Kill Bill Vol2 is on... do I need to have seen Vol1?

[quarterback]

Vol 2 was on earlier and is recorded on my DVR.  I'm kinda interested in half-watching/listening to it, but I haven't seen the 1st one. 

It seems like Vol2 starts off by explaining stuff, so I'm not worried about being lost.  I'm just afraid I might actually end up liking the film and then being pissed off that seeing Vol2 first ends up ruining Vol1.

Wikipedia says about the 2 films: "strongly recommend that it be regarded as one movie."   Is this true?  If so, I might try and catch Vol1 at some point.

I'm guessing that I'm not going to love either Vol, I just want to know if seeing #2 would make seeing #1 later a moot point.
Thanks

[quarterback]

Maybe I've found the answer.   One review says:
"despite a few ads I’ve seen to the contrary, you absolutely must see "Vol. 1" before you see "Vol. 2.""

And another message board/blog somebody asks:
Does Vol. 2 stand alone? Or do you have to see Vol 1 to understand Vol 2?

To which someone replies:
You must see Vol 1 first.

[AtomSmasher]

I didn't care for either, but the storyline is so simple that you don't need to of seen the first one.  All you need to know is that she's pissed off at Bill and is on a mission to kill him.  Once she finds him, she sits down to a tea party with him though.  oops, I spoiled the ending.    

edit* when you watch it you'll realize you missed a fair amount of the story, just like walking into the middle of a movie, but as I said, its not a complicated story.

[quarterback]

I didn't care for either, but the storyline is so simple that you don't need to of seen the first one.  All you need to know is that she's pissed off at Bill and is on a mission to kill him.  Once she finds him, she sits down to a tea party with him though.  oops, I spoiled the ending.   

LOL  I actually already saw part of the ending (and part of the middle) as TNT ran the film multiple times tonight and my TV was on as I was doing other stuff.

Yeah, I figured I could follow it, but the fans seem to think that Vol1 is the important "setup' for Vol2.   

[AtomSmasher]

I think the part of the movie that really turned me against it is when it literally turns into an anime (as in a 20 minute section that is actually a cartoon).  But then I thought the majority of the rest of the movie was pretty bad as well.  It does have some fun fight scenes though.  I think the cartoon section was in the first movie.

[quarterback]

Yeah... I'm pretty sure I'm not going to fall in love with the film, so I might as well watch Vol2.     I just didn't want to end up LOVING it and then kicking myself for not having seen them in order.

All right, we'll see how much I end up watching anyway

I think the part of the movie that really turned me against it is when it literally turns into an anime (as in a 20 minute section that is actually a cartoon).  But then I thought the majority of the rest of the movie was pretty bad as well.  It does have some fun fight scenes though.  I think the cartoon section was in the first movie.

[NightGod]

Yeah, cartoon scene is in the first movie.

And the movie is really about the fight scenes, the plot is throw-away.

[shmokes]

That's a shame.  You're getting really bad advice, IMO.  Kill Bill is a fantastic movie.  Vol 2 is not a sequel to Vol 1.  It is all single movie that is simply cut into halves.  Watching Vol 2 first is exactly the same as beginning any other movie at the halfway point and watching it to the end.  This might not be such a bad thing for the average movie, but Kill Bill is something special.  And at 84%/85% on the tomatometer I don't think I'm alone in that opinion. 

At any rate, regardless of the quality of the film, the 2nd part does not stand alone.  It is merely the latter half of a single movie.  So if you're interested in seeing it you should realy see Vol 1 (a.k.a. the first half of the movie) first.

[quarterback]

That's a shame. 

I'm actually going to give them a shot, in order.

I watched the beginning which, my guess is, some part of a recap from Vol1.  I only saw the 'wedding rehearsal' scene which ended with 4 black-clad folks showing up.   I decided that I wasn't going to watch the whole thing tonight anyway, and I just might end up liking it, so stopped watching there.    I did a schedule search and I'm recording both of them later next week and I'll look at watching them properly

[danny_galaga]

doesnt matter what order- they both blow 

[NightGod]

doesnt matter what order- they both blow 

I disagree-like I said, the plot was throw away (then again, most action movie plots ARE), but the direction and fight scenes were amazing. Definately one of my favorite action movies.

[pointdablame]

There's a lot of Kill Bill bashing going on in here.   I personally love the movies.  Very stylized and a hell of a lot of fun to watch.  I say you should definitely give them a shot.

[quarterback]

There's a lot of Kill Bill bashing going on in here.   I personally love the movies.  Very stylized and a hell of a lot of fun to watch.  I say you should definitely give them a shot.

I was actually shocked at how positive the reviews were on RottenTomatoes.   I was surprised because I honestly didn't hear anything good about the films when they came out. 

Actually, that's not true, the only good things I heard where people saying what NightGod said, that they're basically only action eye-candy. Fun as that, if you're into that, but not much more to them.

I actually watched part of a bootleg of Vol1 right when it came out in the theaters and it didn't hold my interest.  I found myself wanting to fast forward through it.  But, like most cam bootlegs, the quality sucked, so it was difficult to get into the movie anyway.

[daywane]

I liked the movies 1 and 2
but i like a bunh of B rated movies

( I put in B rated my self)

but these movies were the ones my father in law cut his teeth in on burning DVD's
and mis nanned thim  Kill Bob 
Kinda cracks me up every time I see them

[AtomSmasher]

and mis nanned thim  Kill Bob 
Kinda cracks me up every time I see them

Sounds like a Mad TV skit, combine Kill Bill and What About Bob into one movie.

[Zakk]

I've only seen vol 2.  Not the best movie I've ever seen, but I don't think I lost enything by not seeing vol 1.  I was going to sorta look out for vol 1, but if there's anime in it, ech, I'll skip it.  Don't need to see any more freakish jap cartoons with saucer eyes.  Gives me nightmares.

Go see kung-fu hustle.  That's good weirdo fight stuff. 

[NightGod]

It's not saucer-eyes anime, it's more like what they did in Sin City. It adds to the film, not distracts, at least in my view.

Kung-fu Hustle kicked ass, too. Shaolin Soccer was another great movie, but do yourself a favor and watch an original version with subtitles, not that crap they dragged to the US.

[AtomSmasher]

it's more like what they did in Sin City

Huh?  Sin City wasn't an anime, or even animated.  I have no idea how that comparison is supposed to work.

No its not saucer eyed type of anime, but still anime.  If you really dislike anime then you'll probably dislike Kill Bill because it basically is a live action anime, at least most of the movie is, the style does change a couple of times.  However, if you like anime, then theres a good chance you'll like Kill Bob, er, Bill.

[Zakk]

It's not saucer-eyes anime, it's more like what they did in Sin City. It adds to the film, not distracts, at least in my view.

Kung-fu Hustle kicked ass, too. Shaolin Soccer was another great movie, but do yourself a favor and watch an original version with subtitles, not that crap they dragged to the US.

Yeah, I don't know why, but it's 1000X better with the subtitles.  I watched it both ways, and with subtitles I definitely would give it a higher rating.

[hnugz]

i saw the first one 3 times in the theaters.  i thought it was better than ther second half but they are definately both good.  You have to see the first one for no other reason than to at least see the fight with the ball and chain.

[Stingray]

doesnt matter what order- they both blow 

I agree. I love Tarantino movies, but these two suck. I wish I'd spent four hours fishing instead of watching this garbage.

-S

[Grasshopper]

I Agree. I found them both very disappointing.

Tarantino is certainly very good at doing five minute set pieces. But both films are definitely less than the sum of their parts. They're basically a mishmash of different genres/styles that simply don't blend together to form a satisfying whole.

Tarantino tried to be too clever this time. He should simply have done a straight Kung Fu or Samurai film (preferably a historical one, so you don't have to continuously ask yourself the question - why is no one using guns to defeat these people?)

[Hoagie_one]

I enjoyed both movies.