Kill Bill Vol. 1 [Blu-ray Steelbook + Digital HD]

I missed "Kill Bill, Volume 1" when it was in the theaters (you have to move quickly up here in the Northland because we have only two movie theaters with a limited number of screens and films can disappear before you know it), but this turned out to be to my advantage. Quentin Tarantino did not plan on "Kill Bill" being told in two "volumes" but Miramax decided that a four hour revenge film would be a bit much and consequently we end up with "Volume 1" coming out on DVD the same week "Volume 2" opens up in the theaters. So having seen the Bride (Uma Thurman) take care of the first two names on her "to do" list I can treat tonight as an intermission and go see "Volume 2" tomorrow. This is good because if I had to wait four months to see the second half of the film I would be pretty ticked off.Once upon a time in El Paso, Texas a wedding party is slaughtered execution style. However, it turns out that the Bride, who is pregnant, is not dead but in a coma. Four years later she wakes up in time to save herself from insult being added to her ingury. After dealing with a few annoying details, such as somebody trying to rape her comatose body and being unable to get her legs to move, the Bride puts together her list of people to kill: (1) Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox), (2) O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), (3) Budd (Michael Madsen), (4) Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), and (5) Bill (David Carradine). There is more that happens in this film than eliminating the first two list (and since there is a Volume 2 telling you that the Bride survives Volume 1 does not constitute a spoiler), such as an anime telling us how O-Ren Ishii became the Queen of the Tokyo underworld. But Tarrantino is all about how the Bride takes out her first two victims and the triumph of style as substance, especially when style means fountains of blood gushing from human beings that would make Akira Kurosawa proud.You have to keep in mind that Tarantino has seen and committed to memory more movies than any other human being on the face of the planet. The following is a list of movies and television series that are supposedly referenced in "Kill Bill, Volume 1":"The Lodger," "Scaramouche," "The Wings of Eagles," "The Magnificent Seven," "Yojimbo," "Tsubaki Sanjûrô," "The Manchurian Candidate," "Marnie," "Honey West," "Tôkyô nagaremono," "I Lunghi giorni della vendetta," "Da zui xia," "Modesty Blaise," "The Green Hornet," "I Giorni dell'ira," "Le Scandale," "Ironside," "Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro," "Kurotokage," "Da uomo a uom," "La Mariée était en noir," "Twisted Nerve," "C'era una volta il West," "The Wild Bunch," "Siu kuen wong," "A Clockwork Orange," "Hannie Caulder," "Black Mama, White Mama," "The Last House on the Left," "La Novia ensangrentada," "Il Grande duello," "Joshuu sasori: Dai-41 zakkyo-bô, "Shurayukihime," "The Doll Squad," "Tian xia di yi quan," "High Plains Drifter," "White Lightning," "Shura-yuki-hime: Urami Renga," "Truck Turner," "Uomini duri," "Crash che botte!," "Onna hissatsu ken," "Gone in 60 Seconds," "Thriller - en grym film," "Du bi quan wang da po xue di zi," "Profondo rosso," "Switchblade Sisters," "Black Sunday," "Eaten Alive," "7 note in nero," "Hao xia," "Yagyû ichizoku no inbô," "Game of Death ," "Grease," "Wu du," "Patrick," "Day of the Woman," "Hattori Hanzô: Kage no Gundan." "Paura nella città dei morti viventi," "Resurrection," "Shogun Assassin," "Si wang ta," "Makai tenshô," "Escape from New York," "Xian si jue," "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan," "Tenebre," "The Professional: Golgo 13," "Scarface," "Gai shi ji hua," "Year of the Dragon," "Wong ga jin si," "Hard to Kill," "3-4x jugatsu," "Miller's Crossing," "Hong fen zhi zun," "Unforgiven," "Reservoir Dogs," "Fong Shi Yu II: Wan fu mo di," "Tai ji zhang san feng," "True Romance," "Pulp Fiction." "Jûbei ninpûchô," "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Full Tilt Boogie," "Kite," "Weißkreuz," "SF:Episode One," "From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money," "Proboscis," "Wo hu cang long," "Batoru rowaiaru," and "Koroshiya 1."I was happy I recognized over two dozen of the films on that list, and that is not even close to a passing score percentage-wise. For all I know every single scene and shot in the film is lifted from something else, but the onslaught of references is apparently so relentless that everything old becomes new again, especially without a commentary track when QT can tell us the origin of each and every homage. At this point what is most memorable to me is watching O-Ren Ishii and her posse walk glide into the House of Blue Leaves with the soundtrack giving them energy and the final showdown in an exquisite garden at night with gently falling snow where O-Ren in her white kimono and the Bride in her yellow biker suit do their dance of death with Japanese steel.With "Pulp Fiction" Tarantino made his impression upon our ears with scene after scene of great dialogue. No wonder the soundtrack for that film had clips of some of what came rolling off the tongues of the actors (usually Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a corpse in this film). But with "Kill Bill, Volume 1" Tarantino's blood feast is mostly for the eyes. Imagine what he can do if he every puts those two together in a single film. Until then, we can see how the Bride deals with the rest of the people on her list. This film is not for everybody, but then what Quentin Tarantino film ever was?

Kill Bill: Volume 1

Classic

A great film! Very powerful!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this disc set includes a Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy.

Kill Bill is what is hailed as the much anticipated "4th film by quinton tarintino". If you don't know who quinton tarintino is, then I feel sorry for you. For the rest of us I need only mention the titles "Resevoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction", And "Jackie Brown" and then you will understand the anticipation this new film has for us big time QT fans.So as the long-awaited 4th film, we find Tarintino taking a new dirtection... firslty, this is Kill Bill vol 1, with Vol 2 having just been released in theaters as of this writing. Seeing the first volume immediatley shows us that what QT had blanned was large, stylish, and visionary! The fact that The lead star Umma Thurman actually particiapted in much of the conceptual work behind the film only serves to further display why this film came together so brilliantly.Kill Bill, as it's appropriatley called is a tale of revenge at it's most basic. Umma Thurman Plays an ex Assassin, who was betrayed at her wedding by her former boss. The plot throughout the movie leaves some gaps to be further explored in the next film, but plenty of detail and background is given to all the characters throughout the course of the movie (a trademark of tarintino is brilliant character depth). Once comming out of a comma, "The Bride" as she is called (we never get to hear her name in the movie - it is bleeped out!) goes on a path of vengence that will leave a thick trail of blood in it's wake.Harking back to old martial arts films of the 70's the mood is sometimes made to feel corny intentionally. Oddly enough not only didnt this bother me, it made the movie more fun and more enjoyable. What's amazing is QTs abillity to switch moods in the film from being epicly dramatic, and almost philisophical in nature (like many old sammuri movies); to being goofy, and corny and almost poking fun at itself. Also we are treated to scenes that have wild western feels, as well as refrences to other old genres. The film is filled with LOTS to dwell on and think about.Beyond that we have QT's typical directorial excellence. Vissually, Kill BIll is probably one of the finest works I've ever seen. The movie has more style, flair, and wit than almost any other I can think of. QT just has a way of always finding some new place to put the camera... some new trick to use that u werent expecting. An entire 10 -15 minute scene in the movie is fully animated in japanese style! The use of black and white and other little artistic ideas of QT make this movie an absolute pleasure to watch. If nothing else this has to be one of the most creative and unique films you'll ever see.Finally, this is QTs first attempt at making an action orientated film. The fight scenes are really well done, and in the climactic battle we see umma thurman single handedly fight 60 plus men (all with sammuri swords) - and slaughter them all! Even the first time through, I had to watch that scene twice! QT also has a way of bringing the action together with many moments that are (typical to his style) nothing more than witty diologue.IN the end, some people wont like this movie just because it's too "wierd" for them, or just not their kind of film. Those who dont like QTs style are likely to not be impressed. But for me, and many others, Kill Bill Vol one was an AMAZING movie, on many levels at once. The variety of themes, the amazing visual style, and the excellent audio (thanks to the RZA from Wu Tang Clan who produced the soundtrack)... this movie really surprised me by just HOW good it was.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Action, Crime)Directed by Quentin TarantinoStarring Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu and Daryl HannahDisney / Buena Vista | 2003 | 111 min | Rated R | Released Sep 09, 2008Video:Video codec: MPEG-4 AVCVideo resolution: 1080pAspect ratio: 2.40:1Audio:English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)English: Dolby Digital 5.1French: Dolby Digital 5.1Subtitles:English SDH, Spanish, Japanese, Cantonese, KoreanDisc:Single 50GB Blu-ray DiscThe Film 5/5I'm a big fan of Chungking Express and remember reading that Quentin Tarantino cries when he watches it because he loves it so much. That's how I feel when I watch the two Kill Bill movies. Within three minutes, I hear Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) and I'm transported into another world. It reminds me of what I'm in for. Every choice that Tarantino makes, from story, to dialogue and music, is absolutely perfect. I feel like he made this film with me in mind.Uma Thurman was born to play the role of The Bride. I'm still not sure how she managed to keep a straight face as she spoke the dialogue.It took me five years to bother seeing Kill Bill because I don't embrace things with senseless violence. The movie suggests extreme violence, but shows hardly any of it, just the result. The cuts are convincing and have the same effect as if you had seen the violent acts. I expected Thurman to prance around with a samurai sword, hacking people to pieces. In fact, she pretty much does, but there's so much more to the story.First of all, she makes me care. Her back story makes her actions seem justified, but I also feel pity for O-Ren Ishii (Liu) when we see what happened to her when she was a child (brilliantly portrayed anime style). The film uses a number of tricks such as stills, black and white, slow motion, silhouettes, changing aspect ratios, and extreme close-ups. The pacing, humor, drama and action all seem to be woven together perfectly.Kill Bill is a simple story of revenge. We learn in the opening scene that The Bride was shot in the head at her wedding rehearsal and spent four years in a coma as a result. The story isn't linear, so the first person we see her kill is actually second on her Death List. Although it reveals that she successfully killed O-Ren Ishii by showing a line through her name, none of the tension is lost when we are shown their epic battle.We see The Bride recover from her coma and visit Japan in search of O-Ren Ishii. There's a great scene involving Sonny Chiba and we eventually see The Bride hunt down O-Ren Ishii and her minions. The showdown is approximately an hour long and it's intense. Thurman looks like she can handle a sword and stunt double Zoe Bell handles the more difficult scenes.It's hard to think about the film without using the word perfect. The battle involves dozens of fighters as The Bride hacks her way through the obstacles standing between her and O-Ren Ishii. The contrast between those scenes and the final fight is stunning. Instead of being surrounded by a noisy mob, The Bride and O-Ren fight in a quiet setting. It's a very effective transition.I always watch Kill Bill Vol. 2 after seeing Vol. 1 and think of it as one long film. If you think that the characters feel incomplete, the concluding volume fleshes them out and makes them seem a lot more real. This first installment contains most of the action and fans of that genre should be happy with the result.Video Quality 5/5Kill Bill Vol. 1 looks fantastic on Blu-ray, even though it was released in 2008. Detail is strong throughout, whether the image is in color or black and white. Colors are rich and accurate and black levels won't disappoint. I detected slight aliasing in one scene, but the overall presentation makes the film one of the best-looking live action films yet released on Blu-ray.Audio Quality 5/5The lossless English: LPCM 5.1 mix matches the excellent video quality. There's a lot going on and it's all separated well and presented accurately. Whether it's the sound of swords clashing during the intense battle scenes, dialogue, feet crunching on cereal, or Daryl Hannah whistling the theme from Twisted Nerve, you'll hear everything clearly.Special Features 2/5The extras are all presented in standard definition:The Making of Kill Bill (22 minutes) - A decent feature with Tarantino and some of the cast and crew.The 5, 6, 7, 8s Musical Performances (6 minutes) - Two songs from the band featured in the film.Trailers - Six trailers for Tarantino's films.As I said at the start of this review, Kill Bill is so good that I'm close to tears within three minutes. It's full of action and thrills, good music, and some of the funniest dialogue I have ever heard. I find myself watching both parts more than anything else in my collection and love every moment each time I give it a spin. It's guaranteed to make me grin for four hours. If you like action and intelligent humor, I challenge you to name a better movie.Overall score 5/5

I enjoyed watching this movie, the picture was clear, very good quality. No issues or concerns. Would purchase again from this supplier.

KILL BILL: VOLUME ONE is the long-awaited "4th Film" from director/writer Quentin Tarantino,I went to see this when it came out in cinemas back in October 2003 and I must say, I was very impressed. So impressed that I went straight back in to see it again. YES I THOUGHT IT THAT GOOD! The Bride (Uma Thurman) is put into a coma after been badly wounded by her former boss, Bill (David Carradine) of the Deadly Vipers Assassination (D.V.A) squad. When she awakens from the coma, she vows to get her revenge. So she plans to take down the members of D.V.A first. This is not as violent a film as people say. It's not for the faint-hearted nor the weak-minded. But this film has action! One of the main highlights of the film is The Bride's fight during the climax which is done in well lit snow fall. This is entertainment popcorn style film is a brilliant homage, this time to Kung Fu movies, Spaghetti Westerns, and action flicks generally. One breath-taking action scene after another steals your breath away. Terentino constantly keeps you off balance as the scenes are showen out of sequence."The Bride" (Uma Thurman) faces dozens of Yakuza henchmen, and single handedly defeats them, a la (JANE LEE), Terentino, never takes the story too seriously, and just gives you amazing spectacles of battle, and bizarre humour. He keeps pushing the envelope further and further. "Watch this" he dares you, and you're hooked to the screen, as each scene is more bewildering, ridiculous, hilarious, OUTRAGOUS, then the last one. I bet you will watch the DVD again & again, I know I will.If you don't like Chinese violent films why would you watch this then run the film down? What one judges violent others disagree.This is all done tongue in cheek a homage to Chinese kung fu films. It worked for me perhaps it will not work for you, if you like Bruce Lee films this is for you. If you don't like Bruce Lee kung fu films then don't watch it.Sadly we still await the release of the DVD & Kill Bill Vol II comes out in April.

excelente presentación Audio: Ingles y Frances. Subtitulo: Español

If you are a Quentin Tarantino fan you need this movie. It’s badass!