Last Minute Movie: KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR (2025) at AMC Barton Creek

Realize this is last minute, and figure I probably won't get many takers (if any), but tomorrow (Friday) I'm going to indulge in something I've been waiting on for a long time.

I've been a Tarantino fan from the beginning, mostly for his totally unique and in your face writing style and his completely unapologetic and in your face blend of filmmaking genres. In the process he has been responsible for one of the greatest and most brutal heist films ever made in RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) , completely revolutionized how indie crime stories could be told in PULP FICTION (1994), and resurrected the careers of countless underappreciated actors such as John Travolta, Pam Grier, Michael Parks, Robert Forster, Harvey Keitel, Jan Michael Vincent, Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Kurt Russell, and of course Samuel L. Jackson. Even those filmgoers who do not like QT's movies for the most part respect QT's movies. And yet, I think his best film and perhaps his most underappreciated film is this one.

Riding high of his success with RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION, QT was already a golden boy for Miramax pictures and the Weinstein brothers in 2003 when he presented them with his 4.0+ hour cut for KILL BILL, a bloody and rich tribute to the revenge films of the 1970's as well as the Japanese and Chinese martial arts films of the same period. But Harvey Weinstein wasn't having any of it. You just couldn't show 4 hour movies in theaters and have enough in ticket sales to justify the cost of the film, at this time the most expensive film Tarantino had ever made. I've heard conflicting stories on how hard QT actually fought for this original cut to be released, but in the end, Miramax and QT were in a symbiotic relationship in leading what was perhaps the greatest era of independent filmmaking, and thus QT relented and recut and released the film as two movies: KILL BILL: VOL. 1 (2003) and KILL BILL: VOL. 2 (2004). And as much as I independently adore both of these very different films, at the time I remember feeling like something was being lost in the translation by not having them spliced together. For many years I remember thinking that someday I'd like to find a copy of Tarantino's original holistic script and edit it altogether myself for my own edification. But of course that day never came.

So finally QT has done it for me.

KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR (2025) is QT's reunited and restored film containing both volumes, along with several never before seen cut scenes and even some new animated manga style footage. The whole bloody thing goes for 4.5 hours, so I'm not sure this new edition will be for the casual or new QT fan. But if you're like me, and have wondered just when QT will release his final and tenth film (a much publicized self-imposed limit he put on himself at the beginning of his career), we can at least see one of his classics back on the big screen the way it was supposed to be before Miramax got their hands on it.

The marathon officially begins at 1:15 pm at the AMC-Barton Creek Square. Get your tickets online at

https://www.amctheatres.com/movie-theatres/austin/amc-barton-creek-square-14/showtimes?date=2025-12-05

I like being on the aisle, so I'm in seat E7. But I'll be out in the lobby getting popcorn around 12:45. Adventurous souls feel free to come join me.