Kill Bill: Vol 1

Rating: 8/10 (23 June 2005)

This first part to the two-parter martial arts thriller is very good, especially from writer (also writing is the female star) and director Quentin Tarantino. Basically it is a mixed scene story showing why a bride wants to kill someone called Bill. BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Uma Thurman is The Bride, she has a death list for five people, before she faces main target, Bill (David Carradine). This film focuses on her hospital coma, and killing Vernita Green (Independence Day's Vivica A. Fox) and O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) with her army of masked swordsmen. Also starring Splash's Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver, Michael Madsen as Budd, Julie Dreyfus as Sofie Fatale, Chiaki Kuriyama as Gogo Yubari and Michael Bowen as Buck. There is a fantastic Anime cartoon sequence about O-Ren Ishii's assassin past, with blood splashing everywhere. Even the live fight scenes are like a cartoon, e.g. flying to landings, heads being chopped off, and just as much blood! See it for the violence, its almost hilarious. What also makes it a great film is the multi-genre references. It was nominated the BAFTAs for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for RZA, Best Special Visual Effects, Best Editing and Best Sound. Uma Thurman was number 95 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, and she was number 15 on The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols. Very good!