I present a casual and mindless Kill Bill Vol. 1 debate I had with Mr Zag, along with the fascinating perspective of a Japanese lady film buff. - Jim.
Jim E: Seen kill bill [Volume 1]? I wondered what u thought
Andy Zag: Yeah I saw it. I didn't really agree with
your review, to be honest. I didn't think it was hollywoodisation as such - I thought Tarantino just woke up one morning and thought, "right, I'm going to make a sword fighting movie with fit women, lots of violence and lots of blood." and so he did.
My friend who I saw it with lived in Japan for 4 years and he thought that it was all excellently done. He's also second dan in Kendo, I believe - the sword fighting martial arts, and he thought the sword fights were very realistic (at least in the technical aspect, maybe not so much in the fight hundreds of people at once type thing!).
I think you've done the same here that you did to the Matrix 1. I think you'll like the first much more after you've seen the second.
Also, maybe read the AintItCoolNews review - they explain how Tarantino took ideas for every scene of his movie from past classics and cult movies. Pretty interesting.
Jim: Just because a movie is a rip off of Japanese movies, doesn't make it good. As I said in my review, it copies, but it doesn't capture the art. Where's the creativity? BTW, aintitcoolnews review - the guy is OWNED by the movie industry. He was invited on the set and out for dinner with the director. He thought blade 2 and gozilla were excellent, in blade 2, he describes that movie in the most weird way imaginable [
lengthy comparisons were made between blade 2 and eating pussy FFS, but, as I was writing this email at work, I had to be careful of my language in case any corporate spyware kicked in ;) -JE]. I'm not sure I trust that site, it is full of sell-out adverts, ahem, I mean reviews And the guy that writes the reviews is obviously mentally subnormal. (Mind you, so am I).
Andy: Yeah, aintitcool is completely biased for Kill Bill, but its still interesting about how all the scenes were taken from other movies and stuff.
I haven't really seen a proper Japanese movie, as such, so I can't really compare. I just loved Uma Thurman in tight leather chopping off limbs with a sharp sword. And the excessive blood was amusing, in a twisted way at least!
Jim: Monty Python nailed the spurting blood
Andy: Yeah but it didn't have the fit women in leather and the cool music!
Jim: If I want to watch a music video, then that's fine, this movie looked and sounded like one. The more I think about it the more sucky Kill Bill is! Again, for the reasons I mention in my review.
Andy: I suppose some parts of it were like a music video. If music videos had Uma Thurman in leather, chopping everyone up with blood spurting everywhere!
Seriously though, I do think the music helps to make Quentin Tarantino's movies. Look at Pulp Fiction.
Jim: Yeah, of course it helps, sound is extremely important in movies. However, I cannot agree with you that watching Uma act badly and look uncomfortable with a big stick in a yellow jump suit (ripped off from Bruce Lee) makes a good movie! Behind all the noise and blood there was nothing! It's fun, mostly, but it isn't exactly Pulp Fiction, and even Pulp Fiction is a bit shallow - try rewatching it, but no where near as shallow as Kill Bill. P.S. incidentally, the movie ended half way through, so we have to pay again to see the rest of it - what a con
As for lucy lui, don't' get me started! I think I will downgrade the mark I gave this bullshit [I didn't, but it was a bloody close call... :) ]
Andy: *grin*
I honestly thought Uma acted really well. Look at the bit where she realises she's lost her baby. Not to mention the excellent moves she performed with the sword - like i say, my friend knows his stuff, and he was impressed.
I didn't love the movie, but I did really enjoy it. I would buy it on DVD, just to put on when depressed and get the huge buzz out of the madness going on. Its a fun, fantasy film which just lets everything go, I think anyway.
I though Lucy Lui seemed very stiff and controlled, but I'm wondering if she was supposed to act that way? She is supposed to be an important, honourable figure in Japan, and isn't that how they act? To be fair, I thought she could have been better, but I didn't think she was bad.
I also thought the animation was fantastic, if slightly surreal. And the huge fight just had me cringing and watching in horrible fascination - nobody human could actually watch all that slaughter and graphic violence without cringing a bit, and I think that was part of the fun. The movie seemed one of the shortest movies I've seen, even though it was on for a decent time, and I think thats got to be a plus point.
A funny bit in our cinema was when the Japanese school girl stabbed the bloke in the groin. Everyone was silent and wincing in the cinema, apart from one sicko who started laughing his head off! Psycho! My friends were saying that was the scariest part of the movie - watching with a real psycho! :D
I asked a Japanese friend (well, internet chat friend) for her opinion of Kill Bill, I didn't give her my opinion. Her reply was informal, so
the grammar is not correct, but her views about
Kill Bill Vol 1 are well worth a read. - Jim.
Akemi: Well i saw kill bill and honestly i don't like it..
I don't want to watch the next one in theather cos no worth to pay for it.
It just like homage ? movie ..very alike Kinji Fukasaku films who is famous japanese film director died this year early or , sorry cant recall well
One thing is symbolic.. when Uma awoke after bit from mosquito.. cos she lost her baby and mosquito , only suck our blood when pregnant? i heard.
Meiko Kaji (you heard the Japanese song at the end of movie and also when credit appear on the screen) was good actress and still she is nice actress but no longer on any tv drama i guess.
Or almost all of people are forgetting her here.
I guess the kill bill is type of nikyo /yakuza movie.. and there is other type of tv drama and movie we call jidai geki.
How the nikyo/yakuza movie or drama is different from jidai geki is i think lot of blood and brutal scenes in nikyo/yakuza movie.
Some people say should understand the spirits of yakuza or religion sort of .. called giri ninjyo
Giri means obligation ninjyo means humane.. but..i think those thoughts are sort of decay..
And i couldn't find much her confliction in the movie..need something more emotional..
Nothing subtle..
Stylish is good but it was too nothing.. why needed so much japanese words?
Make me laugh.. silly;p
Well it was anyway okay movie but there would be something more nice movie. even homage style to japanese movies.
Here is a url about
fukasaku and something about Ninkyo/yakuza movies
About him:
films--kinji fukasaku
Jim's
review of Kill Bill Vol 1
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