Tarantino's Kill Bill: A tale of two halves

The Guardian

Miramax is taking the unusual and potentially risky move of releasing Quentin Tarantino's highly anticipated new film Kill Bill as two movies, in effect turning a three-hour film from a 200-page script into a serial.

Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein told the New York Times that the martial arts adventure's first instalment would be in US cinemas on October 10 and that the second release would follow two to six months later, a move which has taken by surprise those familiar with Weinstein's reputation for forcing directors to cut costs and lengths of their films.

Tarantino spent 155 days shooting the film, more than planned and longer than usual for most films. But Weinstein said Tarantino was something of a special case. The popularity of his violent yet original 1994 film, Pulp Fiction, helped put Miramax on the map and generated an abundance of cash to help the studio bankroll other movies. "Miramax is the house Quentin Tarantino built," Weinstein said.

Told in chapters, Kill Bill is the story of the world's deadliest female assassin, who survives being shot on her wedding day and wakes up after five years in a coma to seek revenge on the man who tried to kill her. The film's samurai-style fight sequences were filmed largely in China and take place in everything from a nightclub to a snow-covered garden to a suburban home.

While the serial approach attracts comparisons with the hugely successful Matrix series and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Miramax's decision carries risks given the disappointing box-office figures for a number of other sequels, prequels and serials, among them this summer's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

Mitigating some of the risk is the movie's price tag, estimated at more than $55m: less than most blockbusters cost because many of the actors worked for union-scale wages and because production costs in China are lower than in the US.

What Miramax and Tarantino are betting on is that the director's avid fan base and the pent-up interest in Kill Bill - which has taken almost a decade to make and is only Tarantino's fifth movie - will pack cinemas not once, but twice.

Okay, this pisses me off. The price of a movie ticket is ridiculous to begin with, now they're essentially doubling it and forcing viewers to make two trips to the theater.
I love Tarantino's movies, but I'll wait for this one to hit the video stores. They'll probably have it on 3 DVDs, an hour a piece.
Just a thought--what if the movie stinks?
I hope this isn't the start of a new trend.

Did Weinstein make this decision over a big meal?
Was he on a food high?

Because he is on something.

This is a terrible idea which seems not to suit Tarantino's style at all.

I mean come on, its not even a trilogy.

Try editing or letting the picture be as it is.

In the articles I can't believe they compare splitting 'Kill Bill' in two to releasing 'Lord of the rings' or 'the matrix' in different films. Kill Bill seems to be all one storyline, or adventure- LOTR was 3 books, and the matrix three COMPLETELY different storylines. Kill Bill doesn't seem to be too long a film, and I think fans will be pissed of waiting so long. if they leave it too long it'll go the way of the hulk and a rough print of the second part will end up online somewhere.

You guys are so right. What the heck is so long about 3 hours? No big deal. I rented the Civil War epic, Gods and Generals. It was 3 hours and 40 minutes and it was on one DVD. It said to turn the disk over after about 2 hours.
Gangs of New York, at just under 3 hours, came on 2 DVDs.
I would never go to the movies to see just one movie.
dlemond, lol on Weinstein and the big meal. :lol:

This is an awful decision. I think the Weinstein brothers think we have the attention spans of shoeflies.

When is the first film going to be released anyway?

Tarantino hasn't had a hit in a while, so this is a pretty risky move.
Hopefully the first "chapter" will be interesting enough to make viewers line up for part two.

Originally posted by TJL
When is the first film going to be released anyway?

Tarantino hasn't had a hit in a while, so this is a pretty risky move.
Hopefully the first "chapter" will be interesting enough to make viewers line up for part two.

Yeah, this is actually the first Tarantino movie in six years. Jackie Brown (1997) is his most recent. Part one of Kill Bill will be out on October 10. Supposedly.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'll go see anything Tarrantino puts out. The cast and the premise sound really good. Tarrantino is a genius as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'll go see anything Tarrantino puts out. The cast and the premise sound really good. Tarrantino is a genius as far as I'm concerned.

I agree that Tarantino is a great director, but splitting the film in two doesn't enchance his genius- or uphold it. It's pointless and it's charging fans double the money to see just one film.

I guess there just isn't a big enough audience for 3 plus hour epics anymore?!?

'Kill Bill' Thought Up Years Ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Director Quentin Tarantino and actress Uma Thurman came up with the idea for "Kill Bill," their latest film, over an after-work cocktail during the shooting of "Pulp Fiction" a decade ago.

"I told him I had this idea about a character - she's an assassin - and we went back and forth," Thurman told the San Francisco Chronicle for its Sunday editions, "and Quentin goes, 'Yes! and the guy at the head of it all, his name is Bill! He's a pimp for assassins! .... He's the bad guy and the movie's called 'Kill Bill'!"

Tarantino immediately wrote the opening scene for "Kill Bill" but set aside the screenplay for other writing, directing and acting projects after the release of "Pulp Fiction."

He didn't pick up his long-abandoned story until 2000, when he ran into Thurman at an Academy Awards party. Tarantino told the newspaper, "I just wrote and rewrote for a whole year."

"Kill Bill" turned into Tarantino's biggest undertaking to date: a three-hour tale of an elite assassin, played by Thurman, who is on a mission of revenge against her former employer, Bill.

Last summer, Tarantino agreed with distributor Miramax to split "Kill Bill" into two installments. The first part opens Friday; the second is expected to open early next year.

I can't wait.

http://image.pathfinder.com/time/asia/magazine/2002/0916/thurman.jpg

That's annoying. If Kenneth Branagh can get away with releasing a four-and-a-half-hour long version of Hamlet (which, as pretty as it was is not exactly gripping) there's no excuse for chopping up a Tarantino :D

Can anyone imagine what would have happened if they'd chopped up PULP FICTION? :crazy:

Great reviews so far. It's supposed to be off the charts violent. I have a hard time with violent movies.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/KillBillVol1-1126182/

Originally posted by Janice
Great reviews so far. It's supposed to be off the charts violent. I have a hard time with violent movies.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/KillBillVol1-1126182/

that's surprising - cuz everyone thinks Pulp Fiction was really violent and it's really not. Tarantino's always said the best violence is not shown onscreen.

Without giving anything away...

I would have to say that this is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Yes, it's very strange, and yes, it's very violent (not much realistic violence - more like anime/Japanese violence. Lots of Samuri swords and TONS of blood. Some of it is veeeeeery violent and I was shocked. But some isn't THAT bad). But it was WONDERFUL. It draws you in RIGHT from the opening scene.

I didn't even mind that it was a split cos the ending was SO suspenseful that I can't WAIT for the next film. Something to look forward to!! I honestly can't imagine it as one film, cos the end was like "*says line*" and everyone was like :eek: and it ended. I can't imagine that line being said and the movie just going. That would have been too.... can't think of a word.

GO SEE IT!!! But only if you're not afraid of blood, samuri swords, and lots of swinging those swords.

Originally posted by -*Forever*-
GO SEE IT!!! But only if you're not afraid of blood, samuri swords, and lots of swinging those swords.
Thanks for such a great review. I'm hearing only good things about this movie. I will wait for video release though...on principle. I won't pay twice to see one movie.
I read yesterday that when it's released on video, we'll have to rent both volumes.
I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/weekendboxofficer.html

I just saw it Monday. Out of all the "violent" movies I've seen, this has to top it. I normally don't gasp at bloody movies...nothing phases me, but this movie was crazy violent!

However, I loved the bright cinematography, the soundtrack (I did recognize the "Green Hornet" theme used in it), and the dialogue. And I, as well, am hooked. Can't wait for Volume II.

Originally posted by realchic1999
I just saw it Monday. Out of all the "violent" movies I've seen, this has to top it. I normally don't gasp at bloody movies...nothing phases me, but this movie was crazy violent!

However, I loved the bright cinematography, the soundtrack (I did recognize the "Green Hornet" theme used in it), and the dialogue. And I, as well, am hooked. Can't wait for Volume II.

But oi... so fake looking. So anime.

The heads being chopped looked fake, and stuff like that...but still, too much for my taste. Surprising for someone who barely flinches in bloody films!