Customer Reviews

Kill Bill: An Unofficial Casebook

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I finished reading this book in 2 days; I was fascinated by it. For the person such as myself, who is completely obsessed and loves the movie and its characters to the point of insanity, this book is absolutely necessary. For the more lukewarm fan or the person wondering whether or not they actually do like the movie, it's also an enthralling read.
To say the least, this book is overflowing with knowledge. About Kill Bill, Tarantino, the actors, the other people behind the film, the music, the countless earlier film influences. It is a series of spoilers, meant to be a healthy supplement for someone who has already seen the movie (probably numerous times). The author warns us of this in the first few pages. Clearly, this book was an immense undertaking and the product is born of a deep love not only of Kill Bill, but of cinema in general. This wonderful book bespeaks loads of time and infinite patience spent sitting diligently through movies and conducting research. In these ways, the author proves to be not unlike Tarantino himself.
The book is, in fact, what someone like me would want to make had I the boundless patience and time. It is worlds better than the book of pictures and collection of opinions coming seemingly from a fan with too much time on their hands I had sort of anticipated.
Nearly every second, every line of dialogue, every brilliant visual gag and musical cue of this masterpiece movie in two volumes is described and analyzed in these pages. Have the DVD? Find the moments of interest at the specific times given. A thorough knowledge and understanding of the story is offered, from timeline information to details (lists of every `foot fetish' incident, every House of Blue Leaves action), explanations, insights, plausible suggestions and theories, presented in case you haven't thought of them already. Moreover, it gives you inspiration to develop your own further ideas.
My overall impression here is that if every fan of this movie read this book, there would be a dramatic reduction in the number of stupid questions asked online about the film.
Every reference, obscure or not, drawn from another existing movie is outlined and often expounded upon. There's more background information here than you could ever ask for, and you come away with a new and more whole comprehension of Tarantino and his movie. You see where all the pieces come from. What else is here? Images you've never seen, color photos, posters, information on actors (with the exception, I noticed, of Viveca Fox), full credits, an interview with David Carradine, DVD differences, and a bibliography, for some things. I love the book's thorough, take-notice-of-every-single-second and find-out-everything-you-possibly-can approach to analysis. There are connections to things you may never have imagined.
I did notice a number of grammatical errors and missing or misprinted words, but these have no real effect. The book is well-written, with a friendly and personal approach as if he were simply saying to us everything he's uncovered, dug up, and organized for our convenience. After reading, `it all suddenly seems so clear.' Everything from the author's point of view is valid; no more dumb questions, comments, or remarks are necessary. The analysis is right here from a fan who is more or less just like myself.
He includes the best reviews of KB out there--the thoughtful and thought-provoking ones. All the facts & secrets are here, plain and simple, from reliable sources--2 annotated movies, early draft differences, and the possibilities for a future film in the series (animated prequel or sequel, not about killing Bill, obviously, but continuing the story of these characters.)
The only thing I starkly disagree with in the book is one review, included for the sake of allowing a different perspective. It does raise a few good ideas, but seems basically to be a bashing of QT, his filmmaking style, Pulp Fiction, & the last chapter of KB. I may feel that he's utterly wrong, but that shouldn't suggest that I don't respect his expressed opinion and see the merit in having another POV in this book.
So, this book is a treasure trove and must-read for the diehard lover of the movie. The one who loves it above all films and wants to know all they can about it. I can't say it better than reviewer Kim Morgan: `...Dear Lord, Tarantino even uses the music of Zamfir and his pan flute. And it's haltingly emotional. What kind of crazy voodoo is this? ...it's a beautiful, brilliant, bloody valentine." The author seemed to be speaking for me when he said it's the kind of movie you want to see over and over, never stop returning to, and can't help rewatching when you're only trying to look at one small part. Again in the words of Morgan: "..an entity all its own, recognizable, yet wholly refreshing, and by its final scene, touching...these pieces of celluloid can take on a life of their own...that kind of movie love is raised to such an extraordinary degree here that we leave the experience swooning." Indeed.

After having first ordered this book last September it finally arrived today and boy it is tops. D.K.Holm has caught the essense of Tarantino and the two Kill Bill films in a very well researched, exciting publication with great illustrations and decisive commentary that only thrills the reader more. His "time frame" analysis of the films is wonderful,insightful, complete and hopefully will settle arguments on where bits of action in the films really originated. This is the last word in what needs to be said about Quentin Tarantino and his films. Don't wait a second longer order it now and enjoy it. It is that good!!!!!

If you're a fan of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 like me, you'll enjoy all the references and insight the book gives to the films. D. K. Holm reports on many of the influences that K.B. uses throughout the series and I ended up seeing many of the movies which are listed. Don't expect an overly-sophisticated critique or essay, but rather an easy-reading, fun book that covers one of my favorite films nearly scene-by-scene.

This is a lousy, lazy book.

It starts out very promising, but doesn't follow through. For a Tarantino beginner, it will shine light on some things, but suffers from a tendency to highlight certain things to death and leaves other things mentioned but not explored.

For a moderate to fanatical follower of Tarantino, the book is a frustrating collection of moments improperly explored.

To embark on something as monumental as a timecode-based analysis of a film, even an "Unofficial" one, an author should be prepared to treat the work consistently, and this text is anything but consistent. It's uneven, and tossed off.

Perfect examples of the book's shortcomings:

1) The musical contribution and collaboration of The Rza is not even given a paragraph of attention.

2) The superficial way he deals with DePalma's influence which is cinematically visible throughout the pics, but only mentioned in passing by the author.

3) The exhaustive-bordering-on-excessive focus on Asian cinema that most readers, State-side and European, likely aren't able to get their hands on for viewing anyway.

4) Although he mentions the Charlie's Angels television series multiple times, he fails to give proper attention to the contemporary films by McG, which Tarantino is a huge fan of. McG even worked for Tarantino and his company. How can this connection be ignored.

The most painful thing about the text is that so many rich and textured scenes are brushed passed and even ignored. Often a scene as complex as the animated history of O-Ren is simply dealt with in terms of what's seen on screen, superficially addressing the reasons why Tarantion animated it, what it adds to the film, why detractors dislike it, the tradition of Japanes anime films, etc.

One could go on and on, but like the author, I'll opt for the quick and easy commentary.

Book came in pretty good condition, as described! I am enjoying it, and it was at a fantastic price!

If you're reading this review, you have access to the internet and don't need this book. About 99% of the information in this book can be found on the internet. And the remaining 1% isn't worth the book's price. You're better off surfing Tarantino websites and forums. And if you're a contributor to Tarantino forums, chances are Holm ripped off some of your observations and is trying to sell them back to you.

I was really looking forward to this book and bought it the first day it was released. I was greatly disappointed when I read it. The previous reviewer was right. It's lazy and superficial. And definitely overpriced. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.