Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writers:

Quentin Tarantino, Quentin Tarantino (character The Bride) (as Q)

Stars:

Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah

Top Rated Movies #174 | Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 28 wins & 101 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Uma Thurman	...	The Bride
Lucy Liu	...	O-Ren Ishii
Vivica A. Fox	...	Vernita Green
Daryl Hannah	...	Elle Driver
David Carradine	...	Bill
Michael Madsen	...	Budd
Julie Dreyfus	...	Sofie Fatale
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Gogo Yubari
Shin'ichi Chiba	...	Hattori Hanzo (as Sonny Chiba)
Chia-Hui Liu	...	Johnny Mo (as Gordon Liu)
Michael Parks	...	Earl McGraw
Michael Bowen	...	Buck
Jun Kunimura	...	Boss Tanaka
Kenji Ohba	...	Bald Guy (Sushi Shop) (as Kenji Oba)
Yuki Kazamatsuri	...	Proprietor

Storyline

The lead character, called 'The Bride,' was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, led by her lover 'Bill.' Upon realizing she was pregnant with Bill's child, 'The Bride' decided to escape her life as a killer. She fled to Texas, met a young man, who, on the day of their wedding rehearsal was gunned down by an angry and jealous Bill (with the assistance of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad). Four years later, 'The Bride' wakes from a coma, and discovers her baby is gone. She, then, decides to seek revenge upon the five people who destroyed her life and killed her baby. The saga of Kill Bill Volume I begins.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | bride | sword | female protagonist | martial arts | 

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Taglines:

In the year 2003, Uma Thurman will kill Bill

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese French

Release Date:

10 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume One

Filming Locations:

American Cement Building, 2404 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,200,000, 12 October 2003

Gross USA:

$70,099,045

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$180,899,045

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, A Band Apart, Super Cool ManChu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Bride's killing one of the Crazy 88 with a hatchet is a possible nod to Mannaja (1977), in which the main protagonist Blade (Maurizio Merli), a bounty hunter whose weapon of choice is a hatchet, seeks revenge upon McGowan for the death of his father.

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Goofs

During the animated sequence in which O-Ren is shooting the foot off the blue-suited henchmen, the scene in which the foot is shot depicts a red suit, identical in color to the henchman who was previously shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bill: Do you find me sadistic? You know, I bet I could fry an egg on your head right now, if I wanted to. You know, Kiddo, I'd like to believe that you're aware enough even now to know that there's nothing sadistic in my actions. Well, maybe towards those other... jokers, but not you. No Kiddo, at this moment, this is me at my most...
[cocks pistol]
Bill: masochistic.
The Bride: Bill... it's your baby...
[BLAM!]

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Crazy Credits

Shin'ichi Chiba (Hattori Hanzo) is listed as the samurai sword advisor. He played a maker of samurai swords in the film.

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Alternate Versions

Additional differences between the Japanese DVD vs UK Blu Ray Versions:

• The opening credit 'Japanese Anime Production I.G., Tokyo Japan' replaces 'Special Effects Make-Up KNB EFX Group' and in the closing credits KNB replaces Production I.G.
• When Gogo disembowels the Tokyo Business Man at the Bar, the blood spray goes on 1 second longer.
• After Sofie has her Arm chopped off audio is the same but shot stays on Sophie spraying blood 1/2 second longer before going to the close up of O-Ren.
• The Close up of Sofie spurting blood on the floor (Just before O-Ren says "Beat it Charlie Brown") is 3/4 of a second longer.
• There are additional credits in Japanese after the English credits.

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Connections

References Resurrection (1980)

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Soundtracks

Seven Notes in Black
Written by Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi & Vince Tempera
Performed by Vince Tempera & Orchestra
Courtesy of Bixio Music c/o IDM Music Ltd.-NYC

User Reviews

Tarantino's Blue Period is OVER!

Just saw Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and was surprised, to be honest, at how incredibly GOOD this film is. Here is a craftsman (or artist, if you prefer) at the top of his game. Some of the shots are simply incredible; the score is, for the most part, vintage Tarantino selections- and the RZA does a very good job at filling the blanks; Uma Thurman is a great female lead, for sheer presence (and decent acting chops). Even Lucy Liu, who I expected was going to re-hash her Charlie's Angel character, burst on the scene like a flaming nunchuck.

The stringing together of the scenes was impeccable. The transitions, the intercutting between dialogue, the flashbacks... I simply could not get enough. Tarantino IS, indeed, having fun here. He is giving us a film that may not go down as a classic, Pulp Fiction style, but that shows us what is yet to come. I doubt that he's lost his writing talents (as some have claimed), and I actually disagree that the dialogue in the film is "poor", or that there are "no memorable lines" (Empire). The kung-fu genre has never been a particularly good park to display Shakespearean writing virtuosisms. The lines work fine. The plot is simple enough, but Tarantino takes a burger and serves it as "steak tartare with sauce au poivre and asparagus terrine". He basically manages to cram so much information into the film that plot is simply irrelevent. What is relevent is the Bride's thirst for blood, her primal sense of vengeance and our total devotion to her. Bill, of course, is one of the greatest characters to ever NOT appear on screen. Overall, a great movie and an example of how a filmmaker's tool is not his pen: it's his eye.