It’s hard to pin down exactly where Quentin Tarantino drew inspiration for his epic Kill Bill series. The genre-bending two-parter kicks off in blaxploitation territory, switches to spaghetti western, and then segues into a full-blown Hong Kong martial arts flick.
But a supercut video making the rounds on YouTube reveals just how much the freewheeling director managed to squeeze into four hours of film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3yY1FsT1cA
The video features side-by-side comparisons of Vols. 1 and 2 with the throwback movies that supposedly inspired them.
Some of this may be based on the editor’s suppositions, but similarities to classics like Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Fist of Fury (1972), and even Citizen Kane (1941) are undeniable.
Tarantino even harks back to his earlier work, like Pulp Fiction (1994), and references the earlier roles of his actors. Notably, Daryl Hannah’s comeuppance in Vol. 2 mirrors her demise in Blade Runner (1982).
Kill Bill is undeniably messy, but Tarantino pulls it off masterfully.