Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 & the Whole Bloody Affair (Quentin Tarantino, 2003-2004)

[flyonthewall2983]

Finding out that both Carradine brothers were in Mean Streets was a bit of a trip

[domino harvey]

The reason Beatty ultimately didn’t do the film is he wasn’t willing to go through the pre-filming martial arts training QT was demanding, btw

[beamish14]

Finding out that both Carradine brothers were in Mean Streets was a bit of a trip

Well, 2 of 3! Robert is in a blink-and-miss bit in Django Unchained

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Spoiler

Speaking of which, the decision to withhold the 'twist' is obviously a better choice, but the relationship between Beatrix and her daughter is given so much more time and content in that last chapter. From the opening toy gunfight to their time spent curling up together, it just breathes. I loved the additions to the goldfish story - which now feels cheap and superfluous in the original version, since the entire purpose of the story is cut... the dichotomy of life and death, with life as floundering alone on the floor, representing Beatrix's loneliness. And then there's Bill and Beatrix's subsequent exchanges on her loneliness and their dynamics and history that enrich the relationship so much more. I believe there's also an additional question asked in the 'truth serum' bit about Beatrix enjoying all the killing, and her painful affirmation is devastating, working in great contrast to her motherly identity.

Spoiler

Not sure when I'll actually get to see TWBA myself, but there's definitely a question along those lines in the original cut ("All those people you killed to get to me felt damn good, didn't they?"), as well as some explicit life-and-death metaphors during the goldfish story ("Is that not the perfect visual image of life and death—a fish flapping on the carpet, and a fish not flapping on the carpet?").

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah I just thought it was expanded and had more room to breathe, especially regarding engagement with the daughter

[mfunk9786]

So, for those of us who have seen the French-subtitled Cannes cut of The Whole Bloody Affair, it doesn’t seem like there is much to warrant splurging on this unless you’re truly dying for Production I.G.’s new sequence?

I can't get myself out to it, and I've tried to mentally get myself psyched to go sit in the theater for 5 hours (doesn't count with AMC A-List, either, so it'll cost like $22) when I just saw the Cannes cut in August... just can't do it, man. No 35mm+, no sale. South Florida's a bitch.

Will eagerly welcome the UHD into my home. Just wish they could cram the whole thing onto one disc somehow to make it a meaningfully different experience than just watching Volume 1 and Volume 2 back to back (which I guess also still need to stick around on my shelf as they're their own thing).

[domino harvey]

I will add that I like Carradine in the film, though I haven’t seen him in much else so I can’t compare his perf but I thought it was deliberately a little cagey and over-enunciated in a way that works for the character. But the part where he says “You know I love comic books” always falls flat for me because no you don’t dude, no guys swimming in baaad assassin pussy are reading comics (though at least I could buy Beatty reading a comic given Dick Tracy!)

[cantinflas]

There's no screenings in Australia (yet?) so I've just had to be at peace with it by jealously reading everyone's takes.

I did completely love The Lost Chapter: Yuki's Revenge though. It's on YT now of course but fuck that, you should be forced to join Fortnite to watch it like me. I got up at 5:30am that morning! Yeah I'm a loser.

It's easy to be cynical but I do like what Tarantino says in this cool little making of about the idea of resisting doing it until Fortnite came along and provided "something more cinematic inside of a much bigger world."

[Finch]

Honestly hearing everyone agreeing that the new anime sequence is superfluous in the grand scheme of things makes me wish that we'd also get the cut of TWBA without it, as technically you could argue it's the true TWBA cut that was screened all these years. The 2025 version is not screening anywhere near me so I have to hope that maybe it does get released on home video.

[Altair]

I saw this yesterday for the first time in well over a decade, and was especially impressed by Carradine's performance: the smoothness of his motion contasting with the cragged face, the way he speaks at consistently the same pitch, his deliberation over words, the chemistry he has with Thurman at the end, such that you can believe that they were lovers - it creates a different energy to the climax compared to what has come before in the film. Beatty might have been a little too glamorous, like a Bond villain, I think.

[Zot!]

Honestly hearing everyone agreeing that the new anime sequence is superfluous in the grand scheme of things makes me wish that we'd also get the cut of TWBA without it, as technically you could argue it's the true TWBA cut that was screened all these years. The 2025 version is not screening anywhere near me so I have to hope that maybe it does get released on home video.

It's superfluous, but I went in with that knowledge, so I was prejudiced. My wife and daughter, did not realize it was new, and thought nothing of it. It's fine, just redundant and overlong...but it works fine. It sits better in the already epic omnibus version, and if it was split up, it would have felt excessive.

The rest of my review: I saw it digitally projected...it looked crap, smeary, digital. Like the 2K DI it is....though it did feel like it got better as it went along, or I just got used to it. I wish a 35mm print had been an option for me. The movie is BETTER than I remember and well served by the longer format. I'm not sure if I minded the original cliffhanger, but it is better this way. If you can see it like this, I recommend if you want to revisit peak Tarantino, but yeah...it's still the same movie with some positive tweaks, don't expect to be surprised.

Spoiler

The one thing I think works worse is the reveal of The Bride's name. In the original it felt more meaningfully curated as the long-awaited opening reveal to the second part, denoting a second phase of the story and the character. Here it sort of just unceremoniously happens.

I did not stay for the video game advertisement.