Kill Bill Part 1 (2003)
Stars
Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A Fox, Sonny Chiba, David Carradine
Director
Quentin Tarantino
The Story in a Nutshell
An assassin known as Black Mamba (played by Uma Thruman) is betrayed by her fellow members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, lead by the infamous Bill, and is attacked on her wedding day whilst pregnant. Everyone in the wedding party dies except Black Mamba, who ends up in a coma for 4 years. She awakes, and now known as The Bride she creates a list of those she needs to kill, and embarks on a killing spree, taking revenge on those involved.
Part 1 sees The Bride working through half of her list, getting ever closer to her former boss, "Bill".
Martial Arts Used
Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Ninjitsu
Weapons Used
Katana, Knife, Flail (also known as a Morningstar), Guns (various)
In Summary
Tarantino's homage to classic Kung Fu movies is either something you will love or hate. The references to classic films in the genre are endless, the soundtrack is typical Tarantino (hip, retro and unforgettable) and the actions scenes are endless and very stylishly done.
This film has everything you could wish for; great action scenes, perfect soundtrack, classic "revenge" storyline, and even an entire scene done in anime.
In particular, the scene with The Bride vs The Crazy 88's is something not to be missed. The sheer number of enemies our heroin needs to kill here before taking on O-Ren Ishii (played by Lucy Liu) is incredible, and creates a brilliant sequence of martial arts scenes.
There is a great performance in this film by Chiaki Kuriyama (of Battle Royale fame), who plays O-Ren Ishii's personal bodyguard. Her blend of madness and martial arts expertise make for a great fight scene with The Bride.
We couldn't write this summary though without mentioning 2 things. Firstly, the scene with O-Ren Ishii and The Bride in the snow covered Japanese garden, at night, with a mixture of silence and perfect soundtrack is a beautiful scene, and is perfectly executed by all involved.
Secondly, the casting of Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzo is a masterstroke by Tarantino. For the not-so-Kung-Fu- geeky of you out there, Sonny Chiba was the king of Kung Fu movies in the 1970s, and his appearance here is a great link to the films that Tarantino is paying tribute to.
But finally, it is Uma Thurman who makes this film what it is. Her performance as The Bride is simply brilliant, and the amount of screen time devoted to her is definitely worthwhile.
For information please see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/
Rating: 5/5
Author: The Bear Martial Arts Team
