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Kill Bill, Volume 1 [VHS] [2003]
 
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Kill Bill, Volume 1 [VHS] [2003]

VHS ~ Uma Thurman
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (228 customer reviews)

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Amazon.co.uk Review

Proudly billed as "the fourth film by Quentin Tarantino", Kill Bill, Volume 1 is actually half of it (if you include his chunk of Four Rooms it's really the fourth and a quarterth). If Jackie Brown achieved a certain maturity beyond callous cool, then this is his Mr Hyde's trash picture, which relishes all the things in cinema that are supposed to be bad for you. The opening Shaw Brothers logo and cheesy "our feature presentation" card, redolent of rancid Kia-Ora and stale Wrestlers, sets this up as defiantly a movie-geek's movie, whose touchstones are spaghetti Westerns, comic books, kung fu/samurai quickies and second-hand vinyl albums. If Kill Bill was a dog-eared paperback, it'd be confiscated by a teacher.

Tarantino's favoured flashback-and-forth structure means we begin with a shuffle between past and present as the Bride with No Name (Uma Thurman) is shown being apparently murdered at the climax of a Texas wedding chapel massacre and alive again tracking down the second person on her to-kill list. The bulk of the film takes place between these plot points as the Bride carries a vengeance feud to the first of her enemies, yakuza queenpin O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu). Like its soundtrack--everything from Nancy Sinatra to the RZA, with the Green Hornet theme along the way--it's an eclectic picture, with sequences done as a gruesome anime, particularly genocidal stretches in black and white, and segues from cheerful kung fu massacre to Kurosawa-look poised duelling. Tarantino holds back on his trademark motormouth pop culture references; in fact, much of the film is in sub-titled Japanese.

You have to lock your brain into trash-film mode to get the most out of it, but its cliffhanger fade-out--unlike the dispiriting "to be continued" at the end of Matrix Reloaded--makes you want to come back. It's not a spoiler to reveal that Bill (a barely glimpsed David Carradine) hasn't been killed yet, and Thurman needs to take out Daryl Hannah and Michael Madsen before she gets to him. --Kim Newman

Synopsis

The Bride was once part of a group of top female assassins called the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. When she realises that she's pregnant she decides to leave, assume a new identity and get married. This does not sit well with Bill, her former boss. On her wedding day, he along with the other members of the group attacks the wedding party leaving them for dead... The Bride awakes from being in a coma for five years and sets out to get her revenge...

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Customer Reviews

228 Reviews
5 star:
 (146)
4 star:
 (30)
3 star:
 (19)
2 star:
 (8)
1 star:
 (25)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (228 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Oh great, another bloomin review, 31 Aug 2004
By A Customer
Yup - I just felt I had to do it - as if there aren't enough reviews already right? I remember now how I felt a couple of months back when, with very little money in my account, I stumbled upon Kill Bill, and saw all the reviews back then. The thought "Hey, I STILL haven't seen this?" crossed my mind and I spent the remainder of my balance on my now most prized possession, not including my stuffed piggie - the latest QT film to be released on DVD.

Make no mistake - this film is not for those who are even the slightest bit squeamish. The blood and gore are, as expected from Tarantino, all there, no barriers between you and the reality of a samurai sword.

I'm not going to go into details about the plot as most people have already, but what I will say is that QT was looking for a challenge in this movie - he wanted to stretch himself. Now by looking at the action scenes (which Q has kept rather limited in his previous films, but now they contain, at most, over fifty people!) and the anime scene, which is my favourite of the whole film, you can see the big differences in this film and his previous works.

If you're looking for a film rich in history, not bound by the blockbuster rule of "to Hell with it, let's shove any old characters in a room and let em battle it out with not thought as to why", then this film is for you.

If you're a fan of Samurai/Spaghetti Western/Revenge films, then this film is for you.

If you're a fan of Uma Thurman/Lucy Liu/Daryl Hannah/Vivicia A. Fox (practically unseen since "Independence Day")/Sonny Chiba, then this film is for you.

And lastly, if you see yourself as a movie buff who just HAS to know what's new, fresh and exciting in the world of filmmaking, you could do much worse than Tarantino - he is, after all, a movie buff himself!

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Revenge is a dish best served cold..., 16 Aug 2004
By The Bridesmaid (stubbington, a.k.a ROCKVILLE) - See all my reviews
... and this is a film best seen again and again!!
Having been a fan of Quentin Tarantino's unrivalled style and utterly unique films, i knew Kill Bill would be a great one to watch. After, i knew it was an unbelievable, powerful and brutal work of art!
Tarantino teams up again with Uma Thurman, (who played a great part in Pulp Fiction...THAT dance with Travolta...) to make KILL BILL, a tale of bloody revenge. You know the rest.
The 'roaring rampage of revenge' is not only a charismatic and vivicious film, but has such a great sense of style that it's one of those timeless movies you can watch over and over again, and i believe it will become a classic in years to come.
Uma Thurmans portrayal of the Bride (HINT; to know her real name revealed in the second film, look at her plane tickets!!!) is a great performance, with the other characters including Lucy Lui, Daryl Hannah,Michael Madsen, Vivaca Fox, Sonny Chiba and David Carrandine (well, in theory) contributing to the violence and brillaince of the film. True, it is an ultra-violent film, but not senslessly. In some scenes, it's reverted to black and white or even anime to minimise the gore, but instead of removing anything, it only adds to the unique-ness, all-round fun and style of the film. The black and white echoes the martial arts films of the seventies and the anime is just for some fun (as well as a lot of blood!).
In short, some people love it, some people hate it, others just think its unnecessarily bloody, but my thoughts, and the thoughts of everyone else whos given it good reviews, is that KILL BILL is Tarantino's best yet film, is brutal, slyly funny, powerful and thought-provoking, and is essential to any film collection!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Oh great, another bloomin review, 15 Jun 2004
Yup - I just felt I had to do it - as if there aren't enough reviews already right? I remember now how I felt a couple of months back when, with very little money in my account, I stumbled upon Kill Bill, and saw all the reviews back then. The thought "Hey, I STILL haven't seen this?" crossed my mind and I spent the remainder of my balance on my now most prized possession, not including my stuffed piggie - the latest QT film to be released on DVD.

Make no mistake - this film is not for those who are even the slightest bit squeamish. The blood and gore are, as expected from Tarantino, all there, no barriers between you and the reality of a samurai sword.

I'm not going to go into details about the plot as most people have already, but what I will say is that QT was looking for a challenge in this movie - he wanted to stretch himself. Now by looking at the action scenes (which Q has kept rather limited in his previous films, but now they contain, at most, over fifty people!) and the anime scene, which is my favourite of the whole film, you can see the big differences in this film and his previous works.

If you're looking for a film rich in history, not bound by the blockbuster rule of "to Hell with it, let's shove any old characters in a room and let em battle it out with not thought as to why", then this film is for you.

If you're a fan of Samurai/Spaghetti Western/Revenge films, then this film is for you.

If you're a fan of Uma Thurman/Lucy Liu/Daryl Hannah/Vivicia A. Fox (practically unseen since "Independence Day")/Sonny Chiba, then this film is for you.

And lastly, if you see yourself as a movie buff who just HAS to know what's new, fresh and exciting in the world of filmmaking, you could do much worse than Tarantino - he is, after all, a movie buff himself!

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars tedious

This film is insanely tedious. To all those who see it as a homage to samurai etc. my response is 'so what?'. I'd rather have the originals. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Clark Morton

4.0 out of 5 stars ......" That woman deserves her revenge and we deserve to die "......
Uma Thurman plays an assassin known only as the Bride, who after being left for dead on her wedding day, leads a miraculous recovery. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Current Account

2.0 out of 5 stars Good
Amazing film, but don't understand how Uma Thurman is not left disfigured by being shot in the face
Published 6 months ago by Joanna Lathwell

5.0 out of 5 stars Favourite Moments In Movie History #4
The Bride arrives at Hanzo's place. He doesn't know what she wants, unaware she knows his true identity. So too is he unaware of hers. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dead Ted Danson

5.0 out of 5 stars First rate
French director Luc Besson once remarked that Tarantino was one of the few directors whose films made him want to go to the cinema. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Barney McGrew

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome, empowering film!
I loved this film when I first saw it as a teenager, and couldn't quite put into words just why I found it so empowering. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Harley Quinn

4.0 out of 5 stars Uma Thurman's Film.
Uma Therman despite being strictly average looking, became one of the sexiest women alive in kill bill vol1. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. J. A. Wragg

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Get on her bad Side
Quentin Tarantiono does do classic films. Even though this is only 2003 this has been shown as a classic 1994 film. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Stephen

2.0 out of 5 stars TOTALLY OVERRATED!
I don't understand the hype about this movie at all - or about any Tarantino film that is. I got the impression a 12-year-old wrote and directed it! Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lou Almighty

4.0 out of 5 stars Tongue firmly in cheek
Viewers tend to 'get' Tarantino or not, but you can't view any of his films without seeing them in the context of the styles he mimics. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Andy Millward

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