Kill Bill Volume 2
Encyclopedia
Kill Bill Volume 2 is a 2004 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino
. It is the second of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart. Kill Bill was originally scheduled for a single theatrical release, but with a running time of over four hours, it was separated into two volumes. Kill Bill Volume 1 was released in late 2003, and Kill Bill: Volume 2 was released in early 2004. The volumes follow a character initially identified as "The Bride", Beatrix Kiddo
, a former member of an assassination
team who seeks revenge on her ex-colleagues who massacred members of her wedding party and tried to kill her. The film is often noted for its stylish direction and its homage
s to film genres such as Hong Kong martial arts films
, Japanese chanbara films, Italian spaghetti western
s, girls with guns
, and rape and revenge
.
- the Bride - and her groom (Chris Nelson) rehearse their wedding. Bill - her former lover and the leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad
- arrives unexpectedly and wishes her well, and it is revealed that Kiddo had retired from assassination and left Bill in order to give a good life to her unborn daughter; moments later the other assassination squad attack the wedding rehearsal on his orders.
In the present, Bill warns his brother Budd (Michael Madsen
), a bouncer and former Deadly Viper, that he will be targeted next. Kiddo arrives at his trailer, but Budd tricks her, and shoots her with non-lethal ammunition before sedating
her. Budd calls Elle, offering to sell her Kiddo's Hanzō sword, before sealing her inside a coffin and burying her alive.
A flashback shows Bill taking Kiddo to be trained by legendary martial arts
master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu
). She eventually gains his respect and learns a number of techniques including the art of punching through thick planks of wood from inches away and a technique taught to no-one else of killing using apparently non-lethal touches
to pressure point
s; she uses the former skill to break out of the coffin and to the surface.
Elle arrives at Budd's trailer for their transaction but also hides a lethal black mamba
with her money which kills him. On leaving she is ambushed by the returning Kiddo who plucks out her eye and leaves her screaming alone with the black mamba in Budd's trailer.
After finding Bill deep in the Mexican countryside, Kiddo is shocked to find her four-year old daughter B.B. (Perla Haney-Jardine
) alive and well. She spends the evening with Bill and B.B. After B.B. has gone to bed, Bill shoots Kiddo with a dart containing a truth serum
and questions her. A flashback recalls Kiddo's discovery of her pregnancy, and her resulting decision to call off her assignment and leave the assassination squad. Kiddo explains that she ran away without telling Bill in order to protect their unborn daughter from him and his life. Though Bill understands, he remains unapologetic for what he did, explaining that he's a killer and nobody should ever cross him. They fight, but although Kiddo loses her weapon, she disables Bill with Pai Mei's fatal pressure point technique, which he secretly taught her. Bill, aware of the technique and that he will shortly die, gives a final speech and dies. Kiddo departs with B.B. Later they are seen watching cartoons in a hotel together.
to selections from the Spaghetti Western
film scores of Ennio Morricone
. Bernard Herrmann
's theme from the film Twisted Nerve
is whistled by the menacing Elle Driver in the hospital scene. A brief, 15-second excerpt from the opening of the Ironside
theme music by Quincy Jones
is used as the Bride's revenge motif, which flares up with a red-tinged flashback whenever she's in the company of her next target. Instrumental tracks from Japanese guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei
figure prominently, and after the success of Kill Bill they were frequently used in American TV commercials and at sporting events. As the Bride enters "The House of Blue Leaves", go-go group The 5,6,7,8's perform "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield", "I'm Blue" and "Woo Hoo." The connection to Lady Snowblood
is further established by the use of "The Flower of Carnage" the closing theme from that film. The end credits are driven by the rock and roll version of "Malagueña Salerosa", a typical Mexican song performed by "Chingon", Robert Rodriguez's band.
. Volume 2s opening weekend gross was higher than Volume 1s, and the equivalent success confirmed the studio's financial decision to split the film into two theatrical releases. Volume 2 attracted more female theatergoers than Volume 1, with 60% of the audience being male and 56% of the audience being men between the ages of 18 to 29 years old. Volume 2s opening weekend was the largest to date for Miramax Films
aside from releases under its arm Dimension Films
. The opening weekend was also the largest to date in the month of April for a film restricted in the United States to theatergoers 17 years old and up, besting Life
s record in 1999. Volume 2s opening weekend was strengthened by the reception of Volume 1 in the previous year among audiences and critics, abundant publicity related to the splitting into two volumes, and the DVD release of Volume 1 in the week before Volume 2s theatrical release.
Outside of the United States and Canada, Volume 2 was released in 20 territories over the weekend of , 2004. It grossed an estimated and ranked first at the international box office, ending an eight-week streak held by The Passion of the Christ
. Volume 2 grossed a total of in the United States and Canada and in other territories for a worldwide total of .
gives the film a score of 85% based on reviews from 227 critics and reports a rating average of 7.7 out of 10. It reported the overall consensus, "Talkier and less action-packed than Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, nevertheless, delivers the goods for those expecting a satisfying conclusion to this two-parter." At Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 83 based on 42 reviews.
Roger Ebert
celebrated the films, saying "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.... This is all one film, and now that we see it whole, it's greater than its two parts." In 2009, he placed the film on his twenty best films of the decade list.
Cultural historian Maud Lavin
argues that Beatrix Kiddo's embodiment of murderous revenge taps into viewers' personal fantasies of committing violence. For audiences, particularly women viewers, this overly aggressive female character provides a complex site for identification with one's own aggression.
nomination in 2004 and 2005 for her work in Volume 1 and Volume 2. David Carradine received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 2005 for his work as the mentor-like titular character in Kill Bill: Volume 2. Uma Thurman
was also nominated in 2004 for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
for her work in 'Kill Bill: Volume 1.' The film was nominated for 5 BAFTAs at the 2004 BAFTA awards ceremony.
The film was very popular at the MTV Movie Awards
. At the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, Thurman won Best Female performance for Volume 1, Liu won Best Villain in Volume 1, and the fight between The Bride and Gogo Yubari won Best Fight. Thurman also thanked Chiaki Kuriyama during her acceptance speech. At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Kill Bill Volume 2 was nominated for Best Movie, Thurman was nominated for best female performance, and the fight between The Bride and Elle Driver in Kill Bill Volume 2 also won Best Fight. Thurman also received the Saturn Award for Best Actress in 2003 for her work in Volume 1. The Bride was also ranked number 66 in Empire magazine's "100 Greatest Movie Characters".
on August 10, 2004.
In a December 2005 interview, Tarantino addressed the lack of a special edition DVD for Kill Bill by stating "I've been holding off because I've been working on it for so long that I just wanted a year off from Kill Bill and then I'll do the big supplementary DVD package."
The United States does not have a DVD boxed set of Kill Bill, though box sets of the two separate volumes are available in other countries, such as France, Japan and the United Kingdom. Upon the DVD release of Volume 2 in the US, however, Best Buy did offer an exclusive box set slipcase to house the two individual releases together.
Both Volume 2 and Volume 1, were released in High Definition
on Blu-ray
on September 9, 2008 in the United States.
that a single film version of part 1 and 2 called Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair with an extended animation sequence was to be released in May 2009. Screenings of the complete film began on March 27, 2011 at the New Beverly Cinema
.
The Whole Bloody Affair version of the film that ran for a week at the New Beverly Cinema
in Los Angeles at the end of March 2011 was verified to be the original print that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival
in 2003, before the decision was made to split the film into two parts due to the roughly four-hour length. The print shown at the New Beverly even retained the French subtitles necessary for screening an English-language film at the Cannes festival.
Differences in this version in comparison to the separate Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 versions include the "old Klingon
proverb" shown at the beginning of Vol. 1 is not present, although a dedication to filmmaker Kinji Fukasaku
is in its place; the anime sequence is slightly longer with more gore; The House of Blue Leaves battle is in color (it had been toned down to black and white for the USA release of Vol. 1 only); Sofie Fatale loses both of her arms; the revelation that The Bride's daughter is alive at the end of Vol. 1 is not present, nor is the short black and white scene at the beginning of Vol. 2 where The Bride is driving and sums up the action to that point; in its place is a small musical intermission that leads straight into Chapter 6.
in April 2004, that he is planning a sequel
:
According to Bloody-Disgusting.com, details emerged around 2007 about two possible sequels, Kill Bill Volumes 3 and 4. According to the article, "Bennett Walsh said at the Shanghai International Film Festival
, the third film involves the revenge of two killers whose arms and eyes were hacked by Uma Thurman in the first stories". The article adds that the "fourth installment of the popular kung fu action films concerns a cycle of reprisals and daughters who avenge their mother's deaths".
Quentin Tarantino said at the 2006 Comic Con
that, after the completion of Grindhouse, he wants to make two anime
Kill Bill films. One will be an origin story
about Bill and his mentors, and the other will be an origin starring The Bride. The latter is most likely to be a prequel
, but could also follow the rumored (sequel) plot reported in Entertainment Weekly
in April 2004.
At the Morelia International Film Festival on October 1, 2009, while being interviewed on an Italian TV show after being asked about the success of the two Kill Bill films, Tarantino addressed the hostess by claiming "You haven't asked me about the third one" then asking the woman to ask the question would he be making a third Kill Bill film, which he replied "Yes", and claiming "The Bride will fight again!" On October 3, 2009, he further predicted that Kill Bill 3 would be his ninth film, and would be released in 2014. He said he intends to make another unrelated film before that date as his eighth film. He confirmed that he wanted ten years to pass between the Bride's last conflict, to give her and her daughter a period of peace.
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
. It is the second of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart. Kill Bill was originally scheduled for a single theatrical release, but with a running time of over four hours, it was separated into two volumes. Kill Bill Volume 1 was released in late 2003, and Kill Bill: Volume 2 was released in early 2004. The volumes follow a character initially identified as "The Bride", Beatrix Kiddo
Beatrix Kiddo
Beatrix Kiddo, primarily known as "The Bride", is a fictional character and the protagonist in the movie Kill Bill by American director Quentin Tarantino...
, a former member of an assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
team who seeks revenge on her ex-colleagues who massacred members of her wedding party and tried to kill her. The film is often noted for its stylish direction and its homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
s to film genres such as Hong Kong martial arts films
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
, Japanese chanbara films, Italian spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s, girls with guns
Girls with guns
Girls with guns is a sub-genre of films and animation, especially Hong Kong action films and anime, with a female protagonist in a strong lead role, set in a modern context. The genre involves gun-play, stunts and martial arts action...
, and rape and revenge
Rape and revenge films
Rape and revenge films are a subgenre of exploitation film that was particularly popular in the 1970s. Rape/revenge movies generally follow the same three act structure:...
.
Plot
In a flashback, Beatrix KiddoBeatrix Kiddo
Beatrix Kiddo, primarily known as "The Bride", is a fictional character and the protagonist in the movie Kill Bill by American director Quentin Tarantino...
- the Bride - and her groom (Chris Nelson) rehearse their wedding. Bill - her former lover and the leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad
Deadly Viper Assassination Squad
The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad is a group of fictional characters in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.It is a reference to Buddhism's "Five Poisons": see .-History:...
- arrives unexpectedly and wishes her well, and it is revealed that Kiddo had retired from assassination and left Bill in order to give a good life to her unborn daughter; moments later the other assassination squad attack the wedding rehearsal on his orders.
In the present, Bill warns his brother Budd (Michael Madsen
Michael Madsen
Michael Søren Madsen is an American actor, poet, and photographer. He has appeared in more than 150 films, most of them small independent films, though he has starred in central roles in such films as Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco, and Kill Bill, in addition to a supporting role in Sin...
), a bouncer and former Deadly Viper, that he will be targeted next. Kiddo arrives at his trailer, but Budd tricks her, and shoots her with non-lethal ammunition before sedating
Sedation
Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure...
her. Budd calls Elle, offering to sell her Kiddo's Hanzō sword, before sealing her inside a coffin and burying her alive.
A flashback shows Bill taking Kiddo to be trained by legendary martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu
Gordon Liu
Gordon Liu is a Chinese martial arts film actor. He became famous for playing the lead in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and its sequels...
). She eventually gains his respect and learns a number of techniques including the art of punching through thick planks of wood from inches away and a technique taught to no-one else of killing using apparently non-lethal touches
Touch of Death
The Death Touch refers to any martial arts technique that can kill using seemingly less than lethal force targeted at specific areas of the body....
to pressure point
Pressure point
A pressure point in the field of martial arts refers to an area on the human body that may produce significant pain or other effects when manipulated in a specific manner...
s; she uses the former skill to break out of the coffin and to the surface.
Elle arrives at Budd's trailer for their transaction but also hides a lethal black mamba
Black mamba
The black mamba , also called the common black mamba or black-mouthed mamba, is the longest venomous snake in Africa, averaging around in length, and sometimes growing to lengths of...
with her money which kills him. On leaving she is ambushed by the returning Kiddo who plucks out her eye and leaves her screaming alone with the black mamba in Budd's trailer.
After finding Bill deep in the Mexican countryside, Kiddo is shocked to find her four-year old daughter B.B. (Perla Haney-Jardine
Perla Haney-Jardine
Perla Haney-Jardine is an Brazilian-born American actress. She is best known for her role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as B.B., the four-year-old daughter of Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo and Bill.-Personal life:...
) alive and well. She spends the evening with Bill and B.B. After B.B. has gone to bed, Bill shoots Kiddo with a dart containing a truth serum
Truth Serum
Truth Serum is an independent comic book series created, written and drawn by author Jon Adams.-Overview:Originally published as a mini comic in 2001 and given away for free, it appeared as a three-issue mini series published by Slave Labor Graphics in 2002...
and questions her. A flashback recalls Kiddo's discovery of her pregnancy, and her resulting decision to call off her assignment and leave the assassination squad. Kiddo explains that she ran away without telling Bill in order to protect their unborn daughter from him and his life. Though Bill understands, he remains unapologetic for what he did, explaining that he's a killer and nobody should ever cross him. They fight, but although Kiddo loses her weapon, she disables Bill with Pai Mei's fatal pressure point technique, which he secretly taught her. Bill, aware of the technique and that he will shortly die, gives a final speech and dies. Kiddo departs with B.B. Later they are seen watching cartoons in a hotel together.
Cast
- Uma ThurmanUma ThurmanUma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
as The Bride / Beatrix KiddoBeatrix KiddoBeatrix Kiddo, primarily known as "The Bride", is a fictional character and the protagonist in the movie Kill Bill by American director Quentin Tarantino...
("Black MambaBlack mambaThe black mamba , also called the common black mamba or black-mouthed mamba, is the longest venomous snake in Africa, averaging around in length, and sometimes growing to lengths of...
"): The protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, described as "the deadliest woman in the world". She is targeted by her former allies in the wedding chapel massacre, and falls into a coma. When she awakens four years later, she embarks on a deadly trail of revenge against the perpetrators of the massacre. - David CarradineDavid CarradineDavid Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
as BillBill (Kill Bill)Bill is the fictional titular character for whom the movie Kill Bill is named. In the film, he is the leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, which included his brother, Budd . Bill's codename is Snake Charmer...
("Snake CharmerSnake charmingSnake charming is the practice of pretending to hypnotise a snake by playing an instrument. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous acts, as well as other street performance staples, like juggling and sleight of hand...
"): The former leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. He is also the former lover of Beatrix and the father of her daughter. He is the final and eponymous target of Beatrix's revenge. - Lucy LiuLucy LiuLucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
as O-Ren Ishii ("CottonmouthAgkistrodon piscivorusAgkistrodon piscivorus is a venomous snake, a species of pit viper, found in the southeastern United States. Adults are large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite. When antagonized they will stand their ground by coiling their bodies and displaying their fangs...
"): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She later becomes "queen of the Tokyo underworld". She is the first of Beatrix's revenge targets. - Vivica A. FoxVivica A. FoxVivica Anjanetta Fox is an American actress and television producer. She is best known for her roles in the films Independence Day, Set It Off, Soul Food, Why Do Fools Fall In Love,Kill Bill and Juwanna Mann....
as Vernita Green ("CopperheadAgkistrodon contortrixAgkistrodon contortrix is a species of venomous snake found in North America, a member of the Crotalinae subfamily. The more common name for the species is "copperhead". The behavior of Agkistrodon contortrix may lead to accidental encounters with humans...
"): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She later becomes a homemaker living under the false name Jeannie Bell. She is the second of Beatrix's revenge targets. - Michael MadsenMichael MadsenMichael Søren Madsen is an American actor, poet, and photographer. He has appeared in more than 150 films, most of them small independent films, though he has starred in central roles in such films as Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco, and Kill Bill, in addition to a supporting role in Sin...
as Budd ("SidewinderCrotalus cerastesCrotalus cerastes is a venomous pitviper species found in the desert regions of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.-Description:...
"): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and brother of Bill. He later becomes a bouncer living in a trailer. He is the third of Beatrix's revenge targets. - Daryl HannahDaryl HannahDaryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
as Elle Driver ("California Mountain SnakeCalifornia KingsnakeThe California Kingsnake is a non-venomous colubrid snake found in the western United States and northern Mexico. It is a relatively small subspecies of the Common Kingsnake and is naturally found in a wide variety of habitats...
"): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She is the fourth of Beatrix's revenge targets. - Julie DreyfusJulie DreyfusJulie Dreyfus is a French actress.Dreyfus, who speaks fluent Japanese, French, and English, is well known in Japan, where she made her TV debut on a French-language lesson program on NHK's educational channel in the late 1980s, and has appeared on the TV show Ryōri no Tetsujin as a guest and...
as Sofie Fatale: O-Ren's lawyer, best friend, and second lieutenant. She is also a former protégé of Bill's, and was present at the wedding chapel massacre. - Sonny ChibaSonny Chiba, also known as Sonny Chiba, is a Japanese actor, singer, film producer, film director and martial artist.Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.- Early life :Born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka,...
as Hattori Hanzo: Revered as the greatest swordsmith of all time. Although long retired, he agrees to craft a sword for Beatrix. - Gordon LiuGordon LiuGordon Liu is a Chinese martial arts film actor. He became famous for playing the lead in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and its sequels...
as Pai Mei: An immensely powerful and extremely old martial arts master. Bill, Beatrix, and Elle all train under him. - Stephanie L. Moore, Shana Stein, and Caitlin Keats as Joleen, Erica, and Janeen, Beatrix's best friends who are present at the wedding rehearsal.
- Bo SvensonBo SvensonBo Svenson is a Swedish-born American actor, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s.-Early life:...
as Reverend Harmony: The minister who was to officiate at Beatrix and Tommy's wedding. - Chris Nelson as Tommy Plympton: Beatrix's fiancé who is killed in the wedding chapel massacre.
- Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
as "Rufus": The organist who was to perform at Beatrix and Tommy's wedding. - Larry BishopLarry BishopLarry Bishop is an American actor, screenwriter and movie director. He is the son of Sylvia Ruzga and comedian Joey Bishop...
as Larry Gomez: The abusive manager of the strip club at which Budd works. - Sid HaigSid HaigSid Haig is a American actor. His roles have included acting in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects...
as Jay: An employee at the strip club where Budd works. - Michael ParksMichael ParksMichael Parks is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in almost fifty films and has made frequent TV appearances, but is probably best known for his work in recent years with Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith as well as the 1969 television series Then Came...
as Esteban Vihaio: A retired pimp. He was the first of Bill's “father figures”. Beatrix comes to him asking for Bill's whereabouts. - Perla Haney-JardinePerla Haney-JardinePerla Haney-Jardine is an Brazilian-born American actress. She is best known for her role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as B.B., the four-year-old daughter of Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo and Bill.-Personal life:...
as B.B.: The daughter of Beatrix and Bill. She is raised by her father while her mother is comatose. - Helen Kim as Karen: An assassin sent to kill Beatrix. Her attack comes moments after Beatrix learns that she is pregnant.
- Lawrence BenderLawrence BenderLawrence Bender is an American film producer. He rose to fame by producing Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and has since produced all of Quentin Tarantino's films with the exception of Death Proof....
(uncredited) as Hotel clerk
Music
As with Tarantino's previous films, Kill Bill features an eclectic soundtrack comprising many musical genres. On the two soundtracks, music ranges from country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
to selections from the Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
film scores of Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
. Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
's theme from the film Twisted Nerve
Twisted Nerve
Twisted Nerve is a 1968 British psychological thriller film about a disturbed young man, Martin, who pretends, under the name of Georgie, to be mentally retarded in order to be near Susan, a girl he has become infatuated with, killing those who get in his way.-Plot:The film opens with Martin...
is whistled by the menacing Elle Driver in the hospital scene. A brief, 15-second excerpt from the opening of the Ironside
Ironside (TV series)
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
theme music by Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
is used as the Bride's revenge motif, which flares up with a red-tinged flashback whenever she's in the company of her next target. Instrumental tracks from Japanese guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei
Tomoyasu Hotei
is a Japanese musician, guitarist and actor. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked Hotei at number 70 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts.- Life and career :...
figure prominently, and after the success of Kill Bill they were frequently used in American TV commercials and at sporting events. As the Bride enters "The House of Blue Leaves", go-go group The 5,6,7,8's perform "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield", "I'm Blue" and "Woo Hoo." The connection to Lady Snowblood
Lady Snowblood (film)
is a 1973 Japanese film directed by Toshiya Fujita and starring Meiko Kaji. It is based on the manga of the same name by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Kazuo Kamimura and follows the story of the eponymous assassin seeking vengeance upon the bandits who raped her mother and murdered her father.It...
is further established by the use of "The Flower of Carnage" the closing theme from that film. The end credits are driven by the rock and roll version of "Malagueña Salerosa", a typical Mexican song performed by "Chingon", Robert Rodriguez's band.
Theatrical release
Kill Bill: Volume 2 was released in theaters on , 2004. It was originally scheduled to be released on , 2004 but was rescheduled. Variety posited that the delay was to coincide its theatrical release with Volume 1s release on DVD. In the United States and Canada, Volume 2 was released in and grossed on its opening weekend, ranking first at the box office and beating fellow opener The PunisherThe Punisher (2004 film)
The Punisher is a 2004 American comic book action film, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, starring Thomas Jane as the antihero Frank Castle / The Punisher and John Travolta as the villain Howard Saint, a money launderer who orders the death of Castle's entire family...
. Volume 2s opening weekend gross was higher than Volume 1s, and the equivalent success confirmed the studio's financial decision to split the film into two theatrical releases. Volume 2 attracted more female theatergoers than Volume 1, with 60% of the audience being male and 56% of the audience being men between the ages of 18 to 29 years old. Volume 2s opening weekend was the largest to date for Miramax Films
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
aside from releases under its arm Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
. The opening weekend was also the largest to date in the month of April for a film restricted in the United States to theatergoers 17 years old and up, besting Life
Life (film)
Life is a 1999 American comedy-drama film directed by Ted Demme, and starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. The supporting cast includes Obba Babatundé, Bernie Mac, Anthony Anderson, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. and Bokeem Woodbine...
s record in 1999. Volume 2s opening weekend was strengthened by the reception of Volume 1 in the previous year among audiences and critics, abundant publicity related to the splitting into two volumes, and the DVD release of Volume 1 in the week before Volume 2s theatrical release.
Outside of the United States and Canada, Volume 2 was released in 20 territories over the weekend of , 2004. It grossed an estimated and ranked first at the international box office, ending an eight-week streak held by The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
. Volume 2 grossed a total of in the United States and Canada and in other territories for a worldwide total of .
Critical reception
For Volume 2, review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 85% based on reviews from 227 critics and reports a rating average of 7.7 out of 10. It reported the overall consensus, "Talkier and less action-packed than Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, nevertheless, delivers the goods for those expecting a satisfying conclusion to this two-parter." At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 83 based on 42 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
celebrated the films, saying "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.... This is all one film, and now that we see it whole, it's greater than its two parts." In 2009, he placed the film on his twenty best films of the decade list.
Cultural historian Maud Lavin
Maud Lavin
Maud Lavin is a nonfiction writer and cultural historian. She is a professor of Visual and Critical Studies and Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a recent recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts grant.Her most...
argues that Beatrix Kiddo's embodiment of murderous revenge taps into viewers' personal fantasies of committing violence. For audiences, particularly women viewers, this overly aggressive female character provides a complex site for identification with one's own aggression.
Accolades
Each part was nominated at the Golden Globe Awards. Uma Thurman received a Best Actress in a Motion Picture - DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
nomination in 2004 and 2005 for her work in Volume 1 and Volume 2. David Carradine received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 2005 for his work as the mentor-like titular character in Kill Bill: Volume 2. Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
was also nominated in 2004 for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
for her work in 'Kill Bill: Volume 1.' The film was nominated for 5 BAFTAs at the 2004 BAFTA awards ceremony.
The film was very popular at the MTV Movie Awards
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...
. At the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, Thurman won Best Female performance for Volume 1, Liu won Best Villain in Volume 1, and the fight between The Bride and Gogo Yubari won Best Fight. Thurman also thanked Chiaki Kuriyama during her acceptance speech. At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Kill Bill Volume 2 was nominated for Best Movie, Thurman was nominated for best female performance, and the fight between The Bride and Elle Driver in Kill Bill Volume 2 also won Best Fight. Thurman also received the Saturn Award for Best Actress in 2003 for her work in Volume 1. The Bride was also ranked number 66 in Empire magazine's "100 Greatest Movie Characters".
Home release
In the United States, Volume 2 was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on August 10, 2004.
In a December 2005 interview, Tarantino addressed the lack of a special edition DVD for Kill Bill by stating "I've been holding off because I've been working on it for so long that I just wanted a year off from Kill Bill and then I'll do the big supplementary DVD package."
The United States does not have a DVD boxed set of Kill Bill, though box sets of the two separate volumes are available in other countries, such as France, Japan and the United Kingdom. Upon the DVD release of Volume 2 in the US, however, Best Buy did offer an exclusive box set slipcase to house the two individual releases together.
Both Volume 2 and Volume 1, were released in High Definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
on Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on September 9, 2008 in the United States.
The Whole Bloody Affair
Tarantino announced at the 2008 Provincetown International Film FestivalProvincetown International Film Festival
The Provincetown International Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents a wide array of American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films for five days in June of each year.With panel...
that a single film version of part 1 and 2 called Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair with an extended animation sequence was to be released in May 2009. Screenings of the complete film began on March 27, 2011 at the New Beverly Cinema
New Beverly Cinema
The New Beverly Cinema is a historic movie theater located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Housed in a theater which dates to the 1920s, it is one of the oldest revival houses in the region....
.
The Whole Bloody Affair version of the film that ran for a week at the New Beverly Cinema
New Beverly Cinema
The New Beverly Cinema is a historic movie theater located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Housed in a theater which dates to the 1920s, it is one of the oldest revival houses in the region....
in Los Angeles at the end of March 2011 was verified to be the original print that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in 2003, before the decision was made to split the film into two parts due to the roughly four-hour length. The print shown at the New Beverly even retained the French subtitles necessary for screening an English-language film at the Cannes festival.
Differences in this version in comparison to the separate Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 versions include the "old Klingon
Klingon
Klingons are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe.Klingons are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films...
proverb" shown at the beginning of Vol. 1 is not present, although a dedication to filmmaker Kinji Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
is in its place; the anime sequence is slightly longer with more gore; The House of Blue Leaves battle is in color (it had been toned down to black and white for the USA release of Vol. 1 only); Sofie Fatale loses both of her arms; the revelation that The Bride's daughter is alive at the end of Vol. 1 is not present, nor is the short black and white scene at the beginning of Vol. 2 where The Bride is driving and sums up the action to that point; in its place is a small musical intermission that leads straight into Chapter 6.
Sequel
Tarantino told Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
in April 2004, that he is planning a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
:
According to Bloody-Disgusting.com, details emerged around 2007 about two possible sequels, Kill Bill Volumes 3 and 4. According to the article, "Bennett Walsh said at the Shanghai International Film Festival
Shanghai International Film Festival
The Shanghai International Film Festival , abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia.Along with Tokyo International Film Festival, the SIFF is one of the biggest film festivals in Asia. The first festival was held from October 7 to 14, 1993, and was held biennially until...
, the third film involves the revenge of two killers whose arms and eyes were hacked by Uma Thurman in the first stories". The article adds that the "fourth installment of the popular kung fu action films concerns a cycle of reprisals and daughters who avenge their mother's deaths".
Quentin Tarantino said at the 2006 Comic Con
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
that, after the completion of Grindhouse, he wants to make two anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Kill Bill films. One will be an origin story
Origin story
In comic book terminology, an origin story is an account or back-story revealing how a character or team gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances under which they became superheroes or supervillains....
about Bill and his mentors, and the other will be an origin starring The Bride. The latter is most likely to be a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
, but could also follow the rumored (sequel) plot reported in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
in April 2004.
At the Morelia International Film Festival on October 1, 2009, while being interviewed on an Italian TV show after being asked about the success of the two Kill Bill films, Tarantino addressed the hostess by claiming "You haven't asked me about the third one" then asking the woman to ask the question would he be making a third Kill Bill film, which he replied "Yes", and claiming "The Bride will fight again!" On October 3, 2009, he further predicted that Kill Bill 3 would be his ninth film, and would be released in 2014. He said he intends to make another unrelated film before that date as his eighth film. He confirmed that he wanted ten years to pass between the Bride's last conflict, to give her and her daughter a period of peace.
See also
- List of women warriors in folklore
- Double Dare
- Lady SnowbloodLady Snowblood (film)is a 1973 Japanese film directed by Toshiya Fujita and starring Meiko Kaji. It is based on the manga of the same name by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Kazuo Kamimura and follows the story of the eponymous assassin seeking vengeance upon the bandits who raped her mother and murdered her father.It...
- Kill BuljoKill BuljoKill Buljo is a 2007 Norwegian parody of the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill. It is set in Finnmark, Norway and portrays the protagonist Jompa Tormann's hunt for Tampa and Papa Buljo...
External links
- Kill Bill References Guide at tarantino.info
- Article from Universal Library including extended analysis
- Production I.G on the Kill Bill Anime Sequences Article from CGSociety.org