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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:
Behind-The-Scenes Featurette, Deleted Scene, and Premiere CHINGON Performance
Languages: English
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and English and French Language Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles: English
Captions and Closed Captions and Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish Language
Subtitles
Packaging: Keep
Case
Chapter Stops: 19
Sound: DTS Digital
5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year of Theatrical
Release: 2004/DVD Release: 2004
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. As Tarantino states in the behind-the-scenes
featurette (26:03) that is included on this DVD, “Kill Bill Volume 1” sets
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.”
I had the chance
to check out Miramax Home Entertainment’s DVD edition of “Kill Bill Volume
2” at my parent’s house because my brother found a shop in Manhattan that
was selling copies early on his way home from work so he bought it. I initially
resisted the impulse to watch his copy, but after seeing one scene, I borrowed
it and watched it on my parents’ television set. My parents are retired and
their TV is big, but my father is not into technology. He is a skilled worker
with his hands, but when it comes to electronics he is the kind of guy who just
wants to plug it in and let it go. So basically the image I first saw the film
on was on a 36 inch 4 by 3 tube with a composite video hookup. I still was
impressed by the quality of the picture on that set. So I was totally blown away
when I got my review my copy and watched it in my house where I have a
widescreen TV and my main DVD player that I use to review all of the films for
GENRE ONLINE.NET is hooked up with component video cables. The colors are lush
and there are absolutely no compression artifacts to note. This is a state of
the art picture presentation that only gets better depending on the level of the
equipment you have. “Kill Bill Volume 2” is presented in an anamorphic
widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio that preserves the manner in which the film was
exhibited theatrically as close as possible for home video users. The English
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack remains aggressive and enveloping
without overwhelming the viewer. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack also has a clear three-dimensional quality to it and there is also a
French Language Dolby Surround option encoded onto the dual layered DVD as well.
In addition English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish Language Subtitles are provided for the
viewer as options.
The
behind-the-scenes featurette features some interview clips with Tarantino,
Lawrence Bender, and various cast members and yet it is more interesting than
the average EPK with Tarantino acknowledging the rich tapestry of films that
have inspired him to create the universe his characters coexist in throughout
the various films he has written and directed.
A clip of Robert Rodriguez’ group CHINGON performing at the premiere of
“Kill Bill Volume 2” (11:32) as well as a deleted scene presented in
anamorphic widescreen with stereo sound (3:37) are the only other bonus features
included on this DVD. It is a given that there will eventually be a more
expansive presentation of the film on DVD someday in the future, but I have to
note that I enjoyed this film a whole lot just as is and think the picture and
sound quality is good enough to justify purchasing this DVD regardless of what
comes along next.
“Kill Bill
Volume 2” officially debuts on DVD-Video on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at
retailers on and offline from Miramax Home Entertainment and I highly recommend
checking both volumes out.
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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