Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

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

Fmovies: 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+

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: Vol. 1 fmovies. 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.

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.

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.