Any of our American cousins seen it yet? It's opening here in less than a week, I can hardly wait. I heard people say that whereus Vol 1. was the blood and flesh of the movie, Vol. 2 is the heart and soul. I really want to know how these two movies add up together. Just 6 more days...
Meanwhile, here's an exact quote of Quentin Tarantino, from an interview he gave an Israeli reporter.
"Q: Which volume do you prefer, the first one or the second one?
A: It's difficult to answer such a question. It's a little bit like asking a father what he likes more, his daughter's legs or her ass?"
I saw it last night. I'll start by saying I really enjoyed Volume 1, despite the fact that it was mostly hacking and slashing and little dialogue or character development.
That said, I REALLY enjoyed Volume 2. I thought it was a perfect Yang to Volume 1's Yin. The two halves really are quite different in tone, style, and especially the violence/dialogue ratio. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that I felt the wait was definitely worth it, and I'm curious as to how the two halves would play out when joined together.
Don't read any of the reviews for the movie. If you liked Volume 1, you'll probably like Volume 2, as long as you don't go in expecting the same level of gore. This movie is more suspenseful than violent.
Anyway, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Just got back from it myself and to sum in one word..
"Rawesomafabuloticous!"
Which is good!
Structure wise (You know QT has gotta mix things all crazy) I can see erics point he brought up earlier (About how showing certain things out of order tarnished supense) which I will discuss more indepth after more people have been allowed to watch it (I could hide it but it really should be a convo and those hiden convos get annoying).
Anyways I thought it was great..
It was stupid, and pretty much retarted to release vol. 1 & 2 they should have been just one movie cause the first to me, IMO is just one big intro!! So hopefully the second one is good! I'm not saying the first one was not good, but I am saying after watching it you feel like all you watched was some long movie trailer! Well atleast thats the way it made me feel! :-\
I read on IMDB that critics who enjoyed the first one enjoyed the second one even more, while critics who hated the first one hated the second one even more.
However, the number of critics that enjoyed it is significantly higher that the ones who didn't.
Nevertheless, I won't be able to see it until next week.
Just got back from seeing it.. And I must say.
Best fucking movie in the longest fucking time!
"You're a terrific girl. One of my favorites. But sometimes, you can be a cunt."
:) If you liked Kill Bill Vol. 1.. Kill Bill Vol. 2 is like a whole other movie, and you'll enjoy it even more. And all who say there is no character development in Vol.1 obviously must've gone to the bathroom through the whole O'Ren Ishi anime segment, and must've had their hearing-aids turned down real low to catch all the dialogue in Vol. 2.
Anyways.. Most people who hate this movie either A. Don't get it. B. Don't like this kinds of movies, or C. Are just jealous that they couldn't of made a movie so damn good.
But I do have a complaint that some scenes were rather drawn out too long.. And the movie could've been cut down by at least 10 minutes if that damn Esteban would've talked faster.
Good Lord... I think I'm gonna be the "party spoiler" who didn't liked the Vol.1. :-\
Yes, the structure and all that is good... I liked in the first part:
Spoiler
When she tells a whole story while trying to move her toes... was it the manga story?
But the argument (IMO) is too naive and the fights, if supperbs when talking of choreography, are spoiled by the fountains of blood... I know it is like in the old HongKong's films, but I never really like the HongKong films.
In addition, I saw lots of details like those that just didn't worked for making me feel in "ok, this film is suppeb comic turned into "flesh :o", but "argh... this is just stupid :P"
But of course, we're talking of personal feelings... I can't discuss with you if you liked it. :)
Kill Bill Vol. 2 made a solid 163rd place entrance to the IMDB top 250 best movies of all time. Usually, it's reliable. It also scored a nice 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is excepetional considering the movie's... err... uniqueness.
Can't wait!!!
I really Enjoyed Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2, having seen 2 Friday night.
It's just a fun movie, it doesn't take itself TOO seriously, and it pays homage to genre cinema. It's obvious a lover of movies, and film, especially Hong Kong Kung-Fu Films, Grindhouse Cinema, Spaghetti Westerns and such, made this movie. Yes, the action and violence are over the top, but it never claimed to be a realistic movie. It's just a film, meant to entertain and engage you - which it certainly did for me. I'd love to view it as a whole film, all 4+ hours, personally.
Bt
I predict the release of a DVD of volume 1 and 2 uncut and all together as if it were one movie.
Does anyone know where he got that first bit from where she's driving the car? Or is that just a general thing they did in 50's pulp fiction b&w films?
QuoteIt was stupid, and pretty much retarted to release vol. 1 & 2 they should have been just one movie cause the first to me, IMO is just one big intro!! So hopefully the second one is good! I'm not saying the first one was not good, but I am saying after watching it you feel like all you watched was some long movie trailer! Well atleast thats the way it made me feel!
I believe QT was told he had to edit the movie, but he decided to split it into two volumes instead. However, I think it works better as two movies. The length of the movies combined is probably around three hours and forty-five minutes or more, and while I enjoyed the films, I don't have the patience to sit for that long in a theater. So the split, to me, seemed logical and essential.
The second movie is quite different from the first one, not as much action, but I think more enjoyable. And to the argument that out of order things ruin the suspence. I don't necessarily agree. Because when you see something out of sequence, you can only wonder what must have happened to get to that point.
These movies are pure entertainment to me...that and feet. I think it was mixed well enough with a fun plot, good humour, action, love, and betrayal. I won't say it's the all time greatest movie I've ever seen, it won't make my top ten films, but it'll surely be a movie I'll see a couple more times.
-MillsJROSS
I'll hide most of my post even though someone's going to post a spoiler shortly anyway and people who haven't seen the movie should know this forum better than to have read this far in the thread.
I must be one of the few who thought the second part was pretty mediocre. Where the plot in the first part was nothing more than an excuse to show some quite amazing and stylish fight scenes, the second part doesn't have anything else but the story which is too shallow to keep me interested on its own.
Spoiler
By the end I couldn't care less if Beatrix finished her revenge or not. Overall it feels like a too long ending to a good movie.
The only redeeming part of volume 2 was the flashback to the training with Pei Mei, but if all it adds to the movie is that anti-climatic fight at end it might as well have been snipped.
"You're a terrific girl. One of my favorites. But sometimes, you can be a cunt."
Woop de doo, he said "cunt".
Edit: For the record I loved the first movie and went into the theater expecting more of the same, which might have made me critique it too harshly, but I doubt it.
A solid 25.6$ million start for Volume 2, 3.5$ million more than the first one.
My hype-o-meter will soon explode.
Esseb: I didn't post that cause he said cunt.. I just thought it was a good line.
Am I the only one that thought the plot was intriguing. I mean, you had to expect the anti-climactic ending the way they acted around eachother in the opening scene..
But I won't say anymore. All I know is that I'm gonna go see it again.
And I posted that because I thought it was not a good line.
I haven't seen either one because I'm one of those picky people who wants to see them both together as close to one movie as they can get... so I'm waiting for the "marathon".
I -do- want to see them though. Am I the only one who was completely excited about the movie when they heard it was QT's new one and saw some screenshots, and then almost completely put off when they heard Uma thurman and Lucy Liu were the main actresses?
Argh! I haaaaaaate them! I just don't know if I can look at Uma Thurman for that long. I'll try, I really will. I like QT sticking the same people in his movies when it's someone like Harvey Keitel but Uma... blech.
What's your beef with Uma.
She's one of the most attractive women in Film.. Not only that, but she's awesome in the movies. Lucy Liu is bleh.
I don't find her attractive at all. She's got that permanent 'drug-#@$!ed' look about her.
You have serious issues.
Quote from: Kinoko on Mon 19/04/2004 07:15:24
I don't find her attractive at all. She's got that permanent 'drug-#@$!ed' look about her.
I tend to agree...
/me doesn't find Uma attractive either.
And no, I didn't watch KB.
You are all gay. ;D
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
We live in a crazy, variety-ridden world.
People CAN think Uma isn't attractive.
I just think you're batting at a different plate than some of us. ;D ;) ;D
wow.. am I the only one that things she's overwhelmingly beautiful?
No, LGM. I agree. She's a goddess, much like her namesake.
Bt
I loved Kill Bill, Vol. 1. So much that I would go to the theatre by myself just to see the second one, just so I can see what's going to happen next. I also put my name down at work to buy a copy when a previously-viewed copy gets pulled from the shelves. Good timing, too... Kill Bill, Vol. 1 just came out on video here in Wisconsin, and Kill Bill, Vol. 2 just came out in theater's here about a week ago.
How many volumes are there supposed to be, exactly... that's what I wonder. Anyone know?
Uma Thurman may have a crack-baby look to her... but I still think she's hot. How can you NOT think that a chick that can wield a katana like that isn't hot? Aside from Kill Bill, she was looking pretty damn good in that black cat suit in the Avengers. ;)
It's just Volume 1 and 2. It was going to be one movie, but it was too long for Miramax and Tarantino didn't want to edit it down to a standard feature length so he did it in two parts.
2.
QT did say in several interviews that he would like to create Volume 3 in something like 15 years, where the daughter Vernita Green is the main character.
I may very well find some other chick who can weild a katakana sexy (if she was sexy BEFOREHAND - I can't say that lunch lady Dorris would do it for me no matter how much of a skilled killer she was), but not an actress being made to LOOk like she can weild one ^_-
I also hate her name. Sorry to anyone named Uma but... my god, it's just awful! @_@
You're too damn harsh, man.
Woman.
I watched Kill Bill part one for the first time last night (rented it from Blockbuster), and I enjoyed it. It wasn't as awesome as I'd been led to expect, but it was fun enough. I've booked tickets to go see part two when it opens here on Friday, since seeing the first part and not seeing the second would annoy me.
Quote from: Kinoko on Tue 20/04/2004 12:18:17
I may very well find some other chick who can weild a katakana sexy...
I'm talkin' about a samurai sword here... who's talking about fighting ninja's with the japanese alphabet?
Here's something to muse over:
Kill Bill was split into two parts, right. Now I read on IMDB today that the sequel just pulled in several million dollars ALL PROFIT because the first film already recovered the films costs.
Now, consider that Disney (of which Mirimax is an off-shoot) has been in DEEP FINANCIAL SHIT for a while.
Something tells me that the decision to cut Kill Bill wasn't as much Harvey's decision, but a request from Disney.
Just a thought.
In any case, Disney's still screwed.
I always found it funny that Miramax, a company owned by Disney (Or so I read) published Kill Bill, the complete opposite of what Disney stands for.. But I guess they've done that before. Miramax always seems to do the risque films.
That's why they deal with Miramax -- there's a lot of money in non-kiddie films too.
It's a shame, cause I remember the days when Miramax did mainly indie films.
Quote from: Dr. Jekyll?~MR. HYDE! on Wed 21/04/2004 08:49:02
Quote from: Kinoko on Tue 20/04/2004 12:18:17
I may very well find some other chick who can weild a katakana sexy...
I'm talkin' about a samurai sword here... who's talking about fighting ninja's with the japanese alphabet!?!?!?!?!?! XD
Argh.. OK, you caught me on an "off" day there. So, my brain was spaced when I wrote that :P Damnit! Just to help my repuation a bit, I HAVE done 4 years of Japanese at university! Trust me!!!
I also saw Kill Bill 1 today for the first time. I was very impressed - it's shiny stuff. I had a lot of problems with things I had heard about it but watching it, none of them were so bad! It just goes to show that you shouldn't judge something until you've seen it, or at least been told about it by someone that's actually reliable.
Was I the only one that desperately wanted Lucy Lui to win that fight? Uma Thurman's a decent actress, I'll say that, but I watched that movie with as big an open mind as I could manage and I just couldn't find her attractive. That black chick at the start though? Wow ^_^ All I can say is "What a waste!"
I always found it funny that Miramax, a company that has ruined most of the kung-fu films it has released on DVD and effectively prevented other companies from releasing decent versions or even selling imported versions of those movies and the other movies Miramax owns the US publishing rights to but haven't even released yet, published Kill Bill which is basically a homeage to just those movies.
I just found out that Vernita's actress is called Vivica A. Fox... "How appropriate!"
Quote from: Esseb on Wed 21/04/2004 15:46:32
I always found it funny that Miramax, a company that has ruined most of the kung-fu films it has released on DVD and effectively prevented other companies from releasing decent versions or even selling imported versions of those movies and the other movies Miramax owns the US publishing rights to but haven't even released yet, published Kill Bill which is basically a homeage to just those movies.
And somewhat related to it - Quentin Tarantino convinced Miramax to release the uncut version of Hero (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299977/).
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/507/507915p1.html (http://dvd.ign.com/articles/507/507915p1.html)
Fuckin' Miramax...
Or is it Disney???
Ah, the conspiracy. ;D
Exactly why I don't buy DVD's very often.
I already bough Kill Bill 1, and was very dissapointed of the content.. So when they all come out together in 1 special edition pack, I'll pawn my Vol. 1 copy and buy both.
Oh, what a great movie that was. Right now, I have a feeling that Tarantino can do no wrong. There is so much style, essence and heart in Volume 2. By making Vol. 2 the opposite of Vol. 1 in many ways, Tarantino in fact adds new dimensions to both films which can't be seen there on their own - Volume 1 receives more depth, Volume 2 receives more vividness. Together, this is a full and complete saga.
First, what a visual feast that is. Darkness, Light, Color, black and white, ratio changes, QT throws in all of his arsenal. But, unlike other film makers with no sense of style, he knows what to do and when to do it. The grave scene is one of the most thrilling and intense scenes I have ever seen. The audience could just feel the terror.
The action scenes, despite there being considerably less of them, are fantastic. The choreography in the Elle vs. Beatrix fight was inch-perfect. The short fight on the chairs was a great piece of imagination and execution as well.
The character development is surprisingly astonishing. These little QTish dialogs show us that these are more then stereotypes, but true people, who love, hate and regret. The wonderful performances by Thurman and Carradine produce two unique captivating characters.
My only two complaints are that the editing in the last chapter could be tighter, and that the soundtrack is considerably worse than in Volume 1. Besides this two point, this is a masterpiece, near perfect movie. Which one did I like better? I jus't can't tell.
I can't wait to see Tarantino's attempt at WWII. Sometime next year...
I just saw it last night, I refrained from reading this thread till now just incase I got a spoiler.
I enjoyed it better than the first one, I'm not a big fan of overdrawn fight scenes.
The first was good in it's own ways but I was glued to my seat the whole way through vol.2, it wasn't too slow. Infact the ways she finished off the rest of the crew were way more inventive, I loved what happened to Elle, I can't believe it wasn't so obviously going to happen.
I've never been able to decide if Uma is attractive or not, she is sometimes and isn't others but that's what I like about her, she's closer to an average looking person but there's still something about her. She has unusual proportions, but it's hard to tell as I've never seen her in real life. Is she tall or short?
Carradine was great I thought, and was probably mainly chosen for his voice.
What is great about the movie is that you know exactly what is going to happen before you even see the 1st movie, yet you have no idea how it's going to fit together, so how can you spoil it by putting things out of sequence, I guess the training during the grave scene could have been put somewhere less obvious, like in vol.1 but appart from that the sequences were spot on.
and as usual QT has all his Cameo performers, I bet he loved the fact he got Sonny Chiba for vol 1, and If only he had Samuel L Jackson in Reservoir dogs he'd be in all the ones he directed, he was also in True Romance which QT wrote and Sonny Chiba was mentioned in that too.
I'd like to see it all in one showing, I'll probably do that on dvd.
I also thought Vivica A. Fox was pretty sexy, The way QT operates, she'll probably star in one of his movies down the line. Her name almost sounds like a pornstar name, aah so that's where I've seen her before.
I came over this review which sums up my opinion on volume 1 and 2 perfectly. Apart from the eloquent wording it's as if I'd written it myself.
http://groups.google.com/groups?&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=108e5h1l463vt2c%40news.supernews.com&rnum=1 (http://groups.google.com/groups?&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=108e5h1l463vt2c%40news.supernews.com&rnum=1)
Two more comments that sprang into my mind while looking back at both films.
1) Vol. 1 has more scenes which feel stretched then Vol. 2. The Hatori Hanzo segment, for example, dragged on quite a bit. And, as a person who rather dislikes anime, that animated sequence was really too long. The only place in Vol. 2 where I think QT could have used tighter editing is the last chapter.
2) It's a good thing the film was divided in two. One of the best things about Kill Bill is how different both volumes are, and yet how perfectly they fit together and complete each other. As Grundislav said, both volumes are the Yin and Yang of Kill Bill. And could the good old Yin-Yang be nearly as cool if it consisted of one whole piece instead of two halves? :P
Esseb, if that's exactly how you feel, you need to see the movie again.. no plot? Puh! So what if there's a 20 minute fight scene, the rest of the movie still has plot. Who is the bride, what happened to her, who are the deadly viper assasins, the whole anime segment, the talking between Black Mamba and Beatrix. I dunno about you, but I believe those are all pretty good examples of plot.
The only thing that set me off as I read that review was the fact that he said Tarantino split the movies for money.. Which is obviously not true. Miramax didn't want to release a 4 hour movie. Tarantino wouldn't/couldn't cut it down to even 3 hours w/out losing too much. So he had to split it, which IMO was a great choice.
The only greedy people here is Miramax and their DVD-Release plan. Which we have already discussed.
Course, I'm sure you all know about this.. And I'm just a silly fanboy defending a movie he loves.. And yes.. You're entitled to whatever you have to say.. It's just a shame you didn't enjoy it.
Few things to note:
Timmy, believe it or not, Carradine wasn't QT's first choice to play Bill. Originally he was going to get Warren Beatty to play him. But it was Beatty who said he wasn't right for the role and suggested Carradine. QT agreed as soon as he suggested it.
Barcik, although I haven't seen it yet, I think yes, it would be as cool (if not greater) if it were a whole instead of two parts. As Roger Ebert said in his review: "Put the two parts together, and Tarantino has made a masterful saga that celebrates the martial arts genre while kidding it, loving it, and transcending it. I confess I feared that "Vol. 2" would be like those sequels that lack the intensity of the original. But this is all one film, and now that we see it whole, it's greater than its two parts."
Not only that, but we had to wait several months for it too.
Alright, saying the movie had no plot was probably too harsh. I do however think that the plot is laughable simplistic and is only good for letting Uma kill people.
That said, I do like the first movie. Hopefully the rumoured one volume edit Quentin will show at the end of the Sundance Film Festival or whatever will make the bits of the second volume worth watching.
Quote from: DGMacphee on Sun 25/04/2004 15:16:59
Barcik, although I haven't seen it yet, I think yes, it would be as cool (if not greater) if it were a whole instead of two parts. As Roger Ebert said in his review: "Put the two parts together, and Tarantino has made a masterful saga that celebrates the martial arts genre while kidding it, loving it, and transcending it. I confess I feared that "Vol. 2" would be like those sequels that lack the intensity of the original. But this is all one film, and now that we see it whole, it's greater than its two parts."
If you put the current, two movies together, then indeed the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But, I believe it is mainly so because of the way they add-up different aspects of the story to create a complete piece of moviemaking. Was it made as one movie, I doubt there would have been such a clear difference between the two parts, if at all. It would just be one lean motion picture, consisting of plot, action, chit-chat, blood, style and character development. Personally, I prefer the current format where all these things are divided between the two volumes. It adds up to the movie's charm.
Quote from: DGMacphee on Sun 25/04/2004 15:16:59
Few things to note:
Timmy, believe it or not, Carradine wasn't QT's first choice to play Bill. Originally he was going to get Warren Beatty to play him. But it was Beatty who said he wasn't right for the role and suggested Carradine. QT agreed as soon as he suggested it.
Odd, I watched KBv1 on DVD the other day, and I also watched the 'making of' documentary. Tarantino said Carradine was his first choice...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/news
Scroll to the news item dated 29 March 2002.
Well Quentin Tarantino is a lying bastard then.
I was more impressed with this:
"Patrick Stewart Blasts 'Kill Bill' for Female Violence
9 March 2004 (WENN)
British thespian Patrick Stewart has blasted movies like Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill - for helping to "stereotype violent attitudes of men to women". Speaking at Friday's launch of a new Amnesty International campaign against attacks on women in London, the Star Trek star revealed he witnessed his father beating his mother and claimed movies and TV have helped to perpetuate a nasty new trend. He says, "The entertainment industry has been extremely irresponsible in perpetuating and stereotyping the violent attitudes of men to women. I condemn utterly films like Kill Bill. We are told it is about empowering women. All it does is empower a woman to kill another woman." "
It's obvious he's a little hypocritical here (X-men? Star Trek Nemesis?) but I did find it an interesting point.
Wow... Patrick Stewart's a bit of a weirdo.
Honestly, the movie isn't a daytime soap about violence towards women. People who watch Tarantino's films know very well that he invents his own universe in his films. It's not set in reality, it's set in a kind of violent/cool reality, kind of like Loony Toons.
Aye, Stewart is being hypocritical. I'm also at-odds with his claim because demonising such films is like blaming Marilyn Manson for the Columbine shooting. I tend to think that the genesis of masculine and feminine violence lies in our perception during childhood and adolescence. Even if Kill Bill perpetrates such stereotypes (which I fail to see since it portrays the bride as reverse-misogynistic character i.e. she's out to "Kill Bill", so it seem atypical), condemning the film does nothing to curb violence in society.