Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
★★★★½ — Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Quentin Tarantino's fourth feature arrived in 2003 after a six-year gap following Jackie Brown (1997), his most restrained and underrated work, and it represented a very deliberate swing in the opposite direction. Originally conceived as a single film, the project ran so long in the editing room that Miramax and Tarantino agreed to split it into two volumes released roughly six months apart. The thirty-million-dollar budget was modest for a film with this much choreographed mayhem, including a near-entirely black-and-white animated sequence (the O-Ren Ishii origin story, handled by Production I.G. of Ghost in the Shell fame) and a climactic sword battle involving dozens of fighters. Uma Thurman, a Tarantino collaborator since Pulp Fiction, reportedly co-developed the story with him, and her physical commitment to the role required months of martial arts training.
*nurse whistle is now stuck in your head* Tarantino wears his influences like blood-soaked badges of honour here. From the spurting arterial sprays straight out of classic samurai flicks to the unmistakable Bruce Lee homage with Uma Thurman’s yellow tracksuit. Kill Bill is a love letter to Asian cinema, martial arts epics, and the revenge genre at large. It’s Tarantino at his most kinetic, his most gleefully violent, and arguably his most stylish. The film is a masterclass in controlled chaos, blending genres like a late-night film marathon gone feral. The anime sequence is a daring but genius interlude, and let’s be honest, the entire House of Blue Leaves fight is one of the greatest action set pieces of all time. If there’s one sour note, it’s the lingering disappointment that Tarantino (who so clearly reveres Bruce Lee here) would later go on to mock him in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But I digress. From the grindhouse aesthetic to the blood-drenched ballet of its action sequences, Kill Bill is a pulpy, adrenaline-fuelled masterpiece. And honestly, who doesn’t love a roaring Pussy Wagon?
Rating: ★★★★½ | Year: 2003 | Watched: 2025-04-02
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads · ITVX Premium
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Physical: Amazon UK
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Quentin Tarantino: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) · Inglourious Basterds (2009) · Pulp Fiction (1994) · Reservoir Dogs (1992)
More with Uma Thurman: Pulp Fiction (1994) · Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)
