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Kill Bill - Vol. 1 Customer Reviews (79 - 81 of 148 Reviews)

Excellent Film, but See It on the Big Screen
With "Kill Bill, Volume One," Quentin Tarantino, whose near-miss "Jackie Brown" deserves more audience acclaim than it gets, finally manages to make a bonafide film, as opposed to bloody, low-budget romps like the vastly overrated "Pulp Fiction" and the better but stagey "Reservoir Dogs." Here, he confidently frames scenes, uses music and dialogue to maximum effect, and knows when to back off and let his actors carry scenes that are truly cinematic (even if they, too, seem lifted from "Thunderball," "Goldfinger," and any number of martial arts movies and 60s westerns). Of course, those of us old enough to recall that American television pretty much churned out watered-down versions of this stuff every week may wonder what the fuss is all about and why the heck it takes so long to make it, but compared to most so-called films today, "Kill Bill, Volume One" shows a level of competence that is generally lacking. The plot--if there is one--is simple: An assassin known here only as "The Bride" (played with exceptional vigor by Amazonian Uma Thurman) seeks revenge against her former comrades, whose death squad turns her wedding rehearsal into a massacre. Their leader--the enigmatic "Bill"--is voiced by 70s favorite David Carradine with gravelly menace, reminding us that too many great actors (including Sonny Chiba and Gordon Liu) have to suffer through lousy roles before finding their mark. Refusing to abandon his patchwork approach to story-telling, Tarantino nonetheless keeps the pace of his film high-octane, even in more thoughtful moments, bridging the otherwise disjointed elements nicely, and it is to his credit that each scene is charged with emotional electricity--and enough action to satisfy even the most jaded of moviegoers. Though "Kill Bill, Volume Two" features much more and better character development, not much in the sequel comes close to eclipsing the sheer adrenaline of this film's climax--nor the sheer beauty of being transformed, the way film should, from one environment to the next, here with just the sliding of a paper door. It's also to Tarantino's credit that the film loses something in the transfer from large to small screen, something rare in contemporary movies, which generally seem like big TV shows. His vision is such pure cinema that my only real gripe is that on the small screen we can't quite savor it the same way.

Bill Is A Thrill
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 boastfully includes above the title, the fourth film by Quentin Tarantino. While Uma Thurman is commanding in the lead role of the vengeful "Bride", Mr. Tarantino is the star of the film. Kill Bill is a visual roller coaster. Mr. Tarantino deftly mixes black & white, color & animation from his palate to paint a visual piece of art. Mr. Tarantino has sometimes been accused of being something of a plagiarist in his films and in Kill Bill he invokes kung fu, spaghetti westerns, Saturday matinee cliffhangers and Japanese anime genres. But instead of just copying, he molds them into his own unique vision. The script is laced with typical snappy Tarantino dialogue and, as with his first three films, music plays a large part. Mr. Tarantino uses Nancy Sinatra's somber version of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" to perfectly set the mood for the film and the RZA's haunting score adds depth and feeling throughout. The film is quite violent and brutal. There are decapitations, hundreds of limbs being chopped off and countless bloody deaths, but they are necessary to the film. The violence is somewhat cartoonish, when one character is decapitated, blood flows out like a fountain from his neck and when an arm is cut off, blood rushes out in an obscenely fast manner. After a long absence from directing, Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is a most welcomed return from one of the few truly original directors in film today.

Bloody, brutal, and brilliant; an instant classic
The long awaited fourth film by Quentin Tarantino is very, very far from being anything close to a disappointment. Tarantino really risked a lot while crafting this homage to Japanese grindhouse cinema, beginning with the opening "Shaw-Scope" logo to the buckets of blood splattered throughout the film, but it all pays off from beginning to end. When the Bride (Uma Thurman, perfectly cast) awakens from a four year coma, she sets out for revenge against Bill (an unseen David Carradine) and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (consisting of Lucy Liu, Vivica Fox, Darryl Hannah, and Michael Madsen); all of whom left her for dead on her wedding day. Like Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1 is presented out of order before it finally comes full circle; another risk Tarantino has taken that, just like in that film, pays off brilliantly. The action scenes are better than anything you'll see in any movie with the word Matrix in it's title, but do be warned, this is not for the squeamish. Miramax played a large role in Tarantino cutting the film in half, but with Volume 2 right around the corner, we'll see how the bloody saga of the Bride concludes. The features on the DVD are basically fluff, I'd recommend waiting until Vol. 2 is released on DVD which will no doubt be packaged with Vol. 1 and containing a host of features.

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