Where & When: Vista Theatre, Los Angeles, CA. December 5, 2025 11:30 AM
When Quentin Tarantino completed what would be his fourth feature film, "Kill Bill" back in 2003, this homage to his love of the martial arts films he watched as a kid clocked in at four hours in completed length. Harvey Weinstein, the then-head of production at Miramax that financed the film, strongly favors to have his films released at manageable runtimes. The mercurial Weinstein suggested that Tarantino split the film into two parts which the filmmaker certainly preferred instead of being forced to make extensive cuts. "Kill Bill: Volume 1" reached theaters on October 10th with "Volume 2" coming out six months later. And this proved to be a far more practical solution. I mean, what in the world could actually be cut out of the film that wouldn't leave this breathtaking revenge thriller narratively neutered.
Now, the two separate films have been properly joined together as one, entitled, "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair" and released for a theatrical run. I was at the first showing of the film on the first day of it's official release at the theater that Tarantino owns, the Vista in Los Angeles. The energy in that room was electrified and everyone was ready to settle in for the four and a half hours (including one intermission) of this cinematic thrill ride. And the film in many ways has actually been improved, now without any extensive interruption to distract from the wildly clever, brutally violent and absolutely bonkers experience that is tightly packed inside of Tarantino's ferocious, blood-splattered extravaganza.
Even with the film's current reconnection and enhancements, the story remains the same: Without a word, the Bride (Uma Thurman) suddenly left behind her life as a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad lead by her lover, Bill (David Carradine). Tracked down during the rehearsal for her upcoming marriage at a small chapel in El Paso, Bill (codename: Snake Charmer) along with his crew, Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah), Sidewinder (Michael Madsen) and Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu) guns down the entire wedding party, killing everyone inside. As a pregnant Bride (codename: Black Mamba) lies wounded, she tries to inform Bill that he's the father but he shoots her in the head.
Left in a coma with a merciful Bill deciding it would be dishonorable to kill her while she's defenseless in the hospital, the Bride comes out of the mental hibernation four years later. Distraught over the loss of her child, she vows bloody revenge to kill Bill and the rest of the Deadly Vipers involved.
"Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair" had originally premiered during the Cannes Film Festival back in 2006. Tarantino later screened "The Whole Bloody Affair" a few years later in the first movie theater he would own, the New Beverly Cinema, a revival house in Los Angeles. There are some subtle changes found in this version with the use of alternate takes and the animated sequence that reveals the backstory of O-Ren (Cottonmouth) has been expanded to include the entire scene which was cut for time.
By the time he made "Kill Bill", Tarantino was even more confident and comfortable in his abilities as a filmmaker having achieved great success with his previous works, "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown". Bestowed with plenty of accolades and prizes, he felt he could really begin to challenge some rules of conventional narratives, tackle subjects that are a bit more controversial and create his own thematic order. With "Kill Bill", Tarantino decided to go buck wild. Starting with an enjoyably farfetched plot, he pushed a non-linear story structure further, created some remarkable, memorable characters, incorporated elegantly rendered samurai sword fighting battles and pushed the blood and gore to unbelievable heights.
Even with the film's current reconnection and enhancements, the story remains the same: Without a word, the Bride (Uma Thurman) suddenly left behind her life as a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad lead by her lover, Bill (David Carradine). Tracked down during the rehearsal for her upcoming marriage at a small chapel in El Paso, Bill (codename: Snake Charmer) along with his crew, Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah), Sidewinder (Michael Madsen) and Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu) guns down the entire wedding party, killing everyone inside. As a pregnant Bride (codename: Black Mamba) lies wounded, she tries to inform Bill that he's the father but he shoots her in the head.
Left in a coma with a merciful Bill deciding it would be dishonorable to kill her while she's defenseless in the hospital, the Bride comes out of the mental hibernation four years later. Distraught over the loss of her child, she vows bloody revenge to kill Bill and the rest of the Deadly Vipers involved.
"Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair" had originally premiered during the Cannes Film Festival back in 2006. Tarantino later screened "The Whole Bloody Affair" a few years later in the first movie theater he would own, the New Beverly Cinema, a revival house in Los Angeles. There are some subtle changes found in this version with the use of alternate takes and the animated sequence that reveals the backstory of O-Ren (Cottonmouth) has been expanded to include the entire scene which was cut for time.
By the time he made "Kill Bill", Tarantino was even more confident and comfortable in his abilities as a filmmaker having achieved great success with his previous works, "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown". Bestowed with plenty of accolades and prizes, he felt he could really begin to challenge some rules of conventional narratives, tackle subjects that are a bit more controversial and create his own thematic order. With "Kill Bill", Tarantino decided to go buck wild. Starting with an enjoyably farfetched plot, he pushed a non-linear story structure further, created some remarkable, memorable characters, incorporated elegantly rendered samurai sword fighting battles and pushed the blood and gore to unbelievable heights.
What this re-release of "Kill Bill" now brings into even sharper focus is the astonishing performance by Thurman and how she elevates the film through the sheer force of her radiant charisma and formidable physicality. As the Bride (aka Beatrix Kiddo), the statuesque actress is on screen for almost the entirety of the film as we watch her shrewdly plotting each step of her plan before rapidly and seemingly effortlessly putting her merciless scheme into motion. Taking on one combatant after the other, the Bride is raw, feral and deadly when facing an enemy (or an endless army of adversaries), using her razor sharp instincts to ultimately conquer and destroy. Yet she's still capable of letting down her guard to be soft, tender and even maternal when given the opportunity. It's by no means an exaggeration to state this is Thurman's greatest screen appearance, masterfully going above and beyond for this role of a lifetime.
I will admit that I tend not to be a big fan of films with excessive time lengths. My personal ideal of a perfect running time for a movie is, give or take, about two hours. My gripe is that often times when movies run well past this point (pushing thirty minutes and beyond) they tend to feel bloated, usually doing nothing more than simply making the film unnecessarily longer instead of enhancing the narrative. Now having stated this, "The Whole Bloody Affair" is certainly a film that earns every single second of its 270 minute runtime.
I will admit that I tend not to be a big fan of films with excessive time lengths. My personal ideal of a perfect running time for a movie is, give or take, about two hours. My gripe is that often times when movies run well past this point (pushing thirty minutes and beyond) they tend to feel bloated, usually doing nothing more than simply making the film unnecessarily longer instead of enhancing the narrative. Now having stated this, "The Whole Bloody Affair" is certainly a film that earns every single second of its 270 minute runtime.
There is no question in my mind that Tarantino is an amazing talent and one of the most important filmmakers of all time. But this highly praised artist also has a narcissistic personality disorder and very large ego leaving him to believe that he can freely express his opinions no matter how wrong, offensive or downright cruel they might be. His recent personal attack on the talents of actor, Paul Dano is still shocking to me for it's lack of common courtesy and basic decency, especially considering Tarantino's position in the industry.
But none of this changes my opinion of Tarantino as a writer and director. His gift for taking the silly excesses of B-movies and adding his own singular spin on plot and characters is now legendary. There have been several misguided filmmakers who have attempted to duplicate the "Tarantino Effect". Yet they all fail to understand that their brains simply have to be wired a certain way in order to even remotely come close to his extraordinarily profound cinematic style.
But none of this changes my opinion of Tarantino as a writer and director. His gift for taking the silly excesses of B-movies and adding his own singular spin on plot and characters is now legendary. There have been several misguided filmmakers who have attempted to duplicate the "Tarantino Effect". Yet they all fail to understand that their brains simply have to be wired a certain way in order to even remotely come close to his extraordinarily profound cinematic style.
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