‘Kill Bill’ returns to cinemas as one bloody epic with unseen Tarantino sequence

Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’ arrives in cinemas December 5

Quentin Tarantino’s cult revenge saga is heading back to the big screen in a way fans have waited decades to see. Lionsgate has announced that Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair will be released in cinemas on 5 December, combining the two-part martial arts epic into one uninterrupted feature.

Originally split into 2003’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2004’s Kill Bill: Vol. 2, the story follows Uma Thurman as The Bride, left for dead by her former lover and boss Bill after a bloody ambush. The revenge-driven tale saw her slice through the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad before confronting Bill himself. While the films grossed more than $333 million globally, Tarantino always maintained that he envisioned them as one singular movie.

This new presentation delivers just that, removing the cliffhanger ending that capped Vol. 1 and the recap that began Vol. 2. Adding to the excitement is a never-before-seen seven-and-a-half-minute animated sequence that Tarantino teased as far back as Comic-Con 2014. Select screenings will even play in 70mm and 35mm formats, a treat for cinephiles eager to see the stylised blood-soaked action on the largest canvas possible.

The director himself praised the release, saying he wrote and directed it as one story, and the best way to experience it is in a theatre. The new cut stars the original ensemble including Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Michael Parks and Gordon Liu. Produced by Lawrence Bender, the release is set to reignite conversations about Tarantino’s legacy and his handling of cinematic violence, especially as it comes amid debates about his career winding down.

On social media, fans immediately began reminiscing about the films’ most iconic sequences, from the House of Blue Leaves fight to Thurman’s final showdown with Carradine. Some lamented losing the Vol. 1 cliffhanger, but others celebrated finally being able to watch the saga as Tarantino intended. For audiences old and new, December promises an unflinching reminder of why Kill Bill remains one of the director’s most stylish and bloody works.