Kill Bill: Volume 1 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Kill Bill: Volume 1 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 27, 2025

Note: Lionsgate continues its more than occasionally head scratching "strategy" in terms of its 4K UHD releases. It is bringing out four new SteelBook 4K UHD editions of well remembered Quentin Tarantino films, with three of those films being new to 4K UHD, and which are also being offered in new standard packaging wide releases. The fourth film, Reservoir Dogs, has already had a wide 4K UHD release, and is joining its mates in new SteelBook packaging only. The SteelBooks are available on Lionsgate's new Lionsgate Limited site.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 had an early enough release on 1080 Blu-ray that it's in the "Top 40" of titles added to our database, coming in at number 38 (hopefully you said that last part in the voice of Casey Casem). As with many of the other Tarantino titles, this film has been re-released several times in the interim, but our Kill Bill: Volume 1 Blu-ray review of the 2008 (!) premiere should provide enough plot information for anyone wanting a recap.

Those who keep track of scores will note mine are slightly adjusted from the original 1080 review scores, based both on personal opinion but also the realization that 2008 reactions to quality might be tempered a bit by the look of things in 2025.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots 1 through 4 are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package. Screenshots 5 through 8 are sourced directly from the 4K UHD disc, but of necessity have been downscaled to 1080 and SDR, so color reproduction in particular is not accurate looking.

Kill Bill Volume 1 is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. The consensus in our member reviews and in our Forum from folks who were able to secure their copies before Lionsgate sent me my review copy have not been especially positive (and that's being generous), but I'm once again going to be at least something of a contrarian (what else is new?). I typically don't include 4K screenshots if a package has a 1080 disc, since the necessities of downscaling and SDR just don't offer an accurate presentation, but due to the controversy, I've included some from both discs so that those interested can do scrutinizing of their own. This did not benefit from the new 4K scan of the original camera negative granted Jackie Brown 4K, and so I think expectations should probably automatically be adjusted (lowered?). That said, to my eyes there is a clear upgrade in palette in particular courtesy of HDR / Dolby Vision, and both the black and white and probably understandably especially color sequences really pop with some considerable energy, and I'd argue better nuance than on the admittedly excellent 1080 presentation from ages past (that's a joke). Detail levels can also be quite expressive, especially when Tarantino isn't toying with peripatetic camera moves, and fine detail on close- ups of weird little things like toes or fingers is exceptional. I've seen some comments about "smearing", which suggests DNR to me, but grain is readily apparent throughout the presentation, and is actually fairly widely variant, including some clumpy and yellowish moments, resulting from Tarantino's uses of different stocks. What I did notice were intermittent motion anomalies which I guess might be described as "smeared", but which actually looked more to me almost like ghosting, with little "echoes" of motion surrounding the main object that's moving. Tarantino evidently approved all of these new 4K versions, for whatever that's worth, to which some may respond, "Did he tell James Cameron 'hold my beer'?"

Kill Bill: Volume 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kill Bill Volume 1 features a boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that has stood the test of time rather well, even if Tarantino's subsequent outings may have "turned things up to 11" even more than this often bombastic track does. There's nicely spacious accounts of effects and score, and some of the action scenes really have a whirlwind of surround activity that can be playful and very enjoyable. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. There are occasional forced subtitles, but optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both the 1080 and 4K UHD disc sport the same legacy supplements. The UHD upscales the interlaced SD presentations to putative HD but comes with a quality warning:

• The Making of Kill Bill (SD; 22:06)


• The "5, 6, 7, 8's" Musical Performances (SD; 5:52)


• Tarantino Trailers

  Reservoir Dogs (SD; 1:37)

  
  

  Pulp Fiction (SD; 2:41)

  
  

  Jackie Brown (SD; 2:18)

  
  

  Kill Bill Vol. 1 Teaser (SD; 1:51)

  
  

  Kill Bill Vol. 2 Bootleg Trailer (SD; 2:34)

  
  

  Kill Bill Vol. 2. Teaser (SD; 00:58)

Note: Lionsgate sent their SteelBook version for purposes of this review, but it looks like this wide release in standard packaging features a slipcover and comes with a digital copy.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kill Bill Volume 1 is one of those wonderful Tarantino offerings that is both sui generis and obviously paying homage at the same time. I personally found this new 4K UHD version to show noticeable new nuance in palette and some appealing upticks in detail levels, even if it comes nowhere close to the consistently excellent appearance of Jackie Brown in 4K, and has some rather odd looking anomalies in fast motion sequences in particular. Your mileage of course may vary, but with caveats noted, Kill Bill Volume 1 comes Recommended.