An Absolute Classic

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2004)

If one did not know going in that this was a Tarantino movie, one would be able to discern that fact within five minutes. From the violence of the opening scene segueing to Nancy Sinatra's haunting "Bang Bang", it would be obvious to all who know QT's work.
Then we go right to a fight scene, where she dispatches the 2ND person on her "Death List Five"; what a deliciously funny moment when both characters have to pause their knock-down, drag-out catfight because a school bus carrying Vernita's daughter pulls up right outside!
Then we go back in time to the scene where the Bride wakes from her coma... and she exacts revenge on the orderly who had been pimping the coma patients for a few bucks! (Who but QT would throw something that perverse in just for laughs?) I remember the first time I saw that scene, when Buck is explaining "the rules" to his would-be customer, I said aloud to the screen "Boy, you picked the wrong girl on the wrong goddamn day!"
The Anime segment detailing O-Ren's origins was a very nice touch... it's been said that this whole film is a live-action cartoon, and having actual animation within it seems apropos.
From there we go to Okinawa, where the Bride acquires the services of a retired sword-maker, getting him to relinquish his vow to never create another instrument of death. This scene was a little overly long, but a wonderful precursor to the bloody scene that was to follow.
And then, at last, the final third of the movie: The Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves. One of the best fight scenes ever filmed! Some may find it gratuitously violent, and rightly so, but people offended by such things should have known better than to go see a QT movie in the first place! Such people may also take note that the most gratuitous part of the fight scene switched to B/W, so as to tone down the bloodiness of it without detracting from it.
My best friend, whose name was Larry, sadly, passed away in the year 2000. He was an avid moviegoer - he loved spaghetti westerns, he loved Asian martial-arts movies, and he loved QT. I look at this film and I know without a doubt that it would have made his list of all-time favorites, and it saddens me that he never got to see it.
I must add that I was a little bit disappointed with KB2; though I didn't expect KB2 to be a carbon copy of KB1, it seemed to be lacking the campy spirit that KB1 had. QT's movies all have certain themes in common; violent action, wacky homages to his favorite genres, and memorable dialogue in the scenes that are purely for exposition. In my opinion, KB1 is an outstanding movie because it had all three of these qualities; KB2 is just okay because the exposition far outweighed the action.
If gratuitous violence offends you, or if blood and gore makes you squeamish, then you should probably avoid this movie at all costs. If, on the other hand, you like exploring what I like to call "the dark underbelly of film-making", which is the essence of QT's work, then you will love this movie, and want to watch it over and over again.
My Score: An unqualified 10.