 9/10 · 24 November 2004]

Do I think this movie is absolutely brilliant? Yes. Do I think this is the all time greatest movie ever, or even a top 50? Nope. I find the dichotomy between people who hate this movie and those that think it's the greatest film ever made is interesting. Even more interesting is the apparent split between fans of Volumes 1 and 2. Like the thread says, I think most of it's a matter of those who prefer style to substance. For my past, Volume 1 destroys Volume 2, but I concede that everyone has their own tastes and experiences and that no one pinion has any more weight than the other. Two scenes in particular really make this movie brilliant in my opinion, and both are fairly subtle in their portrayal but fascinating by their tone and the cinematic elements that come together to carry them off:

1.) The scene where Oren and the Crazy 88 enter the House of the Blue Leaves. Absolutely magical. The score, the pacing, the atmosphere....simply magnificent. The slow motion pull away and the obvious hierarchy of characters, Lucy Liu was absolutely made for that part and that part was made for that scene. The beautiful and menacing Gogo Yubari and the goofy 88s trailing behind. You can also feel the tension the owners feel at having such esteemed guests but one's who admittedly exude as much fear as they do respect. Add to this the nameless, faceless people dancing who are oblivious to the regality (and lethality) of Oren's entourage.

2.) Oren is called out by Kiddo who subsequently whacks off Sophie's arm in a highly symbolic gesture. Words can't describe how moving that scene is. The score is superb and the timing is nothing short of perfect. I especially love the way the crowd pauses after the arm slicing...like they're all stunned or still convincing themselves it rally happened...then all rush out screaming. Kiddo makes a slow, deliberate plod through the panicked crowd, a march to destiny filmed from several perspectives that combine holistically to give the segment a life of it's own.

One aspect of this movie that puzzles me is the emphasis it's critics make of the gore. For my part the gore was so outlandish it's hard for me to see how anyone could take it seriously, and that was part of the appeal. Buckets of blood spraying 15 feet in the air is so beyond the realm of reality how could you possibly take it seriously? For my part it was borderline comical and really brought out the flavor of the scenes, rather than being their focus. And regardless of what you think of Tarrentino as a director, the man is bar none the best at matching musical scores to a scene in the business. A few other noteworthy scenes...

*The end-fight between Oren and Kiddo....marvelous stuff. The backdrop of the snow and the water, the smooth silence interrupted by the fountain, again, a great accompanying score. Fine piece of film craftsmanship.

*Kiddo's overhead film shot while walking to the bathroom of the House of the Blue Leaves. Simply amazing. 5,6,7,8s performing live is just quirky yet proper enough to really add some depth and the unique filming make this a scene to behold.

Tarantino's Worst Film To Date

[BrandtSponseller · 6/10 · 18 May 2004]

Before you jump to any conclusions after reading the title of my review, let me clear a couple things up. One, I usually love Tarantino--his directing, writing, the films he's produced, etc.--and two, the reason I didn't like Kill Bill Volume 1 had nothing to do with not liking the fight scenes or violence/gore. I love that stuff and that's the only part of the film that I found even mildly entertaining.

Instead, the problem with Kill Bill Volume 1 is that it is extremely boring, almost completely lacks suspense, has awful pacing, and makes a number of self-indulgent stylistic missteps.

I say "almost completely lacks suspense" only because of the first, relatively short section, where Uma Thurman's character, a former "hitperson", fights with another of the same kind, played by Vivica A. Fox. Suspense arises here because we don't know who the characters are yet, we don't know anything about the plot, we don't know what their motives are, etc. There is a sense of venturing into the unknown, where anything could happen.

However, after this, Tarantino chooses to cling too tightly to his beloved device of non-sequential story construction, and the bulk of the film concerns Uma Thurman's attempt to take down a character whom we already know she has killed. That saps all of the tension from the rest of the film and makes it plod along as a fulfillment of something we're already aware of. It has all the drama of listening to your spouse tell _that_ story for the fiftieth time, this instantiation being filled with enough detail to take up an hour or two, and you're trying to read a book while they're telling it.

Yes, Tarantino references tens of other films and genres in a "homage" that geeky fanboys can have a party game with--the one who names the most receives a free graphic novel and a case of Hawaiian Punch. Who cares? That in itself doesn't make Kill Bill a good story any more than a pointless clipfest of those films would make a good story. There is a reason that DVD's consisting only of promotional trailers aren't usually bestsellers.

Yes, there are some interesting shots and intriguingly blocked scenes in Kill Bill. However, there aren't enough of them to make the film succeed if looked at merely as a series of images rather than a story.

And yes, as I mentioned, I thought the over-the-top violence/gore was entertaining. If looked at isolated from its context, Quentin almost outdoes Sam Raimi ala Evil Dead here. However, and this is a big however due to having to consider context, Raimi's gallons of blood worked much better-because they were in an engaging, suspenseful story. In Kill Bill, the violence was almost boring.

In an effort to be "retro hip", Tarantino includes a number of elements that blend with the film as seamlessly as President Bush in an Iraqi mosque. These are ubiquitous and varied, ranging from the stilted dialogue in the kitchen scene near the beginning (and this coming from someone who usually writes brilliant dialogue), to the strained inclusion of Sonny Chiba, to the ridiculous presence of a female Japanese band who can't sing or play their instruments--even though they're only trying to play I-IV-V "rockabilly" (and by the way, if this is what Tarantino think counts as quality music, what was he doing as a judge on American Idol?), to the almost obligatory occurrence of an anime scene. The latter is there just because Quentin and the fanboys think it's cool. For me, however, it underscores both the problem with most anime and with Kill Bill--yes, the subject matter, the violence, the attitude, etc. are interesting, but the animation, the storytelling, the pacing, and just about everything else sucks, and there are a number of inexplicable stylistic choices (such as the Caucasian-looking, big-eyed characters in anime). 'Forced' is probably the best way to describe the plethora of references and stylistic decisions in Kill Bill. Even the foot fetish stuff didn't work for me this time around, and I share the fetish with Tarantino.

I'm not usually one to recommend tempering self-indulgence, and I suppose it doesn't matter anyway, since at this point people are going to love Tarantino films just because they're Tarantino, although if this film were made by anyone else, it would have earned the reputation of the 1998 Jeremiah Chechik-directed The Avengers instead. But if this is a sign of the quality to come, if Quentin is going to make further films that amount to laundry lists of all the stuff he likes _just because he likes it_, like a mega-budget mix-tape for a new girlfriend, I'm not watching any longer.

No story to the movie

[l8apex32 · 1/10 · 28 October 2003]

Spoiler Alert!!! I like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. The story line was strong in RD and less so in PF. PF, though, had interesting sub-plots that loosely wove together to make a good movie.

I also see the genius in the dialog in RD and in the characters in Pulp Fiction. I was expecting to see something in this movie.

Unfortunately, Kill Bill was not interesting, nor genius and did not have a plot. Basically, the main character was screwed over in a previous time in her life and made a top 5 hit-list of people from which to extract revenge.

The way she extracts revenge is to engage in hand-to-hand or martial weapon on weapon combat. Of course, the protagonist wins the fights and the people are checked off the list.

I think Luci Liu (sp?) is the 3rd person on the list. The movie goes into a 20 minute section on how she gets a Okinawan curved sword. Now armed with the best weapon, she takes on Liu's whole team of trained martial artists - and whips them all single handedly. I'm talking 20, 30, 40 individuals who all attack her at the same time in the same room. She still wins.

Then, she battles the "board leader", and after sufficient scenery changes, she wins again.

Each of these battles is full of graphic violence and blood, as you'd expect from the director (I won't try to spell his name). But, you can only show an arm getting lopped off and the resulting gieser of blood so many times. Wait, my mistake, you can show it for 2 hours if you are the movie Kill Bill.

After the Liu's character is killed, #3 is checked off and the movie ends.

There is no plot. The special effects and battle scenes were state of the art, but do not make a movie.

I have no interest in "Part 2" because I have no interest in any of the characters or in more film about Uma killing people with swords. 2 hours was 1.5 hours too much.

Two thumbs down. Don't believe the (if any) hype.