"Acting in a Quentin Tarantino film is just the bomb!" actress Vivica A. Fox gushes in a making-of documentary about "Kill Bill: Vol. 1," which was released on DVD this week.
There are, inevitably, more profound things said in the course of the documentary, but there's nothing too revelatory either. It's just a short promotional video featuring interviews with Tarantino and the "Kill Bill" cast and crew (including the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, who provided the film's score). Considering that this is the only noteworthy special feature on the disc, die-hard Tarantino fans -- of which there are many -- may be sorely disappointed.
Miramax has made a by-the-books financial decision in releasing the first part of "Kill Bill" on DVD just before tomorrow's theatrical release of "Kill Bill: Vol. 2." But from a cinematic point of view, this disc shouldn't exist yet.
Unlike, say, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Kill Bill" began production as a single movie and was only later split in half to avoiding the problems that come with releasing a nearly four-hour-long film. The disc contains a widescreen version of the film (thankfully, I can't see Tarantino ever allowing a pan-and-scan version to exist) as well as the behind-the-scenes documentary and trailers for all five Tarantino releases, including "Vol. 2."
The disc does includes neither a commentary track and nor deleted scenes or outtakes except for the full versions of "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield" and "I'm Blue," the musical numbers performed by hilariously bad all-female Japanese surf-rock band the 5.6.7.8's.
The documentary does have some intriguing material, like a funny story from Tarantino about hearing the 5.6.7.8's for the first time in a Tokyo clothing store and buying the store's copy of the CD for an exorbitant price. ("This is a BOSS band, man!" he remembers thinking.)
The other high point is the footage from "Lady Snowblood," a campy Japanese samurai movie with a badass heroine who clearly inspired Tarantino's vision for Uma Thurman's character of The Bride.
Much of the remainder of the documentary is made up of clips from the film itself, which makes it an annoyance to watch right afterwards. There are precious few behind-the-scenes shots of the sets, which were located in government-run studios in Beijing and Taiwan as well as on locations in the United States.
As for the movie itself, as The Dartmouth's Christine Huggins noted in her original review, "for most moviegoers, the geysers of crimson are just too much." But for any fan of the genres Tarantino is so clearly influenced by, the film is a visual treat, nailing homage after homage. Spaghetti Westerns, anime, yakuza crime drama and of course samurai movies are all clearly represented -- even fetishized.
One memorable scene from "Vol. 1" involves the leader of the Japanese mob squad the Crazy 88, O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), lecturing the gang on the proper way to criticize her judgment. The scene works so well in part because Tarantino has Liu deliver the lines in Japanese, providing intentionally- stilted subtitles for his trademark witty dialogue -- yet another reference to the badly-translated Asian B-movies he holds so dear.
A possible complaint about this release is that it includes the R-rated U.S. cut of the film, not the even gorier Japanese version. During the bloodiest fight scene, the film switches to black and white for a few minutes, a response to MPAA criticism that could have led to an unmarketable NC-17 rating.
This DVD will serve its purpose if you haven't seen the film yet or need to rent it to refresh your memory before seeing "Vol. 2." But unless you're a diehard Tarantino fan, hold out on buying this one until a special edition is released. Judging from the recent re-releases of the first three Tarantino films on fully-loaded DVDs, there will be a better release of the film on the horizon -- perhaps as it was originally meant to be seen, as a single film rather than a two-part cliffhanger.
DVD courtesy of International DVD & Poster, 44 South Main Street. Open daily.
