Competition *CLOSED*: Win Kill Bill Inspiration Lady Snowblood on DVD/Blu-ray! 61 28714

Thoughts On Film - Kill Bill Inspiration Lady Snowblood competition

This competition is now closed. The winner is Ross Maclean, congratulations!

Even casual film fans will have at least heard of (if not have seen multiple times) writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s violent two-part epic Kill Bill, but not everyone will know it takes inspiration from a pair of 1970s Japanese films. Those films are Lady Snowblood and its sequel Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance, directed by the legendary Toshiya Fujita, and their influence on Tarantino’s hugely successful films is not exactly subtle.

One of the main influences come in the form of the titular character, who looks distinctly like Lucy Liu’s ruthless O-Ren Ishii whom Uma Thurman’s Bride character hunts down in Kill Bill Vol.1. And there’s also similarities in the revenge plotline, music (Lady Snowblood’s theme is used towards the end of the first Kill Bill) and visual motifs. For instance you can see a comparison of the two below.

Competition - Kill Bill and Lady Snowblood comparison1

Lady Snowblood

Competition - Kill Bill and Lady Snowblood comparison2

Kill Bill Vol.1

Monday September 24th sees the re-release of the two Lady Snowblood films on Blu-ray and DVD, fully restored and remastered for the best effect possible by Arrow Video (who also put out the impressive sets of Demons and Demons 2 earlier this year) with plenty of new special features to boot, including an interview with Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp, collector’s booklet and reversible cover artwork.

In celebration of this Thoughts On Film has a DVD/Blu-ray combo copy to give away to one lucky winner. All you have to do to enter is comment on this post with your favourite moment from either of the Kill Bill films. Just make sure to put a valid e-mail address so you can be contacted should you win. The winner will be selected from our favourite comment. Note: The comments below contain major spoilers!

Now time for the the small print:

  • Competition open to UK residents only
  • Only one entry per person
  • Competition closes on Thursday September 27th at 23:59pm GMT

Good luck!

– – –

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I'm a freelance film reviewer and blogger with over 10 years of experience writing for various different reputable online and print publications. In addition to my running, editing and writing for Thoughts On Film, I am also the film critic for The National, the newspaper that supports an independent Scotland, covering the weekly film releases, film festivals and film-related features. I have a passion for all types of cinema, and have a particular love for foreign language film, especially South Korean and Japanese cinema. Favourite films include The Big Lebowski, Pulp Fiction and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

61 Comments

  1. It has to be the hospital scene with Daryl Hannah’s character Elle Driver approaches The Bride. Great split screen and works really well. Also amazing choice of music for it. Thanks x

  2. I love the manga scene that describe O’rens childhood / genesis. A surprise departure from the rest of the movie but excellent nonetheless.

  3. The whole scene trailer scene………starting with Elle Driver and Budd, the Relief or Regret speech ending with the Black Mamba bite and then Elle reading all the facts she read about the black mamba on the internet, Budds death then out of nowhere a kick ass fight scene between the bride and Elle, and finally Elle getting her other eye snatched out, Classic!
    To My Brother Budd, The only Man I Ever Loved, Bill

  4. OK, have to admit I’ve not seen either of them- that’s why I’d like to win, LOL!
    (S’pose I could chest & copy someone else’s to hide my ignorance, but my conscience has a very sharp stick to poke me with!)

  5. The frenetic trailer fight between Elle Driver and The Bride. It’s such a great down ‘n’ dirty fight scene with excellent close quarters action choreography and an unexpected pay off. For the nasty, brutal war of attrition between these two women to come down to a squalid scrap in a grubby trailer is a sublime piece of comic undermining from Tarantino.

  6. Got to be the kitchen fight scene for me, when Vernita Green try’s to shoot The Bride through a cereal packet named KABOOM! 😀

  7. Hmmm hard to choose, the fight scene in the snowy garden is beautiful, but part of me has to say that my favourite bit is when she slices off that bloody lawyers arm Mwahahahaha! Feels like she is making real progress there!

  8. where uma thurman walks in to the bar and takes on about 100 triads and finally kills the girl dressed as a schoolgirl with a spiked ball on a chain

  9. The scene in the restaurant is the bit that always stands out to me, it’s just a massive fight scene

    robertfox24[at]aol[dot]com

  10. The Bride vs. Elle Driver when Uma Thurman takes on Daryl Hannah’s Elle Driver in an epic fight and sword battle that takes place in a very small mobile home that gets destroyed in the process.

  11. How can you decide on a favourite scene?. I have three favourites, the one where darryl hannah and uma thurman are fighting. The one where Uma thurman fights Lucy Lui and of course the finale where she kills Bill with that move.

  12. The first film Quote “Look at me, Matsumoto. Take a good look at my face. Look at my eyes. Do I look familiar? Do I look like somebody… you murdered?.”

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Feature: 2019 Oscar Predictions 0 4022

I think it’s fair to say that the run up to this year’s Oscars has been a little messier than usual, from unexpected and bizarre wins at other awards shows (Vice winning Best Editing at the BAFTAs, anyone?) to ridiculous decisions by the Academy to change the show around.

The latter has proved a particular point of contention with both those in the industry to onlookers on social media, with choices such as not letting all the songs be performed to introducing a Best Popular Film category (whatever that means) to not airing four categories live; Editing and Cinematography proved a particular issue, sending the folks of Film Twitter into a Hulk-like rage.

Thankfully all of these decisions except for the one to not have a main host have taken the walk-back of shame; I look forward to Clint Eastwood talking to an empty chair again. Of course there’s still the issue of plenty of thoroughly deserving films, filmmakers and performances not being up for any Oscars at all (*cough* Toni Collette! *cough*) but of course that’s not an issue unique to this year.

The show must go on, as they say, and I thought a week out from this year’s ceremony I’d throw my hat into the ring as far as predictions goes. Below I’ve listed what I think will win in each category, as well as what I personally would like to see pick up that little gold man come next Sunday evening.

Best Picture

Want to win: A Star is Born
Will win: Green Book

Lead Actor

Want to win: Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)
Will win: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Lead Actress

Want to win: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)
Will win: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Supporting Actor

Want to win: Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Will win: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Supporting Actress

Want to win: Emma Stone (The Favourite)
Will win: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Director

Want to win: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)
Will win: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Animated Feature

Want to win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Will win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Adapted Screenplay

Want to win: BlacKkKlansman
Will win: BlacKkKlansman

Original Screenplay

Want to win: First Reformed
Will win: The Favourite

Cinematography

Want to win: Roma
Will win: Roma

Documentary Feature

Want to win: Free Solo
Will win: Minding the Gap

Foreign Language Film

Want to win: Roma
Will win: Roma

Film Editing

Want to win: BlacKkKlansman
Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Editing

Want to win: A Quiet Place
Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Mixing

Want to win: A Star is Born
Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Production Design

Want to win: Roma
Will win: The Favourite

Original Score

Want to win: If Beale Street Could Talk
Will win: Black Panther

Original Song

Want to win: Shallow (A Star is Born)
Will win: Shallow (A Star is Born)

Makeup and Hair

Want to win: Mary Queen of Scots
Will win: Vice

Costume Design

Want to win: Black Panther
Will win: The Favourite

Visual Effects

Want to win: Avengers: Infinity War
Will win: Ready Player One

Animated Short

Want to win: Bao
Will win: Bao

Live Action Short

Want to win: Marguerite
Will win: Marguerite

Documentary Short Subject

Want to win: Black Sheep
Will win: Lifeboat

Do you agree? Disagree? Feel free to leave your predictions/wishes for the winners below or tweet @TOF_UK or @rosstmiller.

Roll on Sunday!

Competition: Win King of Thieves on DVD *CLOSED* 0 3871

***This competition is now closed. Thanks to all who entered! The two winners will be contacted soon!

This coming Monday sees the DVD and Blu-ray release of King of Thieves, the latest film from acclaimed director James Marsh (Man on Wire, The Theory of Everything), which features a cavalcade of legendary British actors including Michael Caine, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon and Paul Whitehouse who team up to pull off a brazen heist. You may know the job from our own headlines as “The Hatton Garden Heist,” described as the biggest and most daring heist in British history.

It’s a good slice of old-fashioned heist movie fun which morphs in its latter half into something with surprising touches of the dangerous and sinister as suspicions and loyalties start to inevitably turn.

To celebrate the film’s release, we have two copies of it on DVD to give away, thanks to the lovely folk at Studio Canal.

thoughts-on-film-king-of-thieves-competition

To enter the competition simply answer the following question: in which classic British film does Michael Caine famously say the line, “you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”?

a) Alfie
b) The Italian Job
c) The Ipcress File

Please email your answer to rosstmiller@thoughtsonfilm.co.uk with the subject heading “King of Thieves competition.” Please also include your delivery address details so we can easily send the prize out if you win.

Now for the technical part:

  • UK residents only
  • Entrants must be 18 or over
  • Winners will be chosen at random
  • The prize for each entrant is one DVD copy of King of Thieves
  • Prize is non-transferable
  • Competition ends on Sunday January 27th at 11:59pm GMT
  • Prize will be sent from PR/studio

King of Thieves is available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray from January 21st. You can already rent/buy the film digitally.

Best of luck on the competition!