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| Uma
Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen,
Gordon Liu |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Bill (David Carradine): Pai Mei
taught you the five point palm-exploding heart technique?
The Bride (Uma Thurman): Of course he did.
Bill: Why didn't you tell me?
The Bride: I don't know... because I'm a bad person.
Bill: No. You're not a bad person. You're a terrific person.
You're my favorite person. But every once in a while, you can be
a real cunt.
The Bride continues her vengeance
quest against her ex-boss, Bill, and his associates.
 There
is something truly miraculous about the work of Quentin Tarantino.
The film freak-turned-auteur might not exactly be described
as prolific with no more than four full films in twelve years,
but has so far failed to drop the ball on any one of his feature
outings as writer-director (apparently saving his moments of embarrassing
failure for his occasional appearances as an actor or guest director,
as in the catastrophic Four Rooms). These infallible instincts
of his as a film director (taken together with his ebullient personality
and complete lack of modesty) might explain the popular and critical
backlashes that fill in the gaps between his disappointingly infrequent
film releases.
Another element that has clearly fulled this oddly fluctuating
sinus wave of general appreciation is the sheer addicitiveness
of his cinema: there is no filmmaker alive whose every shot is
so alive with energetic, highly literate yet completely original
love of the medium. The sounds of hostility that have so far followed
each round of ciritical adoration seem fuelled as much by overexposure
as by anything else. The same fate is sure to befall both volumes
of his extraordinary pulp opus Kill Bill.
Completely different from, yet wholly essential to the first
installment, Volume 2 provides the pure adrenalin
shot of the first part both with substance and with action of a
different
kind. Taken together, the split-up saga makes up the kind of one-two
punch one wouldn't think any contemporary filmmaker could pull
off. But Tarantino follows up the tantalizing, rip-roaring first
part without repeating himself but also without feeling in any
sense anti-climactic. If anything, Volume 2 gives the
sense that there is enough material left in this story to create
at least two more films. |
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Similar editions of Volume One
and Two are available in most regions and territories, most
of which include the standard cut of the film with both Dolby
Digital
and DTS audio, a promotional featurette, music videos and
some trailers. In some countries (including the Netherlands),
the extras are inexplicably presented on a second disc. The
only DVD version significantly different from the American
one is the Japanese release, which appears to have a few
extra shots included, and the final blood-soaked showdown
presented in color instead of black-and-white. The international
release served as the basis for this review.
The anamorphic widescreen
image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 2.35:1. The
transfer, drawn from an immaculate source print, offers
no reason for complaint, presenting bold, stunning colors
with excellent saturation. There's some very slight softness,
but much of this is the result of Robert Richardson's cinematography,
with its blown-out whites and high contrast.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound mix is outstanding, its highly dynamic
presentation of the film's detailed soundtrack a key element
of the picture's success. The DTS version is even more powerful,
boasting a higher level of detail and more of a sense of
immersion.
With multiple-disc Special
Edition releases of both parts of the film already unofficially
announced beforehand, this first DVD release once again functions
as little more than a stopgap, with the film's many avid
fans already impatiently awaiting the inevitable re-releases
yet to come. The main
extra is a single deleted scene that delivers
some kung fu action from Bill himself. It's a fun scene,
nicely presented in good-looking anamorphic widescreen, with
intentionally silly bad dubbing. Its excision from the film
proper is further proof of Tarantino's remarkable good judgment.
Also on board is a 20-minute featurette that's
enjoyable for its interview footage with principal members
of cast and crew. Finally, a terrific performance by Robert
Rodriguez's band Chingon (from the LA premiere party) rounds
out the extras.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
November 19, 2004
Click
here for IMDB info on Kill
Bill: Vol. 2.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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