Japan viewed by the eye of Foreign Media - Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003)

Kill Bill is a two-part action thriller film released in 2003 and 2004 by writer-director Quentin Tarantino, and starring Uma Thurman as The Bride. Originally conceived as one film, it was released in two 'volumes' (in late 2003 and early 2004) due to its running time of approximately four hours. The film is an epic-length revenge drama, with homages to earlier film genres, such as Hong Kong martial arts films, Japanese Chanbara films, exploitation films and Italian spaghetti westerns; an extensive use of popular music and pop culture references; and aestheticization of violence. Filming took place in California, Texas, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Mexico.

During this time her thoughts turn to those responsible for the massacre (“members all of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad”), and in particular on her first revenge target, O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), who, we learn, has become “Queen of the Tokyo Underworld” in the four-year interim. A short animated sequence details the early life of O-Ren.

After regaining full control of her lower body, The Bride travels to Okinawa to obtain a sword from Hattori Hanzō (Sonny Chiba), a renowned swordsmith who has retired to the life of a sushi chef. She asks Hanzō to make her a sword, which at first he refuses to do, but he then decides to break his oath to never make another sword when he correctly infers that her purpose is to wreak revenge on his former student: Bill. It takes a month for Hanzō to make the sword, and in that time The Bride follows his suggestion to practice.

The Bride then travels to Tokyo, where she confronts her first revenge target (O-Ren Ishii) at a night club called the "House of Blue Leaves". The Bride first severs the arm of O-Ren's “second lieutenant”, Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), who was also present at the wedding chapel massacre. She then kills all of O-Ren’s immediate guards, including her personal bodyguard, Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama). O-Ren's army of henchmen, the Crazy 88, then arrive, and The Bride engages them in a lengthy fight, killing or seriously wounding all of them except one. She then duels O-Ren, and eventually kills her.

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The quotation "Revenge is a dish best served cold" (attributed as being "an old Klingon proverb," in reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) at the beginning of Volume 1 was replaced with a dedication to "master filmmaker" Kinji Fukasaku in the Japanese version.[23] There are also numerous differences in the editing of the film, including, but not limited to; a longer version of O-Ren's origin anime, more violence and comedy in the House of Blue Leaves battle (which is also shown in full color) as well as Sofie Fatale having her right hand removed by the bride during the interrogation scene in the trunk of the car.

The differences between International and the Japanese version of Volume Two are rather marginal.

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