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Kill Bill - Vol. 1

Kill Bill - Vol. 1

List Price: $29.99
Your Price: $19.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kills the bill
Review: Finally, after six long years, writer/director extraodinare Quentin Tarantino is back with the much anticipated KILL BILL: VOL. 1, the first in a two-part film series that was first visualized by Tarantino back in 1994, during the filming of PULP FICTION.

Uma Thurman plays a character only known as "The Bride" (her real name is bleeped out throughout the film, just to agrivate us). On her wedding day, the pregnant Bride is attacked by Bill (David Carradine) and his band of assassins. Beat brutally and shot in the head, The Bride is left for dead by Bill. Four years later, she reawakens from a coma to find herself the source of sexual abuse. After beating up her doctor viciously, The Bride steals his "... Wagon" and takes off on a quest for revenge on Bill.

Tarantino loves to do films that start off in the middle, then go back to the beginning, and then go to the end. KILL BILL is no expection, as it begins with The Bride stopping at her second victim's house. The victim, played by Vivica A. Green, is no match for The Bride, who soon murders Green...right in front of her daughter. Following that, we learn how The Bride killed her first victim, O-Ren Ishi, fittingly played by Lucy Liu.

KILL BILL is a new direction for Tarantino. He gives us your typically violent and brutal Tarantino action flick, and yet this time, he combines the violence with black comedy send-ups and references to old martial arts films. One such reference is the O-Ren Ishi murder scene, in which Thurman is dressed in a yellow suit identical to the one worn by Bruce Lee in his final film, GAME OF DEATH. Sonny Chiba, the legendary star of THE STREET FIGHTER films, also stars as the retired sword-maker who teaches Thurman the way of the samurai.

The directing is excellent. It's just as good as when Tarantino began in 1992 with RESERVOIR DOGS. The script is fun and immensely entertaining, and surprisingly, it works much better in two films than in one. There's another Tarantino trademark as well, the awesome soundtrack. It's not as good as PULP FICTION's soundtrack, but it's pretty cool as it is. Language-wise, KILL BILL is rather tame, with only about ten uses of the F-word, unlike Tarantino's other films. Violence-wise, it's one of the most violent films I've ever seen, and definitely the most violence (over 450 gallons of fake blood were used). There's also a neat little ten-minute anime sequence, which I'm sure brought the film very close to an NC-17 rating.

Purposefully cheesy and immensely entertaining, KILL BILL is one of my favorite Tarantino's yet. Thurman is terrific; there's no question of acting here. There's also some nice editing, especially around the attempted hospital murder scene (featuring the theme from 1968's "Twisted Nerve"). Tarantino fans won't be disappointed; in fact, I highly doubt anyone will be disappointed. KILL BILL is nowhere near Tarantino's best, but it's one of the most original films I can remember seeing. And what a great ending!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Vengence is Coming Bill
Review: Quetin Taratino's much anticipated movie, ""Kill Bill" is a camp, yet serious rectro look at the martial arts flicks, particularly of the Japenses origins, with some Hong Kong Shaw Brothers and spaggetti western themes intertwined, to mesh a highly entertianing movie, eventhough it is, like its predecessors, a little over the top.

That is what makes this movie, though violent, even more entertaining, that the violence, with the blood splurting at outrages heights, is not gross nor gratuitis, revealing a smart sense of proportion. Uma (not one of my favoriate actresses) is actually very good as the movies herione.

Actually, in Vol. 1, Taratino has been able to take many of the actors I have not thought were very good at their craft and draw out solid perfomrances. Further, he has held wire-tricks to a minimun, which is a great relief. Although unrealistic, these fight scences are tough yet beautifull, another balance.

So with such high praise, why not five stars? Well, Taratino does what he normally does - uses similar patterns he has used in his previous movies, while mainstream critics seem to be enamored, I think it reflects more like a Thomas Kincade painting - sure it is nice- but I can only take so much of the samething.Furthermore, while his use of violence is balanced, his use of dialogue is prone to too much vulgaraity which lacks memorable phraes or proper emotional climaxes.

Lastly, with the minor negatives aside, it would be five stars instead of four if it had not been halted in mid-stream.This is not Taratino's fault, for his vision was to release vol 1 and 2 as one movie, but the studio's and producers, wanting more of a commercial success, dividied itinto two flicks. Eventhough it is not Taratino's fault, this movie should not have ended when it did and lacks punch because of it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Quentin's Best Work Yet
Review: An amazing twist of martial arts and Quentin's bizzare humour. Once again, a "Pulp Fiction"-est way of telling the story. But at least with Quentin, you know all questions will be answered in the end (or at least, Vol. 2).

Uma Thurman at her finest. Script writing at the best. I smell Oscars around the corner. It is gruesome and not for the light of heart, but this is why they invented film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not as good as expected...
Review: I watched Pulp Fiction two times before I liked it, I have only seen Kill Bill once. I thought it had a great storyline, but I thought the directing was bad. First of all you can't flashback to earlier scenes, and then switch forward. You have to direct movies like this straight through, or knowbody is gonna understand it. Besides that it was good, and I can't wait to see Vol. 2.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I was moved
Review: Tarantino may be a smarmy hyper hipster duface but man he can direct a film. This is not only the best of Tarantino's four films (and yes I recognize the complexity and significance of Pulp Fiction) but one of the best films I have ever seen. Uma's performance is elegant and heart wrenching. Brilliant. Four months is too long to wait for volume two. Without hyperbole I can say that this was like seeing Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time. Same sweeping, chill inducing joy. Amazing. Thanks Quentin.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One Word - Perfect
Review: From the first 30 seconds the movie started I knew it was gonna blow me away!
If you are a action fan this is a must have!
and Mr. Tarantino is the master!
I think this movie is truly perfect.
I am a comic book fan , and anime fan , a videogamer amd love great music.
and I thought I have seen/read any possible scenerio imaginable!
This movie gets perfect 10 on all these!
The action is furious!
The characters are all classic!
The anime part is the best!
I could go on forever!

I am going to see this movie about 10 more times!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Kill Bill Not Reservoir Pulp
Review: Reservoir Dogs, one of my favorites. Raw, superb characters. Pulp Fiction, genius, period. Jackie Brown, fun, but not special. Sorry, Bill.

Here's my take on it. The good: a twist or two keeping the interest; style, as always. The bad: it just never really grabbed me. The character development was flat, some same old, same old, with a couple frames inside mimics to prior flicks. Story lines generally interesting but no real depth.

Okay, even an animation scene with a character history narrative, I almost walked out. Minutes regarding a sword history that just sort of wasted time. The best visual scene was a silhouetted fight scene. And, I am personally tired of the crouching tiger running up wall stuff. There's no tension generated: you just don't hate the person about to be challenged.

To enjoy this movie, don't do what I did. I love Tarentino flicks. I rushed home and went to the 7pm showing on Friday opening night. Lower your expectation, and you might enjoy more.

Seems to me that Tarantino is getting to a point where he says something, and someone says "I don't know about that", and he says "Yeah, it will be really cool", and they let him do it, and it's not that cool. In prior movies, I think he was a bit more careful to make the movie for the audience and not so interested in making a "Tarantino" movie. Eg, the animation scene was over the top, stylish, but just over the top. Same with the truck name and keys. Call it cool, if you like, but it didn't really add anything to the movie.

Overall: Great for style. Great for action. Poor for character development and depth. A couple of good music points. Even call for plot, though I was quite grabbed at one point.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
=======================================================
Okay, I am adding this note to my review. A respected friend is a great movie buff and is a walking movie reference. He loved it. Why? Because he says it is a tongue in cheek spoof with pretty much every scene being taken from another movie: can you find it? A collage, if you will. In that fact, he found it to be genius. Okay, so be it. Tarentino's clever as always, but that was not the reason I didn't really enjoy it. At the end of the day, I did not care about the characters. Do I love or hate Ulma's or Vivica's characters when they fight, no. Do I love or hate Lucy's character, hmm a bit, but not for the 25 minutes spent on animation and sword manufacturing. Do I hate or love Daryl's character, no; do I feel tension in her scene(s), no. In Reservoir Dogs, Pulp and Jackie, it seemed to matter; not here. Did not teach me anything and did not inspire any emotion in me: the less you require those things the more you may like it. But, if, like my friend, you enjoy the style and the scene collage in its own right, then, by all means, this would be for you, and maybe that makes it 5 stars for you. As for me 3.5 stars. It could have been 5 stars, if the style for style's sake was replaced with character development. But, no offense to Tarentino, I think QT got exactly what he intended to get.

I hope Part II will reconcile it for me...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kill Bill - A Visual Maelstrom
Review: To the reviewer who read the Tarantino script and was appalled at the violence, I ask you: What did you expect? It's Quentin-Freakin'-Tarantino. DON'T READ IT AND THEN GET MAD WHEN HE FULFILLS YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

That being said, Tarantino pulls all the same rabbits out of his hat as he has on other movies. It's stylish, fast, and the soundtrack is great in that quirky sort of way. He tips his hat to the old kung fu-style movies, excessive gore factor included, and it works. It's not supposed to glorify violence, it's supposed to mock it in excess. And it does that beautifully.

The casting is superb, the script writing clean, and certain scenes are just beautiful - the Japanese garden excursion and anime sequence come to mind. This film is visually breathtaking, and where it's supposed to be, equally horrifying (the opening scene and hospital scene are perfect examples).

So, my advice: If you liked either From Dusk Til Dawn, Pulp Fiction, Desperado, or Resevoir Dogs, see this. It pleases. And if you haven't liked Tarantino's past stuff, DON'T SEE IT. He doesn't do anything revolutionary to change his ways(why I gave it 4 and not 5 - he does really stick with his old formula), and you will still not be enamored.

Happy viewing, y'all. This is quite a ride.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Should be rated NC17 - leaves you reeling!
Review: It took me a couple of hours after the film to recover from the sensory overload. The amount of blood and gore was so over-the-top as to be cartoonish. Even for Tarantino, this was unexpected. On the other hand, the film making did not come across as amatuerish, perhaps due to the surprising use of animation, which created the look and feel of a Japanese anime. The plotline harkens to classic samurai/kung fu betrayal and revenge genres. We are never told why the bride was targeted for murder by her team members - perhaps this will come out in Part 2. The camera work is tight and the visuals are compelling. However, 'Crouching Tiger...' its not. Think Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I won't see this movie again and I doubt it could ever be shown on network tv. I was truly shocked by the level of violence but like a terrible car accident, could not take my eyes off the screen. I can see how it could become a cult movie in dvd.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: if only all cinema could be this riveting
Review: For anyone who wants to question this movies violence or action , all I have to say is do your research. Quentin Tarantino, takes notes, and good ones, some of the best movies. This film has a dreamlike quality, with an amazing soundtrack to boot.

It's very rare to see a film that has the ability to carry a plot, so character driven, and balance it with action. The storyline is one that is relatively new amidst the constant parade of romantic comedies and action pics that all seem to star the same people, as well as characters.


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