Very stylish homage to the martial arts films of the 70's

Rating: 7/10 (10 October 2003)

As this film opens we read in the credits that this is Quentin Tarantino's fourth film and he again shows us an updated version on a certain genre of film that he grew up on and obviously loves. Film starts with The Bride (Uma Thurman) already beaten to a bloody mess and talking to Bill (David Carradine) who shoots her in the head. She somehow survives and lies comatose in a hospital bed. She was pregnant before her attempted murder but when she awakens her baby is gone. Bill finds out that she is still alive and instead of killing her while she lies in a hospital bed he admires her toughness and orders his hired assassins not to finish her. The Bride sneaks out of the hospital and upon regaining her strength she makes out a death list for her revenge. The list has Bill and the four assassins who shot and beat her. The four assassins are Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox), O-Ren Ishi (Lucy Liu), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and Budd (Michael Madsen). She first goes to Vernita's and is involved in a knife fight. After she dispatches of her The Bride gets on a plane to Okinawa, Japan and tracks down a master sword maker named Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba). Hanzo allows her to stay for a month while he makes her a special sword. Then The Bride heads to Tokyo and finds Ishi who has become a crime boss in that city and surrounds herself with several henchmen and women who all have a special fighting talent. The Bride follows Ishi into a nightclub where a very violent stand-off takes place.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
The bride finishes off Ishi but keeps her lawyer Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus) alive so that she can send a message to Bill. The film ends with Bill talking to Sofie and asking a very revealing question that sets up a very interesting second part. Tarantino has always shown so much enthusiasm in his films and there is an abundant of energy in each scene. While the story for "Pulp Fiction" was more complicated this is not. It's strictly a revenge film and all the ingredients from the samurai action films of the 1970's are here. They were all basically revenge films then and it's why Tarantino choose the plot. While the story is relatively simple there still is a lot going on around it to make it a fascinating film to view and one of the things that jumps out is the music. Tarantino uses several bits of music from television and other films like the themes from TV shows "The Green Hornet" and "Ironside" and the film "White Lightning". Thurman wears a yellow outfit while she rides a motorcycle and it's exactly like the one Bruce Lee wore in "Game of Death". I don't think this is Tarantino's best film by a long shot but it is his most impressive looking. It doesn't have the grit like "Reservoir Dogs" and it's not groundbreaking in the way it tells it's story like "Pulp Fiction" but visually it's a cinematic spectacle. Thurman shows what a strong and versatile actress she is. She seems comfortable in both starring and supporting roles. Here she's not only the star but it's her most physically challenging role to date. She's up to the task and her tall physique adds to her performance. All the little things that Tarantino throws in like the music and the unique casting and the locations make this a fun film to view. This is extremely bloody and limbs and heads are chopped off in record numbers so the squeamish may want to steer clear. But for Tarantino fans and those who are familiar with the samurai films that this is an homage to than your in for quite an experience.