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By
WAYNE KLEIN
As Elvis Costello once said,
"there's no money back guarantee on future
happiness" in Quentin Tarantino's fourth movie
"Kill Bill, Volume One." The honeymoon ends before
the marriage even takes place in this wildly
violent but enjoyable exploitation film "Kill
Bill, Volume 1." arrives just in time to get
people up to speed for the sequel. "Bill"
literally opens with a bang. Bill the head of a
criminal syndicate shoots The Bride (Uma Thurman)
in the head while his assassins butcher those in
attendance. Later, The Bride awakens from a coma
with revenge in her heart. Needless to say,
there's lots of bloodshed, outrageous stunts and
intense violence. Obviously not a movie to watch
with the kids.
Tarantino makes no bones about "Kill Bill Volume
One" being anything but an exploitation film. The
influence and style of the Shaw Brothers martial
arts hit factory are all over the film. The
over-the-top performances, use of 70's porn style
music to accentuate the action and rapid fire
cutting all pay homage to the films Tarantino grew
up a watching as a kid. The amazing and graceful
choreography acts almost as a counter balance to
the excessive violence and blood of the film. Is
it over the top? Yes and it was meant to be. "Kill
Bill Volume One" doesn't pretend to be an artistic
statement (although many of Tarantino's themes
emerge throughout the film) but exists solely to
capture some of the mystique of Leone's Man with
No Name Trilogy and the workman-like kung fu
movies of the 70's and 80's. Most of the time it
works although the cheese factor remains too high
to do anything but laugh out loud at some
sequences (which is probably exactly what
Tarantino wanted).
A talented director with radical z movie
influences, Tarantino manages to make this mish
mash of styles keep you entertained. While he's a
bit overrated as a film director, there's no doubt
that the man can slice and dice with the best
exploitation director. His later films (like
"Jackie Brown") also demonstrated an ability to
grow beyond the violent and bloody films of the
past. "Pulp Fiction" remains his best achievement
as it balances all these elements on a high wire
act of style and content.
Since most of the disc's capacity has been devoted
to the film, "Kill Bill Volume 1" looks great. The
day-glo 70's colors are bright and vivid. If you
don't have your cup of coffee in the morning,
watching "Kill Bill" will wake you up just as
well. The 5.1 Surround Sound mix makes good use of
all the speakers surrounding the viewer with the
action of the film.
Not much to report here. First a warning -- rent
"Kill Bill Volume 1" if you're looking for a DVD
packed with extras. Rumor has it that a deluxe
edition will be reissued when the second film
comes to DVD later in the year. Meanwhile we have
to be content with a rather perfunctory "Making
of" featurette, musical performances by "The
5,6,7, 8's" (which make Austin Powers and his band
seem gifted by comparison) and trailers for
Tarantino's other movies available on DVD. We also
get a glimpse of "Kill Bill Volume 2" with its
more sedate and character driven plot.
Considering how much Tarantino likes to talk (and
sometimes his comments about his films are better
than some of the films), I'm surprised there's no
commentary track included. My guess is that it's
all being saved for the deluxe, special edition.
No doubt, this will be reissued with commentaries
from Thurman, Carradine and others in a similar
fashion to "Lord of the Rings." It's a pity that
the trilogy special editions have been so
successful in some respects as studios keep
recycling the same material with new bonuses
making fans pony up two or three times for the
same thing. It may be great for business in the
short term but fans will wise up and get tired of
being burned
A enjoyable, off the wall movie, "Kill Bill Volume
1" doesn't quite live up to the highs seen in
"Pulp Fiction" or even "Jackie Brown" but it does
have its moments. The relentless action sequences
and blood and gore will certainly delight fans of
the martial arts genre. It's clear that Tarantino
has a great love for these movies. "Kill Bill
Volume 1" suffers only in that it's a bit late to
the table; many other films ("Matrix") have
borrowed the feel and style of the exploitation
films of the 70's, 80's and 90's. As a result,
some of what Tarantino wants to accomplish has
already been done. On the other hand, unusual
tricks like the annoying habit of bleeping out The
Bride's name when it's said, rapid cutting style
of the film and the use of music and shots that
look and sound like they're out of a bad
exploitation or porn flick will keep fans
interested. |
