The Whole Bloody Affair

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
Cinemark - Moosic, PA (2025)
The original Volume One and Volume Two releases of Kill Bill are two of my favorite movies of all time.

I saw these both in the theater during their initial run in theaters and at the Mahoning in 2021 for the first Tarantino A-Go-Go weekend, and I've watched them countless times on DVD over the past two decades, but the cut that has been released to theaters this month is something that has never been seen before.  The Whole Bloody Affair is a combination of Volume 1 and Volume 2 with extended scenes and cuts to make the two films flow together as a single movie.

So, I don't think I'm going to be alone in the opinion that this is now the definitive version of Kill Bill.  No disrespect intended to the original films, but I love the fact that The Whole Bloody Affair doesn't reveal to the audience that BB is still alive until The Bride discovers her at the end of the film.  Also, while I understand that the Volume 1 switch to black and white during The Bride's battle with the Crazy 88's was done to secure an R rating, I thought it felt kind of gimmicky and took away from the scene, so I'm glad to see it gone in this version.

I have only two very mild criticisms about The Whole Bloody Affair.  First, I think they should have eliminated the gimmick where they beep out The Bride's name and the schoolhouse reveal after Elle Driver says it for the first time.  It came across to me as cutesy and unnecessary when Volume 1 was still in theaters, but now that they've been combined into a single film, it seems completely pointless.  The other thing I could have done without was the Yuki's Revenge cartoon after the end credits.  I'm sure it might be entertaining to kids who play whatever video game it's based on, but it just kind of dumb.

Neither of these things are big deals at all though.  The Whole Bloody Affair is an incredible experience that made two of my favorite films better.