Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, 2025.
Directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Starring Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madson, Daryl Hannah, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama, Gordon Liu, Shin’ichi Chiba, Michael Parks, James Parks, Kenji Ôba and Perla Haney-Jardine.
SYNOPSIS
Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair unites Volume 1 and Volume 2 into a single, unrated epic—presented exactly as he intended, complete with a new, never-before-seen anime sequence.
Over 20 years after Quentin Tarantino’s two-volume revenge epic Kill Bill was released in theatres, the director’s complete vision of one unified film finally sees its wide release after only a few rare showings of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair. The result is a reminder of some of Tarantino’s strongest work as well as Uma Thurman’s powerful performance as the blood-spattered Bride which is made more impactful by combining the two volumes into one.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that even after so long Kill Bill remains one of Tarantino’s best works in his long career. The film is a great mix of the western and martial arts genres full of memorable characters, snappy dialogue and incredible action scenes. The Bride’s battle with the Crazy 88 gang feels entirely new as The Whole Bloody Affair‘s unrated cut sees the fight’s black-and-white sequence restored to colour, allowing viewers to soak in (no pun intended) all its blood and gore. The original black-and-white still has its own shine, but one can gain a newer appreciation with the colour’s vibrant setting and stellar choreography.
The combined nature of the film also provides more nuance to the story and performances. With Tarantino having re-edited the ending of Vol. 1 to remove the cliffhangers and Vol. 2‘s opening recap, the narrative structure flows very well to better convey the overall story even with Vol. 2‘s more dialogue-heavy and story-driven focus compared to the more action-packed Vol. 1. The throughline with its story, themes and character development is much more noticeable in The Whole Bloody Affair than having to switch discs or streaming the next part when watching the films back-to-back.
This is where Uma Thurman’s performance really shines through. The Bride was already one of her best roles 20 years ago, but watching her performance in this nature really highlights the strength of her arc and nuances she put into the character. This is especially clear in the different versions of The Bride she portrays, from her assassin training to willing bride to determined avenger. No scene is this clearer in when she discovers her daughter alive and well, a fact that in this cut of Kill Bill the audience finds out the same time as The Bride, giving the revelation a much stronger gut punch due to Thurman’s emotions and her subsequent scenes with BB.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair also benefits from additional changes. Aside from the removal of cliffhangers and the full-colour fight, some extra footage is added here and there but mostly in the anime sequence detailing O-Ren Ishi’s origin which includes a completely new scene of O-Ren exacting vengeance on another of her parents’ murderers. The new scene fits right in with the rest of the anime and is rich in its own right with the characters smooth movements and choreography. While it may not have been entirely needed, it is still very entertaining to watch and getting more backstory on O-Ren is never a bad thing as Lucy Liu made her quite a memorable antagonist.
Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair shows how much stronger many of its elements are as one film as opposed to two volumes. From the fight scenes, the story, the writing and the performances, a whole lot more nuance is gained in this cohesive film particularly with Thurman’s performance. If you’re a fan of Tarantino’s earlier work and of the Kill Bill films, The Whole Bloody Affair is the definitive way to watch this iconic story.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
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