Uma Thurman delivers the powerhouse performance of her career as the vengeful 'Bride with No Name' in Quentin Tarantino's epic blood bath Kill Bill, which works as a great homage to 70s exploitation cinema and one of modern America's best kung fu pictures. Ben Johnson is utterly convinced of the film's brilliance.
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Distributor: Miramax Format: Region 2 (PAL) Length: 111 min. Aspect Ratio: Widescreen Audio: English, French, Japanese Subtitles: English Extras: 'The Making Of Kill Bill' Featurette; Music Videos; Teaser Trailers Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS
Year of Release: 2003; Origin: United States; Studio: Miramax Films
Director: Quentin Tarantino; Producer: Lawrence Bender; Script: Quentin Tarantino; Action Director: Yuen Woo-ping; Cast: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Sonny Chiba, Chiaki Kuriyama, Julie Dreyfus, Daryl Hannah, Gordon Liu Chia-hui, David Carradine
Alternative Titles: N/A
Trailer: Click below to view the trailer for Kill Bill Vol. 1
The initial reaction to Kill Bill was ultimately a harsh one. Tarantino’s fourth film after a six year hiatus was bound to face scrutiny, and by making a violent Samurai/kung fu revenge epic with cruel lashings of dark humour spread over two volumes, he had openly disregarded what his loyal following and the ruling majority had been expecting. The Time called it a "geeks wet dream" while proclaiming it to be his most "adolescent" film.
True, much of the film’s content has been derived from hours misspent in the grindhouse cinemas of his youth watching cult B movies and as a consequence much of the film has been lifted from elsewhere (Game of Death, Lone Wolf & Cub, the blaxploitation films of the 1970s, Lady Snowblood, Shaw Brothers and even his own movies). And true, much of the free flowing dialogue that made Pulp Fiction such a gem is left wanting (it is mostly in Japanese with English subtitles). But it is easy to be too concerned with semantics: if Kill Bill’s a ‘geeks wet dream’ then prepare for a clean pair of underpants.
This is a riotous, unrelenting homage to the B movie genre, the size and style of which is quite unsurpassed, with an absolute goldmine of appreciative references that redefine action movie conventions by adding depth of character to exploitative themes, and featuring blinding no-holds-barred violence equalled by flawless performances – particularly the excellent Uma Thurman, who plays the vengeful ‘Bride’ seeking retribution on the Deadly Venoms Assassination Squad who massacred the entire reception on her wedding day and left her comatose for four years.
The motive for such a brutal annihilation is uncertain, with Tarantino’s non-linear narrative allowing the story to jump back and forth from varying chapters which all becomes a lot clearer in the second film. Nevertheless, there is just so much to talk about here: like the bit where the ‘Crazy 88’ - a sword slashing Yakuza mob - duel our unbridled heroine (wearing Bruce Lee’s legendary yellow jumpsuit) in an extended battle so bloody it had to be shown in black and white; and the back story of O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), a lethal Japanese/American assassin, told in a raucous anime excerpt which makes even the most vehemently graphic manga look like the Beano; and hardened fight fans (OK, ‘geeks’) will just love the Shaw Brothers references and the casting of cult icons David Carradine, Gordon Liu and Sonny Chiba (as the legendary sword maker Hattori Hanso), not to mention Yuen Woo-ping’s excellent fight choreography.
The naysayers must have had their eyes closed. With enough energy to power a nuclear reactor, and a stonking great soundtrack to match, Kill Bill is the coolest damn thing on the planet.
Uma Thurman delivers the powerhouse performance of her career as the vengeful 'Bride with No Name' in Quentin Tarantino's epic blood bath Kill Bill, which works as a great homage to 70s exploitation cinema and one of modern America's best kung fu pictures. Ben Johnson is utterly convinced of the film's brilliance. 
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