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Movies / Upcoming / Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 1

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Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)

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Reviews Counted:216

Fresh:184

Rotten:32

Average Rating:7.7/10

Consensus: Kill Bill is nothing more than a highly stylized revenge flick. But what style!

Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

US Box Office: $69,978,747

Synopsis: After a six-year hiatus, Quentin Tarantino returns to the director's chair with KILL BILL. The movie proves once again that he is a hyperactive visionary and the master of cinematic coolness. Split... After a six-year hiatus, Quentin Tarantino returns to the director's chair with KILL BILL. The movie proves once again that he is a hyperactive visionary and the master of cinematic coolness. Split into two volumes by Miramax in order to ensure that Tarantino's vision would not be compromised (and presumably to sell more tickets), KILL BILL: VOL. 1 tells the first half of the sprawling story, which is quite simple at first glance. A female assassin, referred to as "The Bride" (Uma Thurman), is attacked on her wedding day. Dead are her soon-to-be husband and unborn child. However, she doesn't die. Four years later, she wakes up from a coma looking for revenge. Although her ultimate target is her former boss, Bill (David Carradine), it's quite clear that The Bride is saving the best for last. And before she can track him down, she must methodically take out the minions who ruined her life. VOLUME 1's targets include Vernita Green/Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), and the heartless O-Ren Ishii/Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu). Using a blessed sword handmade by Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba), The Bride begins her relentless assault. Turning up the style and energy levels that he kept under a threshold with 1997's JACKIE BROWN, Tarantino's obvious glee and reverence for the underground kung fu action pictures of the '70s, and Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, makes for a stunning visual spectacle. Employing split screens, slow-motion, an anime sequence, and his trademark ultra-hip musical selections, Tarantino's film dares viewers to be unimpressed. [More]

Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Chiaki Kuriyama

Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sonny Chiba, Gordon Liu, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Julie Dreyfus

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Screenwriter: Quentin Tarantino
Producer: Lawrence Bender, Quentin Tarantino
Composer: RZA
Studio: Miramax Films

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Kill Bill Vol. 1

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
10/24/03
Sydney Morning Herald
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: In Film Australia | comment Comment
11/13/03
Luke Buckmaster
Luke Buckmaster
In Film Australia
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
04/02/05
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/11/03
Boston Phoenix
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N/R

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/10/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Is "Kill Bill" obscene? Or is it samurai cinema's "Ulysses"?

Full Review Source: Flak Magazine | comment Comment
10/24/03
Stephen Himes
Stephen Himes
Flak Magazine

An exercise in style.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/09/03
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Do I feel cheated by having to buy another movie ticket to see how 'Kill Bill' ends? You betcha.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/12/03
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Structurally and narratively amputated, Volume 1 retains head and guts but loses its heart and gams to the second installment.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/09/03
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

Ripping off and rearranging moves, ideas, and codes from seemingly countless sources, Kill Bill is a careful film that looks glib, a nuanced film that looks shallow.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
10/17/03
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Really, it seemed to me that Tarantino was merely trying to shock people into forgetting the idiocracy of what was happening on screen.

Full Review Source: Broomfield Enterprise | comment 1 Comment
11/02/03
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Broomfield Enterprise

Weinstein seems to be letting Tarantino have his way with a double release, turning one potentially great film into two flashy mediocrities.

Full Review Source: Hot Button | comment Comment
09/30/03
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button

Kill Bill: Volume 1 is essentially a pop culture wanker’s failed multimedia experiment, a vacuous junk heap of dorky gags and riffs, violent anime and offensive slapstick.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
10/08/03
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

In the wake of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Matrix series, even the recent So Close, Tarantino's movie comes off as been there, kicked that.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment 1 Comment
10/09/03
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It took Tarantino six years to come up with this?

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
10/10/03
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Kill Bill isn't human. It's cinema as cinema. Tarantino is like a hyper, too-bright child, worrying you for your attention, jumping from thought to thought in his brain

Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | comment Comment
07/07/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

As a whole, Kill Bill might be an entertaining product, but, after seeing Volume 1, I was insulted.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
10/07/03
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

There's a lot to admire in Kill Bill, and a lot that should have been lopped off like the arms and legs and scalps that go flying.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
10/10/03
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News

Volume One is, above all, a parade of fantastic fight scenes, each one bloodier than the one that came before ... bloody in the Looney-Toons/Monty-Python sense.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment 1 Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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Latest News for Kill Bill Vol. 1

October 02, 2009: Weekly Ketchup: Threequels for Kill Bill, Transformers
This week's Ketchup includes new movies for Leonardo DiCaprio and Hugh Jackman, sequel news for Kill Bill and Transformers, two CGI animated movies about the weird twists and... More...

June 04, 2009: David Carradine: 1936-2009
David Carradine, the film and television actor who lent his rugged persona to more than 100 films, was found dead in Thailand while on location for the film Stretch. Police said... More...

September 26, 2008: Exclusive: David Carradine Cameo in Crank 2 says Statham
It's not just Death Race that boasts a cameo from legend David Carradine. According to star Jason Statham, speaking to RT this week ahead of the UK release of Death Race, the... More...

June 16, 2008: RT on DVD: 70 More Minutes of The Incredible Hulk on Blu-Ray??
This week in DVD news, that long-awaited Kill Bill double-volume set may finally be on its way and Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier promises enough leftover Hulk... More...

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