Plot: What’s it about?
Kill Bill Vol. 1
2003 was a big year for long-awaited films. Two big film series (The Matrix and Lord of the Rings) were coming towards the end of their respectable trilogies, a clownfish and a short term memory fish were determined to find his son in the ocean and a director who had not directed a movie in six years was ready for a return, but this would be no ordinary return. Many years ago after shooting was finished on Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman (Q & U) concocted a story about a woman out for revenge samurai style. Growing up in a small NY borough, every Saturday afternoon/late night on a local channel, it was common to have the “Drive In Movie” with kung fu flicks hopping the screen. Some were cheesy, but then again every once in a while the viewer would come across one that makes one wonder “how did this film make it on the air”? Nine years later after the big concoction on the Pulp set, the same studio that gave Quentin Tarantino a green light on a landmark film loved the footage and both agreed that it’s two movies and both volumes will be released a few months apart from one another. With the loyalty of his star out for a year before and the curiosity of the public after a great teaser trailer throughout the summer along with a few changes in the cast, Quentin and Uma had only two words to the title of their story: Kill Bill.
It’s a dark day in the South. An unidentified lady who’s only known as “The Bride” (Uma Thurman) is beat up and shot by a crew know as the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. These assassins are led by a mysterious fellow named “Bill” (David Carradine), who lays the last bullet in her after a short talk. Darkness follows, and the wallows of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang My Baby’s Shot Me Down” *60’s guitar vibrating*.
After a four year coma, The Bride wakes up in her hospital bed full of rage, numbness and determination to exact revenge on all four of the assassins (Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, and Michael Madsen) to pay the heavy price for what they did and putting a stop through any obstacles that get in her way to accomplish her mission leading up to her final task of all: to Kill Bill.
With an event like this, to see Tarantino get behind the directors chair once again, the viewer asks “was it worth the wait?” In the words of Robert Evans, you bet your ass it is!
As the end credits rolled this one volume was one of the most mind-boggling viewings on both a big screen and a small screen and with all it’s varieties of genre represented, this was one of the best movies I had seen last year.
Yes it is a revenge tale and audiences have seen thousands of revenge tales time and time again but no one can prepare you for revenge through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino. Here, he brings his signature “non-linear” storytelling back with a vengeance and his ear for dialogue has not failed him one bit. He makes a samurai film with intelligence and back stories to fill five movies all at once. The visual look is amazing as he makes some transitions in the palette widely amongst the entire film mixed very nicely with some obscure and known tunes that play throughout the movie. An audience especially knows that something is really gonna come their way in the beginning after the studio logo complete with a Shaw Scope symbol in full Panavision and a generic 60s/70s drive-in Grind House “Our Feature Presentation” spot.
The film starts with a loud bang literally and never lets up. The performances by all, big and small, are one for the books. Uma Thurman brings that “I’m so mad I’m gonna kill them” anger to the table as The Bride or “*bleeeep*”. She lets her actions speak louder than words and the words she lets out are from the wise and all knowing. The action sequences are fast, fierce and full of energy and look out for that little girl in the school girl outfit, she’s not as innocent as she looks!!! With all that is fantastic about this movie, there are two upshots.
One upshot of this movie is that the action is mostly bloody and not easy to take for much of the audiences expecting the normal action fare, which this is not, and this film reaches for the extreme and beyond. The other is that the film ends and the viewers that are totally drawn in will have to wait and see what The Bride or “bleeeep” does next in Vol. 2. With all that’s great about this Volume, here is hoping that it will not fall under a case of how-do-you-top-that-itus weaking the second volume. (I don’t think so).
Kill Bill Vol. 2
For fans of Quentin Tarantino, the Kill Bill movies were just about all that were asked for and a bit more. While I still personally favor Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, there’s no doubt that I got some pleasure out of Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Let’s face it, the man has a way of visually telling a story that very few other directors have. He can write, he can act (sort of) but one thing he needs to do is keep making films. He also needs to get off the Japanese/70’s thing, too. While Kill Bill Vol. 1 introduced us to “The Bride” played by Uma Thurman, Kill Bill Vol. 2 expands upon her character and the rest of the infamous, ill-fated list that rules her life. These movies reunite Uma Thurman with her “Pulp Fiction” director and Thurman even had a hand in writing the story. It’s no doubt one of her better performances and hopefully come Oscar nomination time, the ‘Academy’ will see fit to at least give her a chance at a little gold statue.
While not the same as the first, but at the heart of this one is just a tale of revenge – plain and simple. I’ll go on the assumption that everyone reading this has seen the first installment (the two were originally supposed to be one movie and Tarantino split the two up) and are hungry for more. If not, then you might want to stop reading here…Still with me? Good. The Bride (Uma Thurman) has taken care of two names on the list. She’s learned that she has a child, which is about the only thing in the world that might stop her on her conquest to kill Bill (see, it’s not just the title of the movie – it actually has meaning). Her former allies are now her nemesis and they include: Elle (Daryl Hannah), the one eyed vixen who might just be just as dangerous as the bride herself. Budd (Michael Madsen), the bouncer who has a new home in the most desolate place on Earth. And then there’s Bill (David Carradine), who certainly has a lot more screen time than in the first installment. Can she pick the remaining members off her list and accomplish her ultimate goal?
Many feel that this was superior to the first version and I’m one of those who disagree. Is it good? Yes. Is it enjoyable? Certainly. And it’s a great movie, I just preferred Vol. 1 to this. We see a lot more character development from The Bride (and yes, for those wondering – we do find out her real name in this installment), particularly during her training sequence with Pai Mei (Chia Hui Liu). We see how she got as tough as she is, see some of her early roots and see her actual motivations as to why she’ll chop down nearly everything in her path just to kill her ex-husband. I don’t think this version is quite as bloody as the first and though there are some tense spots, it’s all about the story. I hesitate to mention too much more as I don’t want to give anything away, but true fans have already seen this and are probably just looking to see how it looks and how it sounds.
Video: How’s it look?
As much as I’m tempted to say “I’ve seen this on every format imaginable”, well, I haven’t. 2003 isn’t exactly modern, so I’d moved on from LaserDiscs and had fully embraced the DVD format (this was a few years prior to Blu-ray). But with this 4K release, it gives us a bit more in terms of depth, detail and overall picture quality which is to be expected. The 2.40:1 HEVC 4K transfer is a notch or two above the Blu-ray, especially when it comes to color. The film is interestingly shot to say the least, there are several different types of film stock used; from the grainy black and white opening to the ten minute animated sequence it’s really a bit hard to categorize it all. Still, the detail is razor sharp and the colors seem to be a bit more lively (especially that oh-so-present color of red) than the previous version. The included scene, now in color, does add a splash (sorry, couldn’t resist) as well as the new animated sequence. Fans of the movie will no doubt be taken with the impressive visuals as thats what Kill Bill is all about.
Kill Bill Vol. 2 delivers more of the same in terms of the inconsistent types of film stock used. The 2.40:1 HEVC 4K transfer does mark some improvements in the film. Whereas I found the Blu-ray a bit on the over-saturated side, with all of the main characters looking sunburned, this one seems a bit more natural-looking to me. We still have the animation sequence as well as some intentional grainy looking scenes but by and large, this new 4K disc does give us what we want (and expect) with more naturalistic skin tones, increased detail and solid contrast.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Though it might seem ripe for a Dolby Atmos, we get a DTS HD Master Audio mix. And the movie has something going on, audio-wise, in most every second and we do get the deep thuds when something or someone gets hit or something explodes and I had forgotten about that ever-present blip when Beat—, er The Bride’s name is mentioned. While this isn’t the best soundtrack out there, its quite impressive and we can see how much audio adds to a film as evidenced here. I do, however, have to applaud the use of some rather interesting uses of sound. The (I don’t know how to explain it) sequence that sounds like a siren, the Crazy 88’s scene and more. It’s an interesting mix. Literally.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All of the supplemental material from the previously-released discs is gone. We’re given a new supplement, but if extras are your thing I’d hold onto your old discs (providing you have them).
- The Lost Chapter – A 10 minute short that was appended as a post-credits scene and was made with the game engine from Fortnite.
The Bottom Line
This one is a head-scratcher. On one hand, it’s nice to have “the whole bloody affair” on disc with a new sequence, the unrated version (due to the colorized version of the Crazy 88 sequence) and a new feature. But, we also lose the supplements from the previously-released 4K discs and it somewhat defeats the purpose of having the entire movie stitched together if you have to get up and switch discs halfway through. Some might consider this an issue, others not so much. The true collector will want both and I’m sure Lionsgate would love that. If it’s worth selling once – it’s worth selling again.
