Kill Bill Volume 2 UMD For PSP Review

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Title: Kill Bill Volume 2

Region: One

Genre: Revenge Action Drama

Stars: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Gordon Liu, and Michael Parks

Writer: Quentin Tarantino

Based On The Character Of “The Bride” Created By Q & U

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Feature length: 137 minutes

Extras: Deleted Scene

Languages: English Stereo Sound

Subtitles: English Captions

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 19

Sound: Stereo Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2004/UMD Release: 2005

Theatrical Distributor: Miramax Films

Home Video Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

The Bride (Uma Thurman) is back and still marking off the names on her death list in Quentin Tarantino’s excellent conclusion to his revenge action saga “Kill Bill Volume 2.” While it is widely known that originally the entirety of both volumes was to be one film, the Weinstein brothers and Quentin Tarantino wisely decided to split the film into two halves rather than cut it down to a more traditional feature length. “Kill Bill Volume 1” set up the premise and presents the questions while following a more relentless pace. It has an Eastern focus to it while “Kill Bill Volume 2” has a Western edge that answers all the questions we have left over from the first film and fleshes out the characters even more so. As he has in films like “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction,” Tarantino is able to make his characters quite sympathetic, even when they are capable of such horrendous acts that are often merely suggested rather than illustrated. We get the back story to The Bride’s and Bill’s (David Carradine) relationship and we see that not every character on The Bride’s death list has been living high off the hog in the last four years since they left her for dead at the wedding chapel. Michael Madsen’s character leads a hapless and almost hermit like existence as a bouncer with a trailer in the middle of nowhere. There is a scene where he gets chewed out by his boss for arriving late and then thrown out, but not before cleaning all the crap off of the floor in a restroom where the toilet has flooded. We almost feel sorry for him until we realize just how dangerous he can be. We know exactly what Bill did to The Bride at the chapel and thankfully the violent images are never shown, which is a good thing because the imagination can fill in the blanks just enough for us to realize how Bill got his daughter back from The Bride. Overall I think both “Kill Bill” films as a whole are Tarantino’s best work since his writing and directing debut in “Reservoir Dogs.”

Following up on the UMD release of “Kill Bill Volume 1” Miramax Home Entertainment has recently released “Kill Volume 2” to UMD for PSP and I have to state this for the record and that is so far with the exception of the recent Universal Studios Home Entertainment UMD releases, Buena Vista Home Entertainment is the only studio to treat the UMD-Video format with the respect the portable entertainment video format deserves. UMD is not meant to be a replacement to DVD or even a next generation format, but it has rapidly become the format of choice for people on the run whether it’s commuting on a long personal trip or business and it is a heck of a lot easier to carry a PSP and a few films on UMD than to carry of portable DVD player or laptop around. I also still think that within the next ten years there will be a strong push toward a machine that works as both a set top and portable unit and the media will probably be the same size as UMD, but have HD quality. Even if I’m wrong on the amount of time this will take, I do think the PSP and UMD is a first step toward this future reality and the fact that so many studios and distributors have began releasing titles to support the format as quickly as they have definitely tells me they see something to it because no one is in the business of losing money (At least not consciously). Now if they could look at some of the Buena Vista Home Entertainment UMD releases and realize that people who are buying these discs are also film fans, they could increase the value of their products and as a result their profits. I cannot substantiate this rumor, but I’ve even heard that there may actually be set top UMD players or some sort of hook up that can enable the consumer to watch a film on a larger screen. If I were a Sony executive, I’d strongly consider this as an option on the upcoming PS3 and maybe some TVs much the way Sony sets are often equipped with memory stick slots for digital picture viewing.

The colors on this UMD release are lush and there are absolutely no compression artifacts to note. “Kill Bill Volume 2” is presented in a letterboxed widescreen (2.40:1) aspect ratio that preserves the manner in which the film was exhibited theatrically as close as possible for PSP users. The English Stereo Soundtrack remains aggressive and enveloping without overwhelming the ears. In addition English Captions for the hearing impaired are provided for the PSP user as options.

A deleted scene presented in a letterboxed (2.40:1) widescreen aspect ratio with English Stereo Sound is included on the UMD too. The interactive menus are fully animated and easy to navigate. It is important to note that although the UMD menu states that both English Captions for the hearing impaired and English Subtitles are encoded on to the disc as options, only English Captions are actually included and although both the insert and full motion scene selection menus state there are 19 scene selections, there are actually only 18 chapters that can be selected directly through the PSP onscreen and console controls or UMD menus. I left the 19 scene selections on the top heading because of what the scene selection menu and insert states and I don’t want to create confusion however I am obligated to note what I found while screening the disc. Unfortunately I only have one unit to test the software on so I cannot confirm if this a software or hardware issue, which while I hope is not the case, could still certainly be a possibility as well.

“Kill Bill Volume 2” and “Kill Bill Volume 1” are now both available on UMD-Video for PSP at retailers on and offline from Miramax Home Entertainment and I highly recommend checking both volumes out.

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