USA: CAST OF KILL BILL VOLUME 2 TURNS OUT IN FORCE TO CELEBRATE THE LA PREMIERE OF QUENTIN TARANTINO'S LATEST FILM

Record ID: 227600

  • Title: USA: CAST OF KILL BILL VOLUME 2 TURNS OUT IN FORCE TO CELEBRATE THE LA PREMIERE OF QUENTIN TARANTINO'S LATEST FILM
  • Date: 4th April 2004
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 4, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE) (English) QUENTIN TARANTINO (TALKING ABOUT FILMING IN CHINA) SAYING: "There's just an energy, there's a vibe, there's a connection and I think I'm connected to that, I'm open to that and I figured if I went down there we would get it all right, and make the kind of cinema that in Hong Kong and China they crank out and it would be our best foot forward, but it also became just a wonderful life experience, just living in China you know, just month after month after month, it was very informing."
  • Embargoed: 19th April 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAEHLWSX88UT9MSGXGOV2RD1NCH
  • Story Text: The cast of "Kill Bill Volume 2" turned out in force to celebrate the L.A. premiere of Quentin Tarantino's latest movie on Thursday night (April 8).
    The long awaited sequel to "Kill Bill Volume 1" has finally arrived and viewers don't necessarily have to view the blood and gore of the original to get into the story, because director Quentin Tarantino re-caps Volume 1 at the beginning of Volume 2.
    In Volume 1, Bill has employed a number of trained assassins, O'Ren-Ishii, (Lucy Liu) a.k.a. Cottonmouth, Elle Driver, a.k.a. California Mountain Snake, (Daryl Hannah) Vernita Green, a.k.a. Copperhead, (Vivica A. Fox) Bill's brother, Budd, a.k.a. Sidewinder (Michael Madsen) and Black Mamba, (Uma Thurman) the most lethal of the crew and also Bill's lover.
    When Black Mamba find out she's pregnant, she flees to obscurity, becomes involved with a local man and plans to marry. But when her former colleagues track her down, everyone in sight gets slaughtered and Bill puts a bullet in his ex lover's head, just as she blurts out that he's the father of her unborn child.
    Eventually, the paramedics arrive and when they notice that the bride still has a faint pulse, she's rushed off to hospital. Elle Driver is dispatched to the hospital finish off the job; at the last minute Bill decides to let the bride live, but that decision will come back to haunt him.
    Having recovered from her injuries, Black Mamba sets out to wreak bloody revenge; having already dealt the death card to O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) and Vernita Green, (Vivica A. Fox) Bill's brother, Budd (Michael Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) are targets one and two respectively on her list.
    Then there's Bill; he is without doubt her biggest challenge, they trained with the same master, as former lovers there are emotions involved, and worst of all, the element of surprise is on his side because he probably knows where she is, but she has absolutely no idea where to find him. Director, Quentin Tarantino, was determined to film "Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2 in China, because he wanted the movie to look and feel authentic, but he didn't count on his trip being the experience of a lifetime.
    Tarantino told Reuters, "There's just an energy, there's a vibe, (in China) there's a connection, and I think I'm connected to that, I'm open to that and I figured if I went down there we would get it alright, and make the kind of cinema that in Hong Kong and China they crank out and it would be our best foot forward, but it also became just a wonderful life experience, just living in China you know, just month after month after month, it was very informing." It was all new territory for Uma Thurman too, apart from being steeped in a totally foreign culture she was subjected to grueling physical training for the movie, and that's something she won't forget in a hurry.
    "It's hard to say, it's a sort of one off and a unique experience," said Uma "I've never been in a movie where I've been in production for almost a solid year, that's a totally new experience, I've been in long ones, five months, almost six months, but not almost a year, so it just sort of, I've never been physically challenged the way I was in this movie, and I don't know, it was just an extraordinary kind of journey."
    Volume 2 is much less violent than the first episode, but Tarantino is adamant that the change of pace has nothing to do with the criticism Volume 1 received, far from it, frankly it's the way he wrote it.
    "No, I mean, that was just organically what happened when I was writing the script, I knew I wanted to have this big giant battle sequence as the center piece of this tale, of this odyssey, this epic, this saga or whatever you want to call it, and after that, the battlefield is over and the blood is cleared and everything, now go back in time and see what brought them to that battlefield and then from that point on, now we're just diving into character now, and learning more and more about everybody and there's all these questions that are completely unanswered in volume one and now it's time to answer these questions and let us get to know who these people are."
    The Arclight Cinema in Hollywood played host to the premier of "Kill Bill Volume 2" on Thursday, April 8, 2004.
    Despite rave reviews for "Kill Bill Volume 2, director, Quentin Tarantino says he has no plans to resurrect the series any time soon and probably won't make a movie with Uma for a while either.
    The much lauded director says, "Well I've got the whole mythology, you know, down, so I could do a few different things, I could do some graphic novels, I could do an animated prequel kind of thing, but as far as me and Uma actually getting together and doing another movie, we might, but it would be way, way, way down the line."
    His three-time leading lady was too busy having fun with Tarantino on the red carpet to talk to press, when he told reporters that "What makes her (Uma Thurman) so beautiful is that she's standing right next to me right now," Uma countered with "And he has to say it, that's what he's trying to indicate, what makes him so brilliant is he's standing next to me right now."
    Although in "Kill Bill Volume 1, viewers hear the voice of Bill, he never appears in person, but despite being the leader of a pack of assassins, David Carradine says he and his character have a lot in common."
    According to Carradine, like Bill, he is "A connoisseur, a funny guy, you know, a lover, what else, (wife says "witty") and I can really kick ass." In "Kill Bill Volume 2, Bill injects his co-star "bride" with truth serum, and given the chance, the majority of the cast said "George Bush" would would be at the top of their list for the same treatment in real life.
    Snoop Dog is not in the movie, but he was at the premier, and told Reuters that if there was ever truth serum available, "I'd give it to myself."
    The rapper turned actor also shared his reasons for being a fan of "Kill Bill Volume 2" saying "Because of this beautiful lady (Daryl Hannah) right here, how are you doing sweetie."
    "Kill Bill Volume 2" will be released nationwide on April 16, 2004.
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