It was ten years ago this week that Kill Bill Vol. 2 was released, completing Quentin Tarantino’s tale about a vengeful woman. The first movie came out in 2003, and was originally intended to be all in one part, but at four hours in length, the decision was made to split it in two. Any Quentin Tarantino movie has a lot of weird things going on both onscreen and offscreen, so at least some of these bits of trivia will be new to you. For instance:
3. Talk about doing Kill Bill started during Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino came up with the idea of doing Kill Bill while talking with Uma Thurman on the set of Pulp Fiction. The two were discussing the types of movies they liked and he expressed his interest in ’70s kung fu movies. They then started hashing out what would become the opening scene of the beaten Bride in her wedding gown.
14. 450 gallons of blood were spilled. According to makeup effects artist Christopher Allen Nelson, over 450 gallons of fake blood were used over the course of filming both movies.
17. Many Bills were considered before going with David Carradine. Kevin Costner was considered for the part, but was busy with Open Range. Jack Nicholson, Kurt Russell, Mickey Rourke, and Burt Reynolds were also on the table as well. Tarantino was ready to sign Warren Beatty, but had second thoughts about the actor when, according to Michael Madsen, Beatty expressed that he “didn’t get what the story was about” to Tarantino.
I read all twenty bits of trivia on the list at FilmDrunk, but I am just as confused about the story as I ever was. Maybe someday I’ll actually watch the Kill Bill movies.
They're both very good, but very different films. Volume 1 is great for people who like raw action and less story. Volume 2 fills the partial plot vacuum left by the first with very interesting storytelling and more emotions than just vengeance.