Kill Bill Vol. 1 Release Date: April 13, 2004 Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Sonny Chiba Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
The Movie: Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 auteur outing is so chock-full of filmmaking flourishes, it’s sometimes easier to get bogged down with its cinema derivations (samurai, chopsocky, anime, spaghetti western) than to exalt in the masterful thrills of its storytelling. The mythic moralizing is genre-heavy but sharp, and the action acting, particularly by star Uma Thurman, is intensely engaging. This tale of an assassin’s deadly revenge on fellow assassins who betrayed her on her wedding day will need Vol. 2 to complete its story arc (yes, she was pregnant with Bill’s baby, but so what?); still, watching things get halfway there is an aesthetically keen roller coaster ride in hell, with enough blood and severed limbs to make the most jaded game-boy squirm.
The Disc:Kill Bill’s dense and savory segments hold up well to the scrutiny of DVD, but the package here is disappointing, with making-of material that’s so irritatingly gung-ho and promotional it feels like an ad.
—Howard Karren
Our First Impression:
Quentin Tarantino's most wild-ass effort yet. read more
