Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Miramax Films
Blu-ray: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: A
Runtime: 137 min
Chapters: 19
Size: 50 GB
Case: Locking Amaray Blu-ray case with Slipcover
Release date: September 9, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: AVC MPEG-4
Audio:
English 5.1 Uncompressed PCM (48 kHz/24-bit); English &
French 5.1 DD. Extras: English 2.0 DD
Subtitles:
Feature: English SDH, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese &
Korean. Extras: English SDH
Extras:
• The Making of Kill Bill, Volume 2 (26:03)
• Damoe Deleted Scene (3:37)
• Chingon Musical Performance (11:32)
The Film:
8.5
Much has already been written about Quentin Tarantino
and his extended essay in the ultra-violent: Kill Bill,
the two volumes conceived as a single film, but released
theatrically just six months apart. I imagine it's no
accident that the second part doesn't really have a
title card. The movie begins with a brief recap of the
opening of Volume 1 where Bill shoots The Bride, then a
quick cut to where that film leaves off: Ms Thurman
driving in her convertible declaring that she's killed a
lot of people to get to this point and she finds him,
she's gonna kill Bill. Then the title card: Vol. 2.
Cool, huh.
But I digress. Taken together, the two parts of Kill
Bill sets up the how and, later, the why, of The Bride's
revenge for Bill having let loose her former assassins
in arms (I like to think of them as Charlie's Devils) on
the day of her wedding, killing everyone in the church,
and leaving the place a lot more holey than they entered
it. The first volume is as bloody as a manga: lots of
killing – and for good reason. The second volume is a
philosophical essay by comparison.
I like it – both parts. If you haven't seen it, you
should. If you find something worthy in A Clockwork
Orange or amusing in Pulp Fiction, I think you'll like
it.
Image:
8.5/9
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
The first number indicates a relative level of
excellence compared to other Blu-ray DVDs on a ten-point
scale. The second number places this image along the
full range of DVDs, including SD 480i.
Volume 2 makes use of more problematic film stocks,
especially in the Pai Mei episode, which is downright
dismal (and always was). Overall, compared to the Region
1 SD, which was pretty good in its day, the Blu-ray is
just enough more filmlike to make it worth the upgrade
on its own. Shadows have more detail, black & white
footage is damn near palpable, colors are more vibrant
without oversaturation (In fact, the color balance is
much the same). It's the by now familiar fact of
increased sharpness, resolution and dimensionality, not
entirely apparent in the comparative screen captures.
The picture needs to be in motion to appreciate the
difference. Somehow, the flat, grainy picture that we
once felt was quite satisfactory just doesn't cut it
anymore. If you want to see just how vivid this image
gets, slide forward to the episode with Michael Parks as
Esteban Vihaio.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music:
9/8
Once again another demonstration of how uncompressed
audio rules: This is harder to describe than to hear.
The hearing of it is instant proof. Talk is just, well,
inadequate to the task, but I'll give it a whirl. Sure,
uncompressed audio (PCM, Dolby, or DTS) delivers more
punch and more bass and treble – and that's nothing to
sneeze at. But there's another thing – let's call it
"dynamic nuance" - that breathes life into every line
reading (particularly Carradine's), but does likewise for
the music if it's well-recorded to start with. Two cases
in point: the first when The Bride walks out of the
church to take a break and finds Bill outside playing
his flute. This ought too be a magical moment, pregnant
with nostalgia, with hints of trepidation. It's all
there in the visuals, but on the SD, if you close your
eyes, it disappears. Not so with the Uncompressed PCM
track. Later, when she walks into the hacienda where she
will soon encounter Bill and her daughter, the music
suddenly builds as she enters their suite, not just in
the numbers of instruments, as we can plainly hear on
the 5.1 DD track, but taking a leap in complexity and
volume that simply doesn't exist on the earlier mix. Nor
could it. For this is the natural consequence of
compression (and it is why, prior to Blu-ray, I had
always preferred to hear the two channel mix via a high
quality digital-to-analog converter: at least the audio
stood a chance.)
Operations:
8
As with the Blu-ray of Volume 1, though this is a Buena
Vista release, there are NO promos or previews in
advance of the menu, only a lone Miramax Films logo. As
in many other recent Blu-ray DVDs, I found the menu
operations to be sensible, listing the length of the
various segments along with a brief description. And
it's easy to return to the menu from the bonus features.
Always a plus.
Extras:
6
As with Volume 1, all the extra features are ported over
and retained in 480i. And, as with Volume 1, the image
quality varies. The Chingon piece, which features
director Robert Rodriguez at the Kill Bill Vol. 2
premiere, is lifeless – dark and noisy. The music is OK,
but not very well recorded. The Damoe segment is worth
watching and will have you wondering just how it would
have worked if left in the film: In a B&W sequence, we
see Bill and his Bride walking peacefully through the
streets of a village when they are suddenly
accosted by a gang of samurai that Bill dispatches
skillfully as his Bride watches. On the other hand, the
26-minute making of featurette is well worth the effort.
The image quality varies here too but mostly it is very
good 4:3.
Bottom line:
9
Absolutely!
Leonard Norwitz
August 31st, 2008
January 2010
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Kill Bill - Volumes 1 &
2 [Blu-ray]
(Amazon.com Exclusive)
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