Kill Bill, Volume 1 [VHS] [2003]

In TQ style, you are given puzzle pieces that eventually fit together to present the whole story. Thurman – rather preggers and on her wedding day – is attacked by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The whole wedding party is taken out in a
bloodbath, with the unseen Bill putting a bullet to Thurman’s head at the end of it. When the police arrive, they find Thurman not dead and rush her to hospital, where she stays in coma for over four years. Once she awakens, she finds it kill or be killed. So, she set out on her adventure to kill the five people on her list – Bill being the last.

Everyone was Kung-Fu dancing, with tongue-through-cheek, in some of the wildest ninja fight scenes. QT’s brilliant, quirky wit shines in that totally indefinable way of his. But it’s Thurman who is the WOW of this show. She alternates between her homely – breathtaking beauty, as the scene calls for it, and makes the total absurdity believable.

If you like QT, you will love Kill Bill Vol 1. If you have not liked him, then forgetaboutit…you will hate it.

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!

From thereon, it's blood and limbs all the way. To those of you who don't like too much violence, I am sorry to say that Kill Bill is not the film for you. A shame as I would like to recommend this film to everyone. Tarantino has delivered another trump card in film making here and it would be a travesty to miss out on it.

You may have gathered that the film is good, but why? Well there is a whole list of plus points ranging from the well orchestrated bloody fight scenes to the equally bloody but informative Anime sequence half way through the film. The dialogue is as clever as it is witty and blunt. A high percentage of the films dialogue is spoken in Japanese with subtitles which doesn't distract you from the film as much as some people think it does. As always I find the Tarantino soundtracks to be a tad quirky but they do always work. The soundtrack here is no exception. Included are songs from Nancy Sinatra, the theme from the Green Hornet and the RZA tune from the trailer. You know the one. Knowing nods and winks to past samurai films, costumes and fight scenes make this an entertaining film all round.

There will be some of you who just don't get the whole idea of the film. From the cheesy opening feature presentation, through the Anime and the spouting bloody limbs everywhere. It's homage to films gone by, mainly Japanese and it's brilliant.

Overall, yes it is bloody and yes there is foul language and yes there are disturbing scenes. But yes it is one of Tarantino's best films and brings something a little different to the screen. Buy it, rent it, whatever...just watch it.