KILL BILL VOL. 1
5 out of 5 stars

in honor of the cherry blossom festival coming to an end… i shall review japanese-themed movies this week! ;) (starting with one of my all-time QT fave)



when they say that revenge is a dish best served cold, that phrase serves a whole nutha purpose in quentin tarantino’s kill bill vol. 1 & 2, where the bride (a samurai-sword wielding uma thurman) goes after the “cunts” and “bastards” that put her in a coma for five years. we learn that the bride was an assassin working for a man named bill, and we also learn that she was part of a team of assassins known as the deadly viper squad. and…the other members are oren iishi (geisha-esque lucy liu), vernita green (sassy “i should have been mutha-fuckin’ black mamba” vivica a. fox), bill’s lil’ bro budd (kicker hat wearin’ michael madsen), and one-eyed elle driver. (bitchin’ darryl hannah) vol. 1 only focuses on two of the bitches on the bride’s hit list, and the fight sequences are AWESOME!


best scenes include: the anime sequence depicting oren iishi’s life (very clever, QT… very clever…); the fight scene with oren’s kato mask wearing bodyguards, fight scene with psychotic gogo and her ball-chain-slice weapon of choice, final fight scene with oren in a lovely japanese winter garden, and oh yeah! the pussy wagon! (sans lady gaga & beyonce but still LOVE it…) I think my favorite character is samurai-sword maker hanzo (played by sonny chiba), who reluctantly makes the bride a new hanzo sword. (because she’s got “vermin to kill”…) also, i think the best part in any QT movie is the dialogue! sooooo many memorable lines and quotable ones too. like these:


oren: “you might not be able to fight like a samurai, but you can at least die like a samurai.”


elle driver: “i might never have liked you. point of fact, i despise you. but that doesn’t suggest i don’t respect you. dying in our sleep is a luxury our kind is rarely afforded. my gift to you.”


hattori hanzo: “for those regarded as warriors, when engaged in combat the vanquishing of thine enemy can be the warrior’s only concern. suppress all human emotion and compassion. kill whoever stands in thy way, even if that be lord god, or buddha himself. this truth lies at the heart of the art of combat.”


not to mention the MUSIC/SOUNDTRACK is right on point! (love the 5,6,7,8’s)


stay tuned for my review of kill bill vol. 2 next monday! (perfect timing since I’ll be going on my TX vacation then too…)