Plot: What’s it about?
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).
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 its 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. Fans of the movie will no doubt be taken with the impressive visuals as thats what Kill Bill is all about.
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?
- The Making of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 – I’d have thought that a director so profound as Quentin Tarantino would have dazzled us with a more informative “Making of…” featurette. Sadly, he did not. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice feature to have, but one that’s been around since the initial 2003 release of the DVD and later the Blu-ray.
- The 5, 6, 7, 8’s (Bonus Musical Performances) – If you’re looking for song that’ll get stuck in your head, you’ve got some “bonus musical performances” by the titular band. Enjoy.
- Tarantino Trailers – Essentially that. Some trailers for his films at the time, plus a “sneak peek” at the sequel.
- Reservoir Dogs
- Pulp Fiction
- Jackie Brown
- Kill Bill: Volume 1 Teaser
- Kill Bill: Volume 1 Bootleg Trailer
- Kill Bill: Volume 2 Teaser
The Bottom Line
I said it above and I’ll say it again – Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2 are my favorite Tarantino movies. As much as I want to give it to Pulp Fiction I just…can’t. No matter what your taste, this is sure to please. The uptick in video quality is worth it, though the supplements are bit “been there, done that” still – this belongs on every movie-lover’s shelf.
