Kill Bill: Vol. 1
June 2004 Reviewed by: Doug Schneider Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Writer-director Quentin Tarantino laid low after the 1997 release of Jackie Brown. As each year went by with no new Tarantino film in the theaters, many people were convinced that his absence was more than just a vacation. Stories circulated that he was washed-up, out of ideas, and on the road to becoming a Hollywood has-been. When word came out in 2002 that he was working on a new film, rumors swelled -- the worst of which was that the film, even if it made it to theaters, was no good and that he’d lost his magic touch as a filmmaker. But when Kill Bill: Vol. 1 was released in the latter part of 2003, all the speculation was quashed. Vol. 1 received widespread critical acclaim. Some even heralded it as Tarantino’s best work. I agreed. This modern-day martial-arts classic was my own pick for the best film of 2003.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 tells the story of a woman we know only as The Bride (Uma Thurman), who, on her wedding day, is gunned down by her former employer and lover, Bill (David Carradine), and his team of assassins. The movie opens with a dramatic image of the blood-soaked Bride saying four riveting words before the trigger is pulled: Bill, it’s your baby. The bullet doesn’t kill The Bride, but it does put her in a coma. Four years later she wakes up in a hospital with one thing on her mind: revenge. Possessing lethal martial-arts skills, The Bride writes out the "Death List Five" and sets out to kill her four would-be assassins and, of course, Bill too.

Vol. 1 is far more than a simple story of revenge. Tarantino has created a cartoon-like masterpiece in which he begs, borrows, and steals from all those old ‘70s martial-arts films with bad audio dubbing, improves on them, and delivers something uniquely his own. No other film I saw in 2003 approached Vol. 1’s inventiveness and originality.

After I saw Vol. 1 my admiration for Tarantino as a filmmaker grew stronger. Reflecting on his previous three films -- Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown -- you can see his boldness and his commitment to always try something new. With Kill Bill: Vol. 1 he moves into a film genre in which I thought he could never excel: action. Vol. 1’s fight scenes are stunning and must be seen to be appreciated. Then there’s the way he builds the story to the cliffhanger ending that leaves you clamoring to see Vol. 2. I do not know whether it was his initial intention to make Kill Bill in two parts, but I think it was wise to do so. Now that I have seen both films, I can comprehend that Tarantino had far too much material for one film. The two movies are very different in style and tone, altogether doing the material perfect justice without feeling too long

Technically, Vol. 1 is a triumph of visuals and sound, which have been transferred well to DVD. Whether it’s the way the action sequences are shot, how the stars have been framed in the many close-ups, or how the film’s look changes to match the tone of each scene, the cinematography is spectacular. The use of sound turns Vol. 1 into a showcase piece to demonstrate how audio can enhance a scene. The most obvious example is in the fight sequence where The Bride is working her way through bodyguards to get to O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu). After she’s fought her way through all of them -- or so she thinks -- she stands alone in a very large room. Suddenly, the sound of motorcycles goes whirring around the building. I remember hearing this in the theater and being impressed, thinking how it improved the effectiveness of the scene. The effect is just as impressive on this DVD.

The Kill Bill: Vol. 1 DVD is only lacking in extras. There’s a reasonably interesting kind of "making-of" feature, a video by the music group the 5.6.7.8’s (they appear in the film), and some trailers for Tarantino’s other films. That is it, and there is not even a director’s commentary. You just know that this DVD was put out to bide time until Vol. 2, now in the theaters, is also released on DVD. I suspect that at that time we will see a multi-disc set featuring both films, a wealth of extras, and some sort of flashy packaging.

So while Kill Bill: Vol. 1 may not be the DVD release it could be because the studio skimped on the extras, don’t wait until Vol. 2 comes around on DVD to buy or rent it. Who knows when that will be? Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is an amazing film on a good enough DVD release that’s guaranteed to offer almost two hours of pure cinematic pleasure as only Tarantino can deliver.

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