Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writers:

Quentin Tarantino (character The Bride) &
Uma Thurman (character The Bride) ...

Release Date:

10 October 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

In the year 2003, Uma Thurman will kill Bill

Plot:

The Bride wakes up after a long coma. The baby that she carried before entering the coma is gone. The only thing on her mind is to have revenge on the assassination team that betrayed her - a team she was once part of.

Plot Keywords:

Bride | Assassin | Coma | Revenge | Assassination

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 41 nominations

Cast

Uma Thurman	...	The Bride
Lucy Liu	...	O-Ren Ishii
Vivica A. Fox	...	Vernita Green
Daryl Hannah	...	Elle Driver
David Carradine	...	Bill
Michael Madsen	...	Budd
Julie Dreyfus	...	Sofie Fatale
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Gogo Yubari
Sonny Chiba	...	Hattori Hanzo
Chia Hui Liu	...	Johnny Mo (as Gordon Liu)
Michael Parks	...	Earl McGraw
Michael Bowen	...	Buck
Jun Kunimura	...	Boss Tanaka
Kenji Ohba	...	Bald Guy (Sushi Shop) (as Kenji Oba)
Yuki Kazamatsuri	...	Proprietor

Also Known As:

Kill Bill (USA) (informal short title)
Kill Bill Part 1 (USA) (informal title)
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (USA) (alternative spelling)
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume One (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

111 min | Japan:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | French

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:R-18 | Malaysia:18SG (re-rating) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 | Hungary:18 | USA:NC-17 (Special Edition DVD) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (cut) (DVD rating) (uncut) | Singapore:R(A) | New Zealand:R18 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Brazil:18 | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Israel:16 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Poland:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Africa:18 | South Korea:Limited (original rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #40294)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

During the sword ceremony scene when Sonny Chiba's character Hattori Hanzo gives Uma Thurman his recently forged sword he tells her "If, on your journey, you should encounter god, god will be cut" which is a phrase taken from the Kinji Fukasaku film Makai tenshô (1981) (aka Samurai Reincarnation) when the sword maker gives Sonny Chiba's character Jubei a sword that he has forged in order to destroy his undead enemies.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Immediately before the Bride awakes from her coma, there is a buzzing mosquito that lands and bites the Bride. The sound played is that of a common housefly, whereas in actual fact the beating wings of a mosquito produce a constant, almost perfect F-sharp.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bill: Do you find me sadistic? You know, I bet I could fry an egg on your head right now, if I wanted to. You know, Kiddo, I'd like to believe that you're aware enough even now to know that there's nothing sadistic in my actions. Well, maybe towards those other... jokers, but not you. No Kiddo, at this moment, this is me at my most...
[cocks pistol]
Bill: masochistic.
The Bride: Bill... it's your baby...
[BLAM!]

Movie Connections:

References Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)

Soundtrack:

Yagyu Conspiracy

Quentin's back---badder,bloodier,and better

Well,ladies and gentlemen,it's a new millennium and Quentin Tarantino has got a new movie for us. After changing the popular film landscape in the 1990's with the classics "Reservoir Dogs","Pulp Fiction",and to a much lesser extent,"Jackie Brown",Tarantino spent a half a decade in hibernation,accompanied by little more than a television set,a movie projector,and collection of Johnny Cash records and a bong. But now he is back after a six year hiatus with "Kill Bill",a thrill ride with the grand style of his earlier films and a brilliant tribute to those Shaw Brothers martial arts flicks of the 1970's and the action heroes of that same decade with includs Charles Bronson,Telly Savalas,Burt Reynolds,Clint Eastwood,Fred Williamson,Steve McQueen,Jim Brown and James Coburn. "Kill Bill" is also a chockablock of references to bygone movies like "Master Of The Flying Guillotine","The Wu",and the television shows like "Hattori Hanzo". This contains many of the elements that have made his earlier films so entertaining and he continues the tradition of that to.

You have the wicked wit,the funky score,the hip-retro cultural artifacts and lots of non-stop,brace in your face action that is not to be missed. Also once again,he has divided the action into chapters with voiceover narrattion to boot,plus he's even got a new trick up his sleeve in which the story is told with some fancy Japanese anime. Basically the film gives much of the screen time to actress Uma Therman and she carries the film with the assurance of a golden diva that she is. The film rises and falls with her,and Thurman pulls that off beautifully in one of the best performances of the year. Thurman plays a professional assassin,attached to a criminal group of bodacious martial arts-trained killers(Vivica A. Fox,Daryl Hannah,and Lucy Liu)who are lead by the unseen,shadowy Bill(unseen in the first installment played by David Carradine). Among the crew she was called Black Mamba,but otherwise simply known as The Bride because she was betrayed on her wedding day when they gunned her down and left her and her near-term child for dead. But she gets her revenge against the ones that tried to kill her and from there the story is a thrill ride of sorts leading up to the next so expect the unexpected. However,a lot of body parts get slashed here and some of it is very gruesome includes scenes of decapitation of heads and a half a head,a leg in severely cut off and a Achilles Tendon gets slashed,a eye and some fingers get chopped off too. This film also has brought back some really good Kung-Fu stars from the 1970's which includes Sonny Chiba,aka "The Street Fighter",and so many more....... I'm surprised that martial arts actress Michelle Yeoh is not in this one. And by the way,what Quentin Tarantino movie wouldn't be correct without his main man Samuel L. Jackson in the role as The Organ Man. Jackson,however was in two Tarantino films including the role he should have gotten the Oscar for in "Pulp Fiction",which also starred Thurman and opposite Pam Grier in "Jackie Brown".

However,the film ends in a cliffhanger so we will have to wait for the next installment which will be out in early 2004. Be forewarned,this not for the kiddies,so use caution when seeing it. In all,one hellva thrill ride.