People mistake Oren initially not fighting The Bride herself with cowardice. Her best friend/right-hand woman got her whole arm sliced off right in front of her, and she barely flinched (at most a slight gasp of shock, but was right back to being stone as her bestie bleed out on the floor). It's about Oren's position of power. She is THE Boss of ALL Yakuza Bosses in Tokyo. She's already put in her time and work of proving herself. That's why she's on top. The Queen doesn't go into battle unless absolutely necessary. That's what the subordinates are for. To handle the work you no longer feel the need to do. Otherwise, what's the point of having them and being in the position of exclusive comfortability if you have to keep doing the fighting yourself lol...

The Bride didn't just go after Oren because she was the easiest to find. She knew Oren would not only be the hardest to get to, but also although a short battle all thing considering, probably the hardest to beat 1v1 (The Bride almost got taken out with one critical hit by Oren, who knew exactly where to hit), and needed the element of surprise and BOLDNESS to catch Oren off guard to get through all of it (and probably the one she had the least beef with on the list along with Vernita). Everyone AFTER Oren knew The Bride was awake and coming for them, which is what she wanted. She knew she couldn't allow Oren to get that luxury because, as we saw in her backstory that since she was a child, Oren was built different. She didn't become one of the top female assassins in the world at just age 19 for nothing (she also needed Sophie to get the tea on the other assassins)...

As I always say, anyone alive during the 70's knows Bill's voice immediately.

The theory about why Hattori Hanzo was quick to help the Bride just with the mention of Bill was because Bill was not only his student but he was in a sense the Darth Vader to his Obi Wan. It's theorized he used a sword that Hattori Hanzo made for him as a symbol for a hero of honor as with all his other swords, only for it's use to be corrupted into absolute villainy (i.e. becoming a killer for hire and recruiting other killers to follow him) against humanity thus muddying Hattori Hanzo's reputation by association which is what may have led to Hattori Hanzo retiring the awesome legend he's known for regretting his decision to teach Bill. Now with the Bride showing up to reveal her motive and purpose this is his way of rewriting the wrong he unintentionally caused in teaching Bill his secrets.

23:30 he (Sonny Chiba) is also the father of the actor Mackenyu who played Zorro in the Netflix real life adaptation of One Piece

They're separated to two volumes because as a whole it's a very long movie and the producers wanted Tarantino to make it two parts. But they are filmed as one movie originally. For that reason Volume 2 is released only a year later.

Thanks to Sam and Tristan!  🩸  I think you'll love VOLUME 2 (2004), as well.  Prepare for a different tone/style.

41.51   "She's fine. Her brain's still good"       This is definitely  a "The glass is half full" guy.

"Why don't you ever take me katana shopping?" 😂

Most of the sound effects you mentioned are references to or taken directly from martial arts films and crime drama TV shows from the 70's.

The music in this is top-notch ... FYI - The actress who plays Gogo was also in another classic film  Battle Royale.

The spraying blood is a nod to the 1962 Akira Kurosawa samurai movie “Sanjuro” starring  Toshiro Mifune. In the final face-to-face fast draw duel, the loser was supposed to  just have a splash of blood. But there was a technical malfunction, and instead of a splash, they got a high-pressure fountain of blood.

That scene got left in the movie because Kurosawa recognized a good thing when he saw it. And after that, you basically couldn’t have a late 20th C  samurai movie without epic fountains of blood, and anime picked up on it as well./

Tarantino was paying much respect to his inspirations with this pair of movies.

the excessive blood spilling originates from 70s/80s samurai movies. check out for example Ichi-Oto/Lone Wolf And Cub series. or Shogun Assassin, which is a slick US edition of the aforementioned. (it's an awesome movie with fantastic synth music.)

growing up with tarantino movies our faves were usually in order of release but once kill bill and django dropped they became instant classics of all time.

The whistling song from "Kill Bill" is called "Twisted Nerve." It was originally composed by Bernard Herrmann for the 1968 British psychological horror film of the same name, "Twisted Nerve," directed by Roy Boulting. The song is known for its distinctive and eerie whistling melody.

While Quintin and Uma were filming Pulp Fiction, they would sit around and talk about movies that they don’t make any more, like the old early 70’s spaghetti western samurai films. One would say, “It would be cool if they…” and the other would say, “Oh, yeah! And what if she did this!”… and that is how they came up with Kill Bill. Uma said just let her be known as The Bride, so you never hear her name. All of the sound effects and music is from that era, including the acting styles.
If you like Tarantino films, you should watch “Four Rooms.” It’s a comedy about a bellhop in an old hotel on his first night of work by himself and it happens to be New Years Eve. He has to go to Four Rooms, each one with a different storyline and directed by four different directors. Tarantino directed the fourth room. The third room is the best!!!! It’s a must see!!!

This movie (and its sequel) is amazing. Great story, cinematography, and acting. Very gory too. I love the scene w/ "Hatori Hanzo".

I remember seeing this movie so vividly. It was advertised on bus stops and so after I saw it I couldn’t wait for part two, particularly with the daily commute reminder at the bus stop. Watching you two react brings back memories. This movie was so iconic it permeated cinema and influenced every 2000s reality television show.

O-Ren tells The Bride she won't last 5 minutes in a fight with her. From the beginning of the music queue (O-Ren taking off her shoes), their fight lasts about 4 and a half minutes.

Fun fact: the snow in the final fight is made of detergent.

Zoe Bell performed the stuntwork in these films for Uma. She starred in Death Proof. Please do this film. She was also in the Hateful 8 and Malignant.