Moments of flash, with a lot of trash...

Rating: 5/10 (11 October 2003)

I know the point. I grew up on many of the films he hits upon in the movie. But you know what, he went too far. It's all right to give your nods to the filmmakers you love, but there were just so many, that it's not even his film anymore. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed much of the movie. Great camera work, limited use of wirework, the music was amazing, and it is very stylish. But there is no need for two movies. There is so much that is wrong with the two-movie plan. Without even seeing Vol. 2, I can say that his could have been edited into a very crisp, butt kicking 2-½ hour rock 'em sock 'em powerhouse film.
His non-linear timeline is obviously an attempt to structure Vol. 1 so as to get the huge fight placed at the end. When actually it's the beginning, (after the church massacre). While it is a cinematic treat of excess, it could have been honed down, and given its proper place to hook you in one long flick. See my personal opinion is that something went to QT's head during the making. Far too many references are going to go right over peoples' (the average moviegoer) heads. There were things I recognized right away, things I knew but couldn't place, and some things that I missed. And I've seen most of the movies he has referenced in articles, the credits, and movie connections listed here at ImdB. All in all I would have to say I was disappointed. I gave it a 5 here for average. There were parts that bored, parts that were very very good, and parts that could have been dropped completely. Like the anime; sorry, it was out of place in the context of what he was doing. I know some will disagree with me on that. But for what he was working with, Revenge/Samurai/Shaw Brothers, anime did not belong there. And considering how well done it was, it was probably a fair size chunk of the budget. If he had done away with that 10 minutes, removed some of the repetitive narrative, trimmed down some of the excess, then combined the 2 films, I think it would have worked, and would have been great. Oh well...