Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
2025 theatrical release
I don’t think that I have ever been more terrified in a movie theatre than waiting for Kill Bill to start in Brantford, Ontario in 2003. I had read the reviews. They all had different takes on the same subject: the film’s over-the-top B-movie violence and cartoonish (and sometimes cartoon) rivers of blood. At 23, I had recently graduated from university a second time, but I had never willingly subjected myself to this much cinematic gore. Thankfully, by the end of the movie, I fully agreed with the critics who praised the humorous send-up of old Japanese movies and exploitation flicks. I loved that film! But, as the beginning credits began on a black background to the sounds of the heroine’s dying gasps of terror and pain, I wanted to get out of there fast!
Since then, Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Kill Bill, Vol. 2 have become some of the bedrock films of my Top Movies List (currently numbers 12 and 21, respectively). Yes, Quentin Tarantino had already made an explosive entrance with Reservoir Dogs, Palme d’Or winner Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown. But Kill Bill was the moment when the real QT stood up. The two films were originally meant to be one epic, but even Tarantino couldn’t get away with releasing a bloody 5-hour film in 2003. It was split into two volumes (jointly considered “the 4th film by Quentin Tarantino”), and some concessions were made to appease the ratings board. Now, more than twenty years later, audiences were treated to the entire one-movie version of Kill Bill, subtitled The Whole Bloody Affair.
While I was ecstatic to watch Uma Thurman’s The Bride again on the big screen, I can safely say that the originally released two-film version with all of its so-called compromises is truly the superior version. Constraints very often lead to the refinement and elevation of art, and that is true here. For one, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 are distinctly different movies, and it makes more sense for them to exist as such. Also, no one left the theatre during the way-too-long intermission that cut the film into its two sections anyway. Instead, we waited impatiently for the film to start again.
What other differences exist between the original theatrical versions and The Whole Bloody Affair? Read on.
The opening recap scene of Vol. 2 is the most obvious choice for deletion…but after not liking it on first watch, it has become a particularly beloved part of the films for me. “I roared. And I rampaged. And I got bloody satisfaction.” The corny rear projection visuals and Uma’s blurb-ready direct address to the audience are loving homages to the swath of revenge pictures satirized by the movie. I missed it.
The end of Vol. 1 contains a more controversial alteration. One of the best closing lines/cliffhangers ever, Bill’s final words in that half are an injection of adrenaline that propels Vol. 2. Here, they are cut, with that massive plot reveal arriving only in the last chapter. I understood that the filmmakers wanted to let us experience the shock along with The Bride…but (despite my not spelling it out here) is that plot twist still a surprise to anyone in 2025?
One of the film’s most adored sections (but my least favorite chapter) is “The Origin of O-Ren,” which is told in extremely bloody anime. This section has been extended, and it’s (ironically) the only change I’m okay with. But lengthening the part of the movie I don’t like is an odd thing to champion.
Finally, the biggest change is also the worst. Vol. 1’s finale—“Showdown at House of Blue Leaves”—is the signature sequence of the entire two-film story. If you’ve seen any clips or stills from Kill Bill, they almost certainly involved Uma in her yellow Bruce Lee outfit, wielding her Hattori Hanso katana. Originally deemed too gory, the bulk of this melée was shown in black and white, which toned down the blood by stealing its signature color. (It still looks much more like cranberry juice than blood.) The way in which Tarantino handles the switch to black and white and the return to color is another highlight for me. The fight scene gains nothing from remaining in color, and the whole cinematic deconstruction/reconstruction foundation of the entire film loses a lot when this extra artifice is jettisoned. The fight itself is slightly different, as well, and the music accompanying it has been changed. Each of these differences makes the iconic scene less fun and less in line with the film’s aesthetic and critical themes. And then to keep the even more artificial segment, where the lights are cut and we see it all in silhouette, doesn’t make the same sense.
[There is also a previously-available “lost chapter” after the (double-length) credits, but it is really slight, if fun.]
Still, even with all of these unwelcome (to me) changes, Kill Bill remains a work of utter genius. It is unbelievable how many genres of revenge films Tarantino coopts and how successfully he raises them to their highest level! Every fight, each line of dialogue, and all the many flashbacks are perfectly pitched and work on a parody level as well as that of a straight-up never-topped action movie. Even noting—and thinking through—each difference in this version helped me appreciate these films more than ever.
Every atom of my being yearned for the five-hour spectacle to end with an announcement of Volume 3: Nikki and B.B., but no such luck. Ah well, hope and spurting cranberry juice spring eternal.