Product Details

• Actors: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Lucy Liu
• Directors: Quentin Tarantino
• Writers: Uma Thurman, Quentin Tarantino
• Producers: Bob Weinstein, Dede Nickerson, E. Bennett Walsh, Erica Steinberg, Harvey Weinstein
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS ES), French (Unknown)
• Subtitles: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Miramax
• DVD Release Date: April 13, 2004
• Run Time: 111 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,262 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JMEW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,664 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Kill Bill: Volume One" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is trash for connoisseurs. From his opening gambit (including a "Shaw-Scope" logo and gaudy '70s-vintage "Our Feature Presentation" title card) to his cliffhanger finale (a teasing lead-in to 2004's Vol. 2), Tarantino pays loving tribute to grindhouse cinema, specifically the Hong Kong action flicks and spaghetti Westerns that fill his fervent brain--and this frequently breathtaking movie--with enough cinematic references and cleverly pilfered soundtrack cues to send cinephiles running for their reference books. Everything old is new again in Tarantino's humor-laced vision: he steals from the best while injecting his own oft-copied, never-duplicated style into what is, quite simply, a revenge flick, beginning with the near-murder of the Bride (Uma Thurman), pregnant on her wedding day and left for dead by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (or DiVAS)--including Lucy Liu and the unseen David Carradine (as Bill)--who become targets for the Bride's lethal vengeance. Culminating in an ultraviolent, ultra-stylized tour-de-force showdown, Tarantino's fourth film is either brilliantly (and brutally) innovative or one of the most blatant acts of plagiarism ever conceived. Either way, it's hyperkinetic eye-candy from a passionate film-lover who clearly knows what he's doing. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

The acclaimed fourth film from groundbreaking writer and director Quentin Tarantino (PULP FICTION, JACKIE BROWN), KILL BILL VOLUME 1 stars Uma Thurman (PULP FICTION), Lucy Liu (CHARLIE'S ANGELS, CHICAGO), and Vivica A. Fox (TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME) in an astonishing, action-packed thriller about brutal betrayal and an epic vendetta! Four years after taking a bullet in the head at her own wedding, The Bride (Thurman) emerges from a coma and decides it's time for payback ... with a vengeance! Having been gunned down by her former boss (David Carradine) and his deadly squad of international assassins, it's a kill-or-be-killed fight she didn't start but is determined to finish! Loaded with explosive action and outrageous humor, it's a must-see motion picture event that has critics everywhere raving!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

269 of 313 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A near-perfect epic November 3, 2003

By A Customer

"Kill Bill" is an anomaly in today's Hollywood culture. Here is a movie that neither makes you think too hard nor tears at you heartstrings--and it is a truly excellent flick. Under the shrewd (and possibly insane) hands of Quentin Tarantino, "Kill Bill" details an ultrally brutal and even more emotionally statisfying quest for revenge.

Beat to a bloody pulp and shot in the head and left for dead at her wedding day, The Bride (Uma Thurman, whose name is never revealed) is carted away in a four-year-long coma. She wakes up and vows revenge. And, oh, does Thurman play revenge well. It seems that the supporting cast (Lucy Lui, Vivica A. Fox, among others) truly beat Thurman to the edge of death. Her eyes convey her emotion--the limited and brief dialogue isn't even necessary. She is surpremely convincing in every aspect of her performance, even throughout the amazingly stylish fight sequences (which put "The Matrix" to shame). She fights like a pro with samurai swords, lethal daggers, butcher knives, and frying pans.

One of the main draws to this redefining adventure is the hilarious subject matter. Tarantino goes overboard. Blood flies about like fruit punch, gushing out of wounds like a torrential downpour (sometimes, in fact, you will even wonder if the human body has that much blood), and in any other movie, that gore would force you to leave--but here, it doesn't. Why? Because Tarantino never takes himself too seriously. Fight scenes are punctuated with effective and sometimes laughable dialogue. But beneath the hokey action scenes and the cute quips, there is a real movie at work here. Tarantino dances about the timeline, bouncing the story back and forth to a dizzying point, which forces your full attention on the gradually unfolding general story. The cliffhanger ending merely seals the deal.

"Kill Bill" deserves all of the accolades it gets. Although it may seem to be a hackfest on the surface, there is true talent at work here. Uma Thurman and Lucy Lui give inspiring performances; the story, however linear it may be, it instantly grabbing; and Tarantino's masterful direction is as inspiringly as it is slightly distubring. A true masterpiece. One of the films to beat for 2003.

97 of 115 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a Great Release, by Blu Standards November 11, 2008

By A. Dent #1 HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Blu-ray

I want to make it VERY clear, the three stars are NOT for the movie. Kill Bill, in my view, is one of the best movies ever made but this evaluation is for THIS Kill Bill Blu-ray release.

I am totally sold on Blu and, when the Kill Bill bundle became available... well... I ordered it when Amazon offered it at a great discount. The bundle includes Kill Bill 1 and 2 and, IF you wish to upgrade your KBs I highly recommend the bundle because you could save a few dollars. There is no difference between the 2 KBs sold as individual titles and them sold together other than, possibly, the price.

I wish I had a lot to say about the Blu-ray version but I don't so, let me say what is worth saying:

- The contents of the Blu-ray version are EXACTLY those of the DVD edition, nothing more, nothing less.
- Even the artwork is borrowed from the original DVD edition.
- The 'extras' are shot in low resolution, in fact they are the exact extras you will find on the DVD.
- The resolution of the movie is, of course, higher than the DVD's and the audio is available as 'uncompressed' but nothing special was done for the Blu issue. I noticed quite a few artifacts and some graininess but, overall, the picture quality is good. It could have been a lot better. I expect a remastered edition in the near future.

Overall, I am not very happy with this edition which appears to have been put together on the cheap and in a hurry. I suspect that the digital master used to make the DVDs was quickly converted to Blu and thrown out on the market but I could be wrong.

I am looking forward to a complete and professionally done Tarantino filmography on Blu in the near future, meaning that I'd be buying the Kill Bills three times.

On deciding whether to buy this release or not it should be up to one's budget. Those who don't have the DVD edition but have a Blu player, definitely buy the Blu, preferably the bundle because one never knows when a superior version may be released. If you already have the DVD... like I said, I bought my KB 1&2 package when Amazon offered it at a very significant discount.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The 4th Film by Quentin Tarantino August 2, 2004

By sloc234

Format:DVD

Quentin Tarantino's films have always been propelled by great writing. The dialogue between characters is always unique and is impossible to beat. Few movies have come close to duplicating the likes of the writing in Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. In Kill Bill, Tarantino's genius definitely shows. It's the story of The Bride, whose wedding was massacred by her former business partners. Now, after waking up from a 4-year coma, she is out to get bloody revenge. Of the two volumes, Volume 1 is mostly dedicated to paying homage to older asian martial arts films and the like. It's filled with blood, gore, over-the-top violence, frequent dismemberment, and some decapitations. The film's violence turned away many people to watching it, as some of it is very disturbing. The character study and plot are less explored in volume, because Quentin has saved that for Volume 2. Having seen Volume 2, I can say that it is a better film than the first, but Volume 1 stil appeals to many people, and is still very entertaining to watch if one isn't bothered by excessive violence. 5 stars, Very entertaining.

Sidenote: Before making your judgement on Kill Bill as a whole, make sure that you watch both volumes. Volume 2 really focuses more on the story and less on the violence.