Spy021

It's been stated that Tarantino's new flick pays homage to many of the Shaw Brother's films, along with other notable martial arts flicks. I couldn't find a list of those references and thought others may be interested as well. With the movie coming out tomorrow (unless you got in early) I thought those who have seen it and picked up on the references could share with those who missed them.

Note: Please use spoiler tags if you make reference to parts of the movie.

• I know that the yellow jumpsuit that Uma wears is a nod to Bruce Lee in "Game of Death".

Pants

The airplane fly-over in the trailer seems to be a riff on Wong Kar-Wei who frequently shows shots of jets comming into Hong Kong (only his aren't CGI)

Inverse

Just for completeness: the "Silly Rabbit" line in the TV ads is a reference to commercials for Trix cereal. ("Silly rabbit. Trix are for kids!")

Mondo Kane

The quote that starts the movie, "Revenge is a dish best served cold", originally said in Star Trek 2:Wrath of Khan.

Inverse

... Though, to explain this one in advance, in Star Trek 2 the joke is that while "revenge is a dish best served quote" is quoted as a Klingon proverb, it's really a common Earth expression. (It's usually cited as a Sicilian proverb, and it's been around for ages -- e.g. it's in the 50s Alec Guiness movie Kind Hearts and Coronets, as well as The Godfather Part 2.)

They used a similar gag in Star Trek 4, when Spock cited the old Vulcan expression, "Only Nixon could go to China."

cultshock

Its funny, I was thinking of starting a thread like this. Having only read part of the script, seen the trailers and listened to the soundtrack CD here are a couple more references:

Lady Snowblood -Lucy Liu's character seems to be somewhat based on the main character from this film (based on a manga). The Kill Bill soundtrack also features a song from Lady Snowblood, sung by the film's main actress, Meiko Kaji and written by the original manga's writer, Kazuo Koike

Sukeban Deka -manga and film series about reformed juvenile delinquents who now fight crime with interesting weapons (like killer yo-yos) while dressed in schoolgirl uniforms. This seems to be an inspiration for the character of Go Go Yubari in Kill Bill.

They Call Her One Eye (aka Thriller as mentioned in the post below) -cult film about eyepatch wearing ex-hooker who goes on a kill spree to take revenge on those who have wronged her. I have heard this film being thrown around as a Kill Bill influence, maybe due to Darryl Hannah's character wearing an eyepatch and Uma's character killing people for revenge (but she is an ex-assassin not an ex-hooker).

Anyway, these are off the top of my head. I'll probably think of some more (especially after I finally see the film).

SpinnerX

That's funny. I just saw a KILL BILL print ad that had the vengeance quote and then said, "Old Klingon proverb" underneath. I didn't get the joke until now.

I haven't seen KILL BILL yet, but just based on the trailer, there are lifts or references to THRILLER: A CRUEL STORY...



SAMURAI FICTION...



MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE (the KB soundtrack even has music from this movie)...



Also, the "Deadly Viper" assassin squad is obviously a reference to THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS...



Sonny Chiba's Hattori Hanzo character is from the TV series "Kage no Gundan" aka "Shadow Warriors"...



And Go Go is obviously inspired by SUKEBAN DEKA...

Luka

That's actually a miniature in Kill Bill.

Back on topic, Hattori Hanzo is from, among other things, the television show "Shadow Warriors," which starred Sonny Chiba.

Luka

Also, every patch on The Brides motorcycle jacket has a meaning... bonus points to anyone who can name any or all of them. There is a great German one-sheet that shows the four on the front.

RichC2

Samurai Fiction actually borrowed a lot, and KB likely borrowed from the originals more so.

I also loved "Revenge is a dish best served cold." -Old Klingon Proverb, thing at the beginning of the flick, funny stuff. (even if not accurate)

Neeb

"Revenge is a dish, best served cold..." come from Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

SpinnerX

The teaser trailer has a shot that recreates that poster shot from SAMURAI FICTION, except in blue instead of red.

cultshock

Yep, shot at Toho studios, so I guess this can be considered a very slight reference to the Godzilla films.

Inverse

The "revenge is a dish...." isn't from Moby Dick (just searched the e-text), though Khan's "he tasks me" line is.

I thought the chick-with-the-eye-patch was a reference to Nadine in Twin Peaks, but cultshock's explanation seems more likely.

cultshock

Any links to this poster? I would like to check out those patches.

Luka

Try this (I love this poster). I'll look for a higher res version.

http://www.impawards.com/2003/kill_bill_ver4.html

And I just spotted this one (that's not so great in my humble opinion)
http://www.impawards.com/2003/kill_bill_ver5.html

I actually have VERY high res versions of all the patches (plus a few that werenÕt used), but I'm a little hesitant to post them.

SpinnerX

I can't make out the patches at all on those, but I do know that Uma Thurman looks positively hideous on that German poster.

cultshock

I can't make out the patches very well either, other than the letters. SpinnerX is right, Uma looks bad on the German poster, she looks much better in the other one. BTW, where is the other poster from (along with the Lucy Liu one). UK perhaps? I like them.

Dan Average

I haven't seen the film yet but I've read that the real name of Uma's character is never heard because it's always bleeped out. This is probably a stretch but this reminds me of Godard's Made in USA, where we never hear the full last name of a crucial character because an airplane always flies by and drowns it out whenever someone gets past the first syllable. Also (reeeeaaally stretching it here) the whole "4th film by Quentin Tarantino" reminds me of the opening of Alphaville (which states that it's "the ninth film by Jean-Luc Godard"). Maybe not a conscious reference but it could be where Tarantino picked it up.

cultshock

Maybe it is a conscious reference. Supposedly, the credits in the actual film do say "The 4th film by Quentin Tarantino" instead of "A Quentin Tarantino Film"

SpinnerX

And Tarantino is a huge Godard fan. His production company is even named after a Godard movie.

SpinnerX

A couple more references:

"Green Hornet" masks...



And the most obvious steal: The whole premise of "The Bride" taking vengeance on the killers who spoiled her wedding day is lifted from Truffaut's THE BRIDE WORE BLACK, which is an adaptation of a Cornell Woolrich book. I think Tarantino has said in interviews that he's a Woolrich fan...

cultshock

Good point, I forgot about the "A Band Apart" reference.

And I was going to mention The Green Hornet as well. In addition to the masks, a version of the TV theme song appears on the soundtrack CD.


Why do I get the feeling that this will end up being a film that the average person will see and go "WTF??" and just won't get, while us film geeks who get alot of the references will love it. I don't think that QT made this one for the general public, but instead made a big love letter to the exploitation films that he adores. Sounds good to me!

Bust

I'm happy you posted that because I'm almost done watching this and I thought it was just on the work print I got. Now I won't have to post the question asking what her name was.

As for the references, I don't recognize any of this stuff you guys are talking about and I am absolutely loving this film.

The one thing I DID catch was a subtle reference to the classic Styx song, "Mr. Roboto". The first Japanese that Uma claims to have learned is, "Domo Arigato" (sp?)

SpinnerX

Uh, that's not a Styx reference. Domo arigato means thank you very much in Japanese. It's pretty much the first Japanese phrase that everyone learns. It's not like Dennis DeYoung made it up.

By the way, Vivica Fox has already revealed Uma's character's name in various interviews. I'm not sure why it's bleeped out in the movie, but maybe the joke will be clearer after I've seen it. Or maybe not.