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SUMMARY

A mysterious woman has arrived in town to visit an old friend.  The woman is "The Bride", the old friend is Vernita Green aka Copperhead.  Both are former members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, an elite guild of killers that worked for an enigmatic gangster named Bill.

The Bride's visit is not a pleasant one.  She has arrived at Copperhead's suburban home on a quest to kill every single Black Viper member.  Nothing, not words, not weapons, not even Vernita's daughter will stop her from enacting her terrible revenge.

It seems that four years ago, "The Bride" was Black Mamba, a Black Viper Assassination Squad member.  On the day a very pregnant Black Mamba was supposed to get married, the entire wedding party is massacred by her former team mates.  After softening her up, Bill delivers the finial blow.

Instead of killing her, all they did was put her in a coma.  Now, she is awake, and a very pissed off.  "The Bride" has a list of people she needs to kill.  The first two on the list, O-ren Ishii: queen of the Yakuza and Vernita Green, housewife. 

In spite of her success, Bill is not worried.  For you see, he has a secret.  This secret is so powerful, it is the only thing that can stop "The Bride's" mission to Kill Bill. 

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: For the most part, the video is crisp and clean.  The transfer is excellent, and looks a hell of a lot better than in the theaters.  On the Samsung, I noticed some wrinkling during some scenes, but only because I was looking for it. With our computer, it looked fantastic.

AUDIO: The English 5.1 and French 5.1 really kicks Deadly Viper butt.  The sound hits you from all across the soundstage.  Just as it quiets down, it shoots up, and kicks you in the head.

If the Dolby 5.1 is that good, I wish I had an DTS receiver.

EDITS: No edits.  Everything is exactly as it was in the theater.

EXTRAS: Looks like the rumors about skimpy extras were true.  All we get is a moderate length "Making of" feature and "music videos" featuring The 5,6,7,8's.  Trailers are not extras, even if they include the trailer for when "Kill Bill" was one movie.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: As this movie is an homage to the revenge flicks of the 1970's, Quentin Tarantino's script is pretty straightforward.  We have our heroin, beaten, tortured, and left for dead.  Miraculously, she recovers, with the images of those who "killed" her burned in her mind.  Like "The Crow" she goes from minion to minion, killing them on her way to the top dog.  What sets Kill Bill above other films in the revenge genre is that we get more into the heads of the characters, and learn their motivations.

ACTING: The acting is sublime.  With a cast this large, it would take too long to compliment everyone.  For this review, I am sticking to the ones that stood out the most.

Uma Thurman carries most of the movie.  She has a very broad range, being able to go from sad and despondent to quick and cunning in a matter of seconds.  She also has great comedic timing, and she kicks ass better than most "action" stars.

Lucy Liu gives a rather restrained performance, compared to her work in films like Payback and Charlie's Angels.  It must have been hard to keep it calm and cool, but she did it.  She is also one woman who you don't want to mess with.

David Carridine's Bill is like Cain from "Kung Fu", but only evil.  Using his quiet charm and charisma, he gives you chills with just his voice.  That's pretty impressive, since you don't even see his face during the entire movie. 

Chiaki Kuriyama is perfect as Go Go Yubari.  With just her eyes, she communicates that she is a total bad ass she is.  You quickly discover that she won't take any crap from anyone.

FAN SERVICE: This movie is a fan service paradise.  References to Bruce Lee, Samurai Eiga, Yakuza movies, spaghetti westerns, and classic television are just the tip of the ice berg.  You can see Tarentino's admiration for Asian directors like Sezuki Seijun, Hiroyuki Nakano, and the Shaw Brothers by the way he uses their unique visual styles.  There are references to other films he has worked on , including "Dusk to Dawn". You even get a Red Apples Cigarettes reference (a brand that appears in every Tarantino movie.)

CONCLUSION:

When Kill Bill showed up on the entertainment radar, it garnered interest not only from the film community, but anime/Asian cinema enthusiasts as well. The reason; Quentin Tarantino freely admitted that this movie drew it's influence from various forms of Asian cinema.  Shaw Brothers Chop Socky flicks, Samurai Egia, Yakuza movies, and even anime.

I went to see Kill Bill in the theaters the day it premiered.  With in just the first 10 minutes, I was totally in awe.  When I left the theater, I waited for the day the DVD would be released, so I could enjoy this movie as many times as I want.

I totally love this film.  Everything about it, from the way it's shot, to the way the action flows is pure Quentin Tarantino.  Like all of his films, he gives us characters that are larger than life, more human than most "reel" people.  He then places them in situations that would drive normal people insane, all the while keeping true to themselves.  It's a tough feat, but he manages to do it.

It seems that QT has taken these last six years since "Jackie Brown" to really hone his craft.  While his earlier films were fantastic, they were very raw at times.  "Kill Bill" looks and feels very polished.  Sure, the grittiness is there, but it's tempered with beautiful settings, powerful scenes, and even stronger visuals.  Even the music has a more refined presence.  If you compare this movie with say "Pulp Fiction", you can see a marked change in his style.  Although I'm sure the multi-million dollar financing he got for this movie helped.

Like Tarantino did with Pulp Fiction, continuity goes out the window.  This was actually a good idea.  If the move was shown in chronological order, the finial act would have been anti-climatic.  Jumping around the story also gave Tarentino a great place to end volume 1.

Everyone will have characters they enjoy.  Managing Editor Ann was impressed with Vivcia Fox's ass kicking abilities.  Operations Chief Mike loved Uma's "Crow" like determination to get her man, or woman.  For me, it was Go Go Yubari.  I am totally in love with Chiaki Kuriyama.  Her "spooky" look, deep voice, and fighting ability is just so damn attractive. Naturally, the school girl outfit helps out as well!  Every time she is on screen, I can't help but watch.

The action is awesome.  Yuen Wo Ping has shown the world that he is the master.  His fight sequences are beautiful, full of energy and excitement.  By going "old school" he shows that you don't need computer enhanced special effects to give us a good show.

When I first saw the animation segment in the theater, it was not what I expected.  It seemed to sacrifice detail for a more visceral and rougher tone. Don't get me wrong, the style was perfect for the story being told, but I was expecting something along the lines of "Ghost in the Shell".

On the smaller screen, it looks different.  Perhaps being smaller hides the rough look of the animation.  I could also be the quality of the transfer, as the theater I went too wasn't very modern.  I think its a combination of the DVD format shown on the television helps clean up the rough edges.

I found the layout of the DVD menus interesting.  All the menus are set up in the same style as the "anime" segment.  As a hard core anime fan, I was quite pleased to see it.  It shows that while QT is a "grind house" fan, he acknowledges his anime sympathies to the general audience.  Way to go!

The extras are a double edged sword.  While the lack of substantial extras is disappointing, what they do have are at least entertaining.  The "making of" really helps me to understand exactly how QT's mind works.  It's all over the place.

The other extra is the "music video" of Japanese surf band The 5,6,7,8's.  While not exactly the best example of Japanese Pop Music, they are certainly entertaining, and their music is damn catchy.

Kill Bill, vol 1 is everything we have come to expect from Quentin Tarantino.  Cool visuals, great acting, interesting characters, and a perfect fusion of different film styles.  While the presentation is not perfect, I had to buy it!  I guess I will be one of those suckers that buy both volumes, and then shell out the extra money for the "collectors edition".  Oh well.  It's worth it!

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