*** Official KILL BILL VOLUME 1 Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Without spoiling anything about the movie, let me just say this is Tarantinos best work in my opinion. Bring on volume 2 ! The only thing id like to know is how this movie avoided an nc 17 rating. Loved this movie better than pulp fiction.

 

[David Fisher]

Robert Crawford said:
If you didn't like her staying in the pussy wagon for 13 hours then how can you accept her fighting off 88 assassins or using that same vehicle at least several weeks later when driving to and from the house of the second person on her list of assassins to kill? This film is pure fantasy fun while having such plot holes as 13 hours in a murdered person's car or an assassin being called on her cell phone just a couple of seconds before killing the protagonist is no biggie to overlook in my opinion since reality isn't part of the equation in your enjoyment of this film anyhow.

Well, let me just say that my criticisms are rather tongue-in-cheek and inconsequential to my satisfaction of the movie. I had a great time, and will see it again before the weekend is out. But I can actually belive that she can fight off 50+ ninjas, no sweat. There's no way she could've stayed in the Pussy Wagon for thirteen hours without a single visitor. I can even accept the fact that Lucy Liu could still speak her final line, but there's no way Bill would've sent Ellie to just call her off at the last second. I gotta draw a line somewhere.

 

[ColeKR]

After seeing this movie for the second time all i can say is I can't wait to see it again. I don't know if this was ever cleared up or not but the stuff that was supposed to be after the credits is actually the last minute or so of the film. You would think i would remember after my second showing but does anybody know if they actually showed the organ player's face at all?

 

[Matt Pelham]

Just got back, great movie! Man, I would've definitely stayed another 100 minutes for volume 2. I think when it's all said and done the only way to watch this film(s) is all together.

And I really hope the B&W scene is in color on the DVD. As someone else mentioned, the scene where UMA runs up the staircase was in the trailer, and definitely in color.

Also, when shotting in black and white you'd normally use a dark color for blood (Hitchcock's "chocolate syrup" in Psycho, for example) so it looks more realistic. The opening scene used this, but the 100 ninjas scene used a very light color. This leads me to believe that the opening scene was intended go be B&W but the final fight was shot in color and then changed for MPAA reasons.

 

[Richard Kim]

Did anyone else find it strange/ironic that in a post-9/11 world, Uma Thurman's character is allowed to openly carry a katana sword with her aboard an airplane?

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I don't think that Kill Bill takes place in a post-9/11 universe.

 

[Brian Kaz]

Did anyone else find it strange/ironic that in a post-9/11 world, Uma Thurman's character is allowed to openly carry a katana sword with her aboard an airplane?

I think they were decorations. I noticed that both were exactly the same color, style etc.

Also, she was going to Okinawa to GET a sword. Doesn't really make sense for her to have one.


Oh, and I just have to say that the single best thing about the action was that most of it took place WITHOUT music, so you could hear every last bone crunch, limb chop and blood gurgle.

 

[Robert Crawford]

What do you know about Thurman's character before that fight to think she can fight off 88 assassins?





Crawdaddy

 

[Robert Crawford]

There were two swords, one on each side of the aisle in the airplane. Therefore, I think the swords were for decor and nothing more.

 

[Dominik Droscher]

Also, she was going to Okinawa to GET a sword. Doesn't really make sense for her to have one.

After she got it she flew from Okinawa to Tokyo. And she wasn't the only passenger with a katana. Notice that the Crazy88 also had theirs stacked on their motorcylces very visible, I guess in this universe it is just more common.

 

[Henry Gale]

There was a little piece of James Dean business near the beginning that I loved. The Sheriff (Michael Parks) has just pulled up to the wedding site near El Paso. Not too far from where Giant was filmed BTW. Those of us of a certain age don't see Parks without thinking of Dean. He is 7 years younger but back when, shortly after 9-30-55...he was very much in the James Dean style.
So, Sheriff pulls up to the chapel and his son gives him the trademark James Dean flat hand horizontal wave.
QT knows his movies.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I love the way Michael Parks talks. Between this and From Dusk Till Dawn, he seems to be QT's favorite no-bullshit country-fried sheriff.

I didn't catch the James Dean reference, but I did like how he referred to junior as "Number One Son".

 

[David Fisher]

Robert Crawford said:
What do you know about Thurman's character before that fight to think she can fight off 88 assassins?

Perhaps its the unsaid conviction in her eyes, or maybe its the way her sinewy second toe just screams "Bad-Ass Mother F****R". My faith in the Bride was secured at the word "Bang".

I am also equally sure that Bill would weigh the emotional question of sending Ellie after the Bride. If he convinced himself once, and then twice, to kill her; then I wouldn't expect a last minute reprieve. But it is perfect for this movie. I'll grant you that.

Don't pay too much attention to my minor observations. I'd sit and discuss logical errors/discontinuities in the Naked Gun universe if I could...

 

[Casey Neutron]

If Vol. 2 is set for a February 20th release, does that mean we might see Vol. 1 on dvd by early February, to get us primed for the sequel? Here's hoping.

BTW, if you think about it, couldn't Scorsese's last movie also have been titled "Kill Bill"? You know, the lead character vowing mortal vengeance against a villain named Bill...

 

[Tony_Ramos]

Just saw the movie for a second time, and once you know what to expect, it improves on the second viewing, as it loses some of the distracting shock factor.

Robert Crawford said:
What do you know about Thurman's character before that fight to think she can fight off 88 assassins?

Robert, this also bothered me on my first viewing. I did feel the same way you felt about the film lacking a heart. But the direction of the film, like the cinematography, has a certain impressionistic quality to it. By that I mean that Tarantino has so many interesting characters that he can't focus on characterization or back story, he has to focus on telling the story in the most compelling manner possible, and so we only get impressions of the characters, and not every little detail of who they are. But there IS characterization, if you know where to look. the characters reveal a lot more about themselves through their dialogue & actions then I realized at first viewing.

For instance, we can surmise that Elle Driver despises Uma b/c Bill loves her, as she loves him. her love for bill is revealed during his phone call. This is why she is so angry when he calls her, and this is why the scene is so important, to establish Bill, and also Elle.

We know that Hattori Hanzo quit making swords based upon Bill's betrayal of his teachings. We know that he is resentful of his creator for giving him the one talent of creating implements of death, hence the comments that Uma should cut down God or Buddha himself should they get in her way. We know that he views himself as being damned, or at least an unrighteous being, for his lifes work, that he feels responsible for each of Bill's evils. Hence his "philosophical acceptance" of Uma's quest and his encouraging words. We know that he is pained that he has broken his vow by the way his friend looks at him during the ceremony.

As for the Bride, she needs no backstory or even a name, as she is simply a force of nature, a rampaging id. She is also a proxy for the audience, and her humanity is revealed through every action, flinch, cut, limp, and smile. She is also the personification of righteous retribution, while at the same time she is damned by her quest (never is this more apparent then when she kills Vernita in front of the child).

Finally, the sword itself has as much characterization as many other characters. most of the point of the okinawa scenes is to establish the strenght of the sword. every view of the samurai weapons is to personify them and the code of those who follow it. these ppl have chosen to live by the sword, and ALL of them will die by it.

And to say the film doesn't have a heart is to ignore Tarantino's adoration of all things cinema. The emotional weight of the film is also present in the opening scenes with vernita, the okinawa scenes, O'Ren's chapters, basically most of the first half of hte film. the second half, being devoted to the House of blue Leaves, is basically a directorial tor'de force.

But the emtional core of the film is REALLY the unflinching manner in which QT gives us every angle of the carnage, which is happening to real ppl trapped in these absurd circumstances.


Could someone help me track down any tracks that weren't on the OTA CD for the film? I've already located "Nobody Does It Like Me" by Shirley Bassey. i'm specficially interested in finding the song that plays when Uma is shown the sword collection..sounded like Sinead O'Connor! heh

 

[Jason GT]

Overall, Kill Bill was pretty weak; an homage it may be to movies I have not seen, but such shouldn't be required to enjoy!

Overall, the lack of story, given the nature of the movie is understandable. However, the reliance on Thurman's voiceovers to provide background seemed like a weak way of tying bits of the backstory together. Even then, dialogue used in the narrative was quite poor. I've generally felt that a movie should show, rather than tell. What backstory WAS shown was excessively violent.

I know, I know, the violence is over the top; and I don't take it as much more than that. However, it's also numbing. One can only see so much blood and so many severed limbs before starting to retch. It's gratuitous gore. Tarantino deserves applause, however, for the animated sequence. Though not enjoyable, by using animation, he accomplished what he could not do on film.
Violence for the sake of bloody violence...

So many times through, I got the sense that Tarantino was saying "Look at how clever I am! Look at me!". Music, IMO is shaky. People here have commended his choices and I won't disagree, but at many times throughout the movie I found it obtrusive, leading in part to the above comment.

Anyways, the above is a random tangle of thoughts. A couple of points of discussion:

- the animated scene was very unusual, by my experience with anime. Much camera motion was utilized.
- snow scene. Relatively small detail, but I found the snow scene excessively fake. For all the bloodshed you'd expect more than just white snow Also, the sand wasn't snowlike! But this is just nitpicking.
- I've always had problems with talking plastic heads (Green Goblin in Spiderman comes to mind) in major motion pictures.
- technical observation - red dots. What are these? Did someone mention anti-piracy? They seem to be a byproduct of careless editing. I recall seeing them at least 3 times, twice when the Bride was in the washroom (and we see through the screen).

Anyways, glad that others enjoyed it, but I was not one of them.

 

[Jason GT]

Going off-topic for a second -

About the B&W sequence and ratings - I used to work at a video arcade, and there was a rather violent gun game "House of the Dead" which had a service menu setting for the color of the blood (red purple or green) for the zombies that you'd shoot.

I always found it amusing that the _color_ of what was obviously blood was more important than the fact that that much blood was being spilled!

BTW our machine was set to red.

 

[David Fisher]

Jason GT said:
So many times through, I got the sense that Tarantino was saying "Look at how clever I am! Look at me!".

I've heard comments like this for a while, usually directed towards QT, and I am not sure if I understand this to be a negative criticism or just a comment towards filmmakers in general. I'm not asking you to respond for anybody who has made this type of comment, but would you say something similar about other stylistic directors like Tim Burton, David Fincher, or even McG? I can understand why people unfamiliar with Shaw Bros. (or similar genre) films may feel like they are left out of an inside joke, but is it any different for viewers of Tim Burton movies that have never seen a single Vincent Price, Ed Wood, or Hammer film?

I do understand your comment about video game violence. I guess I belong to the video game generation, and I remember that the super Nintendo version of Mortal Kombat II featured green blood, but was identical in violent action to its Genesis equivalent. I guess that the ratings board have decided that the psychological impact of seeing red blood is much worse than seeing an open knife wound ooze green blood.

Perhaps video games have desensitized me to violence, but I didn't have any type of physiological reaction to the violence of this film. This movie's universe is so different than our own, it really is more like the world that Star Trek's disposable red-shirt ensigns live in. I do feel sick to my stomach when I see "realistic" violence as shown in Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List. Human suffering, even if it is exaggerated like Dancer in the Dark, is very difficult for me to watch. My father can sit and watch war movies all day without wincing, but refuses to even finish watching Pulp Fiction because it's "too violent".

Hmmm... Maybe he'd watch Reservoir Dogs if we could only switch the DVD to green or purple blood....

 

[GregBoehme]

Read Here for info on the anti-piracy 'dots'...

Greg

 

[Min Kim]

I didn't think all the violence and blood was necessary.
Take a film like American Psycho for instance. It's source material was extremely violent, yet the director found a way to film the movie showing a rather minimal amount of blood while maintaing the dark and perversive feel.
The dialogue in the film was also rather dissappointing as Quentin seems to have abandoned his witty lines in favor of some very dull monologue. I sincerely hope Kill Bill 2 turns out better.