Why does everyone love Kill Bill?

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I finally got around to watching Kill Bill and I almost turned it off halfway. This has got to be, IMO, one of the worst movies I've ever watched and probably the worst (wannabe) martial arts movie. I grew up watching lots of martial arts movies, so this is totally something I would like. It was just boring and very bad choreography. So why is this so popular? Is it just because Tarantino directed it?

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Yes, it is just because QT directed it.

I’m 100% with you. The movie isn’t good. It isn’t entertaining. It is garbage.

 

[Wolfsburg]

Speaking more generally, I don't hate QT and like some of his stuff, but I do think he's rather overrated.

 

[firesprite]

I enjoyed KB when it first came out, but as time has gone on, my dislike of QT, along with being more aware of the gross **** he tends to do in his films has really killed any lingering pleasure in it.

 

[replicaprops]

WHAT?????????????????????????????????? Blasphemy

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Speaking more generally, I don't hate QT and like some of his stuff, but I do think he's rather overrated.

I agree with this completely.

Love Pulp Fiction. Inglorious Basterds has grown on me, but I didn’t really like it the first time I saw it.

The rest of his stuff? I honestly could do without any of it. I feel they’re all very overrated films.

 

[Jamesfett]

Okay I despise QT. I don't like him or his trash movies,...except.

I have no idea why but I like both Kill Bill movies. Like you, I watched the first one and thought it was crap. Then for some reason I watched it again, and then again, then part 2.

I really can not explain why, I just find myself watching them again every few years. I don't own them and never will, but darn it if I don't like them.

Huge David Carradine fan and he was awesome, but beyond that I have no clue why I like these two movies.

 

[firesprite]

I agree with this completely.

Love Pulp Fiction. Inglorious Basterds has grown on me, but I didn’t really like it the first time I saw it.

The rest of his stuff? I honestly could do without any of it. I feel they’re all very overrated films.

Dude, my husband watched Hateful Eight when it came out on cable and I was like '******* hell, how much longer is this thing?!?!" It was another 2 hours before that travesty ended.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Dude, my husband watched Hateful Eight when it came out on cable and I was like '******* hell, how much longer is this thing?!?!" It was another 2 hours before that travesty ended.

That’s how I felt about that and Django. Just…ugh.

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

I don't really have much respect for Tarantino, he's not exactly known for his originality. Some love Tarantino, more power to them.

The Kill Bill films are his most enjoyable work for me because everything is so incredibly exaggerated well beyond the point of parody. The characters, fight scenes, imagery, direction are so insanely outlandish and ridiculous that it just doesn't seem possible to watch without laughing out loud. If I was forced to take his films seriously I don't think I could sit through any of them especially KB, PF, DU or RD. Kill Bill falls into the category of entertaining because its so over the top bad that it's good.

 

[batguy]

I seem to be the only person on the planet who liked KB#1 better than #2.

Both of them are crackhead doses of Tarantino's stylization, love it or hate it.


Are they good movies?

I think it's sort of like asking whether 'The Blues Brothers' was a good movie. It's too stylized & unique to compare it to much else.

 

[yaris]

Just my OP, but everything QT does is excrement, rewriting history and overlong tedious dialogue. He gets away with it because some actors buy into his 'art' films.

 

[joberg]

I enjoyed KB when it first came out, but as time has gone on, my dislike of QT, along with being more aware of the gross **** he tends to do in his films has really killed any lingering pleasure in it.

You mean like Verhoeven

 

[Axlotl]

I guess it's cool to hate QT now?
I love his movies, some more than others.
I love Kill Bill because it's BONKERS.

 

[Solo4114]

I enjoyed it back in the day, and prefer Part 1 to Part 2. But I also haven't seen it in at least a decade if not more. I generally enjoy his films, although I think it basically boils down to three things:

1. You have to enjoy his dialogue on the whole. If you don't, then don't bother watching his films because he stuffs them FULL of dialogue, especially long scenes of dialogue only. I enjoy that, but I recognize it's not for everyone.

2. You have to enjoy the genres and films he references. Spaghetti westerns (like, beyond just the Leone ones), chanbarra, Saturday Kung Fu Theater/Shaw Bros., blaxploitation, etc. His films are often just modernized, bigger-budget genre films with a modern gloss applied. If the core genre doesn't do it for you, watching his stuff is a waste of time.

3. You have to like his stylistic stuff. I loved the Hateful Eight. I loved the stories, the long dialogue scenes, the stylized ultraviolence, etc. I do think his "stories told out of order" schtick has worn thin, but I feel that way for pretty much any artist who tends to rely on just doing the same thing over and over and over. See also: Joss Whedon and his "kill people when they're happy" stuff, M.Night Shyamalan and "What a twist!", etc. Like, if you've got your "thing," maybe do more than just that thing. Maybe find other things and do them instead or in addition to your thing. But, like, the trick was clever once, entertaining the second time, and old hat the third. That said, I accept Tarantino's penchant for out-of-order storytelling. "Eh. That's just his thing." I don't love it, but it also doesn't bother me.


I suppose a fourth point would be "You can't be squicked out by feet." Of all of Tarantino's stylistic things, that's probably my least favorite. 'Nuff said on that.


Anyway, overall Tarantino has a very clear, very distinct style that he applies to a variety of genres. If it ain't for you, then you won't dig the films because they're nothing all that new, and if the style isn't for you then there's really nothing else to hold your attention probably.

 

[firesprite]

I enjoyed it back in the day, and prefer Part 1 to Part 2. But I also haven't seen it in at least a decade if not more. I generally enjoy his films, although I think it basically boils down to three things:

1. You have to enjoy his dialogue on the whole. If you don't, then don't bother watching his films because he stuffs them FULL of dialogue, especially long scenes of dialogue only. I enjoy that, but I recognize it's not for everyone.

2. You have to enjoy the genres and films he references. Spaghetti westerns (like, beyond just the Leone ones), chanbarra, Saturday Kung Fu Theater/Shaw Bros., blaxploitation, etc. His films are often just modernized, bigger-budget genre films with a modern gloss applied. If the core genre doesn't do it for you, watching his stuff is a waste of time.

3. You have to like his stylistic stuff. I loved the Hateful Eight. I loved the stories, the long dialogue scenes, the stylized ultraviolence, etc. I do think his "stories told out of order" schtick has worn thin, but I feel that way for pretty much any artist who tends to rely on just doing the same thing over and over and over. See also: Joss Whedon and his "kill people when they're happy" stuff, M.Night Shyamalan and "What a twist!", etc. Like, if you've got your "thing," maybe do more than just that thing. Maybe find other things and do them instead or in addition to your thing. But, like, the trick was clever once, entertaining the second time, and old hat the third. That said, I accept Tarantino's penchant for out-of-order storytelling. "Eh. That's just his thing." I don't love it, but it also doesn't bother me.


I suppose a fourth point would be "You can't be squicked out by feet." Of all of Tarantino's stylistic things, that's probably my least favorite. 'Nuff said on that.


Anyway, overall Tarantino has a very clear, very distinct style that he applies to a variety of genres. If it ain't for you, then you won't dig the films because they're nothing all that new, and if the style isn't for you then there's really nothing else to hold your attention probably.

1. I love well-written dialogue and have no issue with long, unbroken stretches of it in scenes. I will eat up a well-written and performed monologue and come back for more. I don't especially care for tartantino's dialogue as a whole, but there are some things that I will admit I enjoy, such as Sam Jackson's performance of the "righteous man" speech. That **** is gold, bit that's mostly, I think, down to SJ chewing scenery like it's free.

2. I loooooooove spaghetti westerns and Kung fu movies. Those things are 2000% my JAM.

3. This is where the sticking point comes in for me. I just don't care for his style. I'm not especially down with his brand of ultraviolet and "witty" diaglogue. I'm by no means a prude about violence, mind you. I regularly consume media with a high gore/violence threshold without issue. I just don't enjoy what Tarantino does with it, I guess.

As mentioned before, I used to enjoy the KB movies, and I didn't mind Inglorious Basterds. It's just that my enjoyment has waned in a big way

 

[firesprite]

You mean like Verhoeven

Meh, the only verhoven films I've watched that I really enjoy are Robocop and Starship Troopers, and I still like those. I guess it makes a difference that his film output isn't as trumpeted, so maybe I don't watch as many of them?

 

[robstyle]

You all do realize the kill bill movies are the reason we never got the Vega Brothers movie. Basically that would have been the prequel to both pulp fiction and reservoir dogs.

 

[Knightmare]

I seem to be the only person on the planet who liked KB#1 better than #2.

Both of them are crackhead doses of Tarantino's stylization, love it or hate it.


Are they good movies?

I think it's sort of like asking whether 'The Blues Brothers' was a good movie. It's too stylized & unique to compare it to much else.

Blues Brothers love it

 

[Bigdaddy]

This is making me want to revisit KB, I watched it about 10 years ago and still enjoyed it. I'm not a QT fan but do like some of his stuff, I enjoyed Pulp Fiction quite a bit when it came out. So far his two best films for me are Reservoir Dogs and True Romance.