Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) ✦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2025-01-18 20:00:09 +0000 UTCHello everyone! This was the winner (by only 1%) of my SOKA poll on YouTube! Volume 2 will be watched and shared at some point in the next 2-3 weeks. Just gotta put it in the schedule somewhere. I hope you enjoy this and I'm looking forward to your comments! [Direct link here.]
Cheers,
✦ KL
Comments
Thanks Bob! Fun info and glad you enjoyed the reaction. Hopefully my reaction to Vol II doesn't turn you off too bad. 😂
kaiielle
2025-07-07 19:11:43 +0000 UTCkaiielle, “Kill Bill” is (with the exception of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), my favorite Tarantino film (like most, I count both movies as one film since that was how he intended it and shot it). More than any other movie in his oeuvre it’s his love letter to low budget, independent cinema. In the first part, there are overt references to 70s revenge films, Japanese anime and samurai films (the Bride’s battle with O-Ren Ishii clearly references “Lady Snowblood”). He also makes several direct references to low budget cinema of the 70s, completely undiluted. For example, the Bride’s spitting while comatose is lifted from “Patrick”, an Ozploitation film in which the titular character is seemingly comatose and unable to communicate with the outside world - except that he occasionally spits when others are in his room. This is no coincidence. Tarantino is an avowed fan of Ozploitation (as am I) and speaks about it at length (including “Patrick”) in the fantastic documentary “Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!” I had the pleasure of sitting directly behind the documentarian at a screening at Fantastic Fest in my first pilgrimage to the festival. He was seated next to, and conversing with, the director of “Juan of the Dead.” I unashamedly eavesdropped on their entire conversation (until the movie started, they have VERY strict no talking/no cell phone policy during movies). Another film he directly lifts from is “Eaten Alive”, directed by Tobe Hooper (of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” fame). In an early scene, Robert Englund (who went on to fame as Freddy Krueger a decade later in “A Nightmare In Elm Street”) visits a brothel. Once secreted away with his prostitute of choice, he proudly proclaims “My name’s Buck and I'm here to fuck.” This line was lifted directly from Tobe Hooper’s film in the attempted rape scene in the hospital. On a side note, a friend of mine frequently attends horror conventions and alerts me ahead of time before he goes. If I want something signed, I give him the item to be autographed and the money to get the autograph. I managed to get ahold of an original one sheet for “Eaten Alive” and get it signed by Robert Englund. My friend said that Englund was tickled pink about it - horror fans always wanted “Nightmare” posters signed. Anyway, the second film pays homage to a whole other set of films, particularly Kung fu films and spaghetti westerns, and even includes musical pieces by Ennio Morricone, of whom I’m a huge fan. I saw that you were not enamored of the second film, which was actually my favorite of the two parts. I look forward to watching that reaction as well to see where it misfired for you. Anyway great reaction to a wonderful film! Thanks!
Just Plain Bob
2025-07-07 18:12:33 +0000 UTCKill Bill, to the uninitiated, might seem overhyped... but it's really not. It holds up to everything people rave about it. It's Tarantino at his wacky best, and I specify wacky, as people still debate over what is his dramatic best. Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs... the debate's never been settled. Uma Thurman spanking one of the 88 with a sword is a comedic highlight, and willing herself to relearn how to walk again no matter how long it took was a dramatic highlight.
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2025-01-19 12:36:17 +0000 UTCOh, and the reason you didn't notice Vernita's gun at the beginning of the movie is because you never see it until she's dead. It's hidden in the cereal box she's holding (which, as a joke, is a brand called "Kaboom!").
Tyler Foster
2025-01-19 06:09:32 +0000 UTCI love this movie. Top 3 Quentin for me. I don’t know who did the score/soundtrack but it is top tier.
RichieRich
2025-01-19 02:29:35 +0000 UTCAbsolutely love the score in this film…so freaking good.
boss435
2025-01-19 01:44:20 +0000 UTCKill Bill was originally going to be one film, but as the film was being edited, the decision was made to split it into two films. (FWIW, the total running time of both movies together, minus a scene at the beginning of Vol. 2 that was added after the split, is in the neighborhood of 245m.) I believe the animated sequence was always meant to be animated. It saves them from having to find a child actor to do such a violent scene, and casting a younger Lucy Liu. You noticed the color coming back when The Bride blinks. The color also goes away when she plucks a guy's eye out. The black-and-white sequence was only done so that the film could receive an R rating from the MPAA in the US, which originally classified it NC-17 over the violence. All things considered, 13 hours to undo 4 years of muscle atrophy is actually unbelievably quick. I'm pretty sure in real life it would require months of physical therapy, so her turnaround is actually miraculous. Many of the Japanese actors that Tarantino cast are famous from all kinds of genre pictures. The swordmaker Hattori Hanzo is played by Sonny Chiba, a major staple in 1970s and 1980s genre pictures. The same is true of Gordon Liu, who plays the bald, masked second-in-command to O-Ren and the leader of the "Crazy 88." Chiaki Kuriyama, who played Gogo, is famous specifically for the 2000s Japanese film Battle Royale.
Tyler Foster
2025-01-19 00:26:29 +0000 UTCI wasn’t even referring to him as a director. Just that he got his foot fetish rumors from the movie, which I mean… you’ve seen it. 😂
Ray H
2025-01-19 00:21:47 +0000 UTCShould note that From Dusk Till Dawn is one of the handful of movies that was written by Quentin Tarantino but not directed by him. The three most major examples are From Dusk Till Dawn (directed by Tarantino's good buddy Robert Rodriguez), True Romance (directed by Ridley Scott's brother Tony; Tarantino loves this movie), and Natural Born Killers (directed by Oliver Stone; Tarantino has said the end result is not what he had intended and has distanced himself, although I don't think the reason is because he thinks the movie is bad, just that it wasn't what he had in mind when he wrote it).
Tyler Foster
2025-01-19 00:16:41 +0000 UTCWhile working on Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino created “The Bride” together that’s why it’s based on a character by Q&U. The foot thing in my mind definitely started swirling during “From Dusk Till Dawn”. It’s so much more blatant than her trying to get her lower body working after 4 years in a coma. It’s really funny. Maybe some day you’ll watch it if you haven’t seen it already. The Kill Bill duology was originally one movie but they split it into two movies because of the length. I think it was split at the perfect time thematically though. We’ll see if you think so when you watch the second one. I also am not a fan of Pulp Fiction; not that it’s terrible, I just didn’t really think it was as good as everyone hyped it up to be. Reservoir Dogs, Django, and the Kill Bills are my favorites of Quentin Tarantino directed films with Kill Bill Vol. 2 as my favorite. Sorry long comment 🤣
Ray H
2025-01-19 00:03:38 +0000 UTCI know Tarantino has a lot of really great films but is by far my favorite of his. As you said, it was just so beautifully shot and the music adds so much. While I loved the editing style of Pulp Fiction, I think it was too non-linear for some people to understand. The chapter cards actually create some breathing room and really controls the pacing as well. I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much and I can't wait to finish up the story line. Thanks again for another great reaction.
Julian Calzada
2025-01-18 23:54:55 +0000 UTCHad to drop all other things to watch this bloodbath of a movie. Based on the character of The Bride by Q & U. Q being Quentin and U being Uma. The basis of the character they cooked up when they made Pulp Fiction. In which, Uma danced barefoot.... Not such a new ting in a Quentin movie me thinks. :)
Daryl
2025-01-18 23:21:42 +0000 UTCOh, hell fucking yes! Going to watch this tomorrow. Good shit.
Steve Mercier
2025-01-18 23:01:13 +0000 UTC
