After a six-year hiatus, Quentin Tarantino returns to the director's chair with KILL BILL. The movie proves once again that he is a hyperactive visionary and the master of cinematic coolness. Split into two volumes by Miramax in order to ensure that Tarantino's vision would not be compromised (and presumably to sell more tickets), KILL BILL: VOL. 1 tells the first half of the sprawling story, which is quite simple at first glance. A female assassin, referred to as "The Bride" (Uma Thurman), is attacked on her wedding day. Dead are her soon-to-be husband and unborn child. However, she doesn't die. Four years later, she wakes up from a coma looking for revenge. Although her ultimate target is her former boss, Bill (David Carradine), it's quite clear that The Bride is saving the best for last. And before she can track him down, she must methodically take out the minions who ruined her life. VOLUME 1's targets include Vernita Green/Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), and the heartless O-Ren Ishii/Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu). Using a blessed sword handmade by Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba), The Bride begins her relentless assault.

Turning up the style and energy levels that he kept under a threshold with 1997's JACKIE BROWN, Tarantino's obvious glee and reverence for the underground kung fu action pictures of the '70s, and Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, makes for a stunning visual spectacle. Employing split screens, slow-motion, an anime sequence, and his trademark ultra-hip musical selections, Tarantino's film dares viewers to be unimpressed.

Theatrical Release: October 10, 2003

UMD Features:

Full Frame - 1.33

Distributor Notes: Kill Bill Volume 1

The acclaimed fourth film from groundbreaking writer and director Quentin Tarantino (PULP FICTION, JACKIE BROWN), KILL BILL VOLUME 1 stars Uma Thurman (PULP FICTION), Lucy Liu (CHARLIE'S ANGELS, CHICAGO), and Vivica A. Fox (TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME) in an astonishing, action-packed thriller about brutal betrayal and an epic vendetta! Four years after taking a bullet in the head at her own wedding, The Bride (Thurman) emerges from a coma and decides it's time for payback ... with a vengeance! Having been gunned down by her former boss (David Carradine) and his deadly squad of international assassins, it's a kill-or-be-killed fight she didn't start but is determined to finish! Loaded with explosive action and outrageous humor, it's a must-see motion picture event that has critics everywhere raving!

Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Uma Thurman: American actress, PULP FICTION
Lucy Liu: Actress, CHARLIE'S ANGELS (2000), CHICAGO (2002)
Vivica A. Fox: American Actress
Chiaki Kuriyama: Actor, KILL BILL (2003)
Sonny Chiba: Japanese actor: IMMORTAL COMBAT/"Hattori Hanzo" series
Chia Hui Liu: Actor; martial arts films, THE SHAOLIN DRUNKEN MONK
David Carradine: American actor, KUNG FU, KILL BILL
Michael Madsen: Actor, RESEVOIR DOGS/KILL BILL VOL. 2
Daryl Hannah: American actress, SPLASH, KILL BILL, STEEL MAGNOLIAS
Julie Dreyfus: French actress, KILL BILL

Quentin Tarantino: American director/screenwriter/producer, PULP FICTION

Lawrence Bender: Producer
Quentin Tarantino: American director/screenwriter/producer, PULP FICTION

Quentin Tarantino: American director/screenwriter/producer, PULP FICTION

 RZA: Composer, Member Wu-Tang Clan

Sally Menke: Editor

"...In KILL BILL, Tarantino brings delicious sin back to movies -- the thrill you get from something down, dirty and dangerous..."
"...Quite brilliant....It's all here: the sudden shifts of tone, the flip-flopping time structure, the supercool slo-mo, the exquisite humour, the pitch-perfect performances and, of course, the trademark dialogue..."
"...There are some strong and diverse flavors, as well as vivid colors in the mix, all of them deftly reflected in the hip-hop artist RZA's clever, eclectic score..."
"...Tarantino can glean excitement out of someone walking across a room....And he's funny..."
"A new wrinkle on pastiche -- the first bona fide mainstream mix movie, and long live the director as DJ."
"...A strange, fun and densely textured work that gets better as it goes along..."
"...This is a down-and-dirty kung fu picture..."
"...It's a tale of vengeance that hinges on Tarantino's love of ferocity as spectacle..."
"...The ultimate film-geek freakout, a compendium of 1960s and 1970s cine-references..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "KILL BILL offers many glimpses of Tarantino's maverick genius..."