Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 appreciation thread

[siamese dream]

These movies have been out a while so I guessed it would be okay to discuss them, but in case you haven't seen them, this contains a lot of spoilers so if you haven't watched these yet, stop reading and get to a video store cause you're in for a load of foot shots, kung-fu fighting and sexy babes kicking ass! If you did see them and liked them, post your opinions here!

These are probably my two favorite movies of the last few years, I can watch them over and over and they're still hugely entertaining and fun. Quentin Tarantino takes a lot of risks and comes out a winner by incorporating little mini-tributes to different film and storytelling styles into a story told with devotion and power, I think this is some of his best work. He again uses music to a great advantage, the music is unique enough to be memorable to each scene, and works well at building momentum from scene-to-scene (the "kill" music we hear right before Uma Thurman is about to kick some serious butt, the triumphant music in the second movie as she escapes from her binds inside a coffin and punches through it) ... the different film styles also makes for an interesting artistic take on each sequence. One of my favorites is "The Origin of O-Ren", the anime sequence in the first movie... I'm an anime fan and I love that Tarantino included this piece in with the first movie, which contains many loving tributes to asian film and storytelling.

But nevermind all that, this movie also has tons of women's feet! It appears to be a very purposeful move by Tarantino, the first movie especially notable for the lingering close-ups of Uma Thurman's feet as she chants "wiggle your big toe" to herself... (and then we go right into the anime! it's an interesting move I don't think many filmmakers would use). But I think Tarantino is kind of discreetly paying tribute to fetishes in general throughout the movie, although feet might be a more noticeable one 😉 we see the long shots of Beatrix Kiddo's feet, but also Sofie Fatale's red-painted toenails as she's driving, the bare-footed 5,6,7,8's as they perform in the house of blue leaves, Lucy Liu sliding off her clunky sandals to fight her final battle in the snow wearing stockings... it's pretty obvious that feet are things of beauty and power in this movie... but the fetish fun doesn't stop there. The very first line of BOTH movies is "Do you find me sadistic?" Major hint at something there I think 😉 the funny thing is that the fetish nods are somewhat obvious to people who'd be inclined to notice something like that, but never blatant enough to make any vanilla folks uncomfortable. We also get Go-Go in her schoolgirl uniform, in one of the best fight scenes probably ever filmed... she wields a mace (a somewhat dungeon-like weapon) and giggles at Beatrix when she says "I know you feel you must protect your mistress, but I beg you, walk away." To which she replies in japanese, "You call that begging? You can beg better than that." hehe. Then the real fun begins, as the stakes are upped from a hot chick in a schoolgirl outfit swinging a metal ball and chain to a whole club full of sword-wielding asian assassins vs. Uma Thurman. It seems ridiculous, but the choreography of the fight brings you into it and makes it believable that she could cut them all to ribbons with ease.. which she does, until only one poor little guy remains, and then she cuts his sword down inch-by-inch with her own unmatchable blade. When he throws his hands up and surrenders to the blonde fury in front of him, she spanks him with the blade of her sword, sending him away crying like a bitch 😉

the second movie is heavier on story and mood, although we get an incredible fight between Uma and Darryl Hannah, which looks so real you wonder how either of them got away from filming this without some serious time in the hospital. The second movie also contains a big hint toward S & M with the relationship between Beatrix and Pai Mei... basically, she must show total obedience and discipline to him, for which she'll be rewarded by an approving flick of his beard (and the ability to punch through a coffin and pluck out eyeballs, which comes in handy later 😉 )

I have a couple questions concerning the movies, any other fans I'd like to hear your opinions.
1. In the anime sequence, I'm pretty sure it was Bill that killed O-Ren's father. Same sword, same rings, but we don't see Bill in the flesh until the second movie. So, if Bill killed O-Ren's dad, why would she work for him later?
2. How did Bill get Beatrix's daughter after she went into a coma?

I'm a geek I know, but these two movies kick major butt 🙂

 

[venray]

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[amk714]

I've seen both films and I enjoyed them (and not just because of the feet). And venray's South Park depiction is cool too. 😀

 

[venray]

I adore Uma.......

 

[milagros317]

I liked both movies, also not just because of the feet, but I must admit that I appreciated this scene best of all:

I love Uma's soles.

 

[amk714]

When I saw that scene in the theatre (one of the rare times I went to one) my heart just about stopped. Her feet sure looked huge on the movie screen. I love AND adore Uma and her feet!

 

[sole seeker]

I enjoyed the hell out of both movies. I've watched them (on tape) at least half a dozen times, usually while I'm on computer. It gives me something to look at while this slow-ass PC downloads.

One of my favorite scenes is when Gordon Liu is first testing Kiddo's skills. He's knocked her down so she does a kip-up and lunges at him with a sword. He jumps (flat-footed) to stand on top of the blade.

I have a couple questions concerning the movies, any other fans I'd like to hear your opinions.
1. In the anime sequence, I'm pretty sure it was Bill that killed O-Ren's father. Same sword, same rings, but we don't see Bill in the flesh until the second movie. So, if Bill killed O-Ren's dad, why would she work for him later?
2. How did Bill get Beatrix's daughter after she went into a coma?

In regard to your first question - I thought she killed everyone in the room when her parents were killed (except for Boss Tanaka)? I didn't think Bill was there.

As to how he got Kiddo's daughter. They never say of course, but just as he pulled the trigger to finish her off, she said, "Bill, it's your baby" (*immediate bang*). A guy like Bill, who made his living as a "murdering bastard", would have no trouble finding a way to buy/steal the child after it was born. Children are stolen from hospitals in real life.

 

[Krokus]

I love them both, but 2 especially. It's a shame there won't be any more.

 

[toyou444]

I actually preferred #1 over #2...but the eye-plucking in #2 made it a very close race!

~ toyou

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

There were so many cool things in the "Kill Bill" movies:

The music in both films
David Carradine as Bill
Daryl Hannah
Micheal Madsen
The fight in Vol. 1 where Uma wipes out the "88 gang"
How to chop your way out of a coffin if you're ever buried alive. (provided you had the proper training)

Now I gotta watch both films again, this will be the 6th time for Vol. 1 and the 5th for Vol 2.


Drew

 

[siamese dream]

In regard to your first question - I thought she killed everyone in the room when her parents were killed (except for Boss Tanaka)? I didn't think Bill was there.

As to how he got Kiddo's daughter. They never say of course, but just as he pulled the trigger to finish her off, she said, "Bill, it's your baby" (*immediate bang*). A guy like Bill, who made his living as a "murdering bastard", would have no trouble finding a way to buy/steal the child after it was born. Children are stolen from hospitals in real life.

Watch that scene again, it starts out with O-Ren's father fighting Yakuza thugs and he kills a couple of them, but then a mysterious guy with long hair runs him through with a sword. He falls down and we see O-Ren hiding under the bed, and she witnesses him being killed by the same guy. The shot slowly moves up the bloody blade , to me it looks like the Hattori Hanzo sword that Bill has... and then we see his hands on the handle, wearing rings on each hand like Bill does. But this character never speaks in this scene, and we don't hear anything else about who he is. O-Ren doesn't kill anyone in this scene, Boss Matsumoto kills her mother while the long-haired character (Bill?) stands by, and O-Ren is hiding under the bed the whole time. Then the long-haired character kicks a burning cigar butt onto a desk and it sets the house on fire...the next scene we see O-Ren standing outside her burning house, and then comes the scene where she kills everyone...but the guy with long hair isn't in that scene, we don't see him again. To me it seemed like this long-haired character was Bill as a younger man, already working with Yakuzas and killing people....the long, deliberate shot of the sword and the rings makes me think this was Tarantino's way of "showing" Bill before Bill actually appears on camera in the second movie. It doesn't really answer why O-Ren would work for him later though, but maybe she never saw Bill from under the bed, or never knew who he was, and only thought to take revenge on Boss Matsumoto.

on the second question I'm guessing that way too, maybe he even had already taken Bee-Bee from the hospital before he sent Elle to finish off the bride with a lethal injection (but changed his mind)... oh, and nice nurse uniform in that scene too, hehe 😉

 

[Oddjob0226]

I love them both, but 2 especially. It's a shame there won't be any more.

From what I read on the Internet, in 15 years, Tarantino WILL make a Kill Bill #3. Verdita Green's child saw her mother killed by Beatrix after all - and Verdita's & Bea's daughters would be about the same age. The revenge theme could continue on.

It's possible, considering Lucas waited 20 years to do the next Star Wars films, and about that to team up Freddy & Jason, and the Aliens & Predators in films.