Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Kill Bill: Volume 1 arrived in 2003 through Miramax, a Quentin Tarantino production that split its original cut into two volumes for release. Steeped in genre homage, spanning kung fu cinema, spaghetti westerns, and Japanese revenge films, it marked a stylistic turning point for the director and became one of the defining action pictures of its decade. The film's reputation rests on its bold visual language and its central performance, which reintroduced Uma Thurman to a generation of moviegoers and cemented the character at its core as a modern genre icon.
This cell carries the name The Bride, the protagonist played by Uma Thurman, a former assassin driven by a singular mission of retribution after being betrayed and left for dead. She stands among the most collected figures from early 2000s American cinema, instantly recognizable and central to the film's identity. A cell bearing her name alone, without further descriptor, points to a foundational frame, one of those early strips of 35mm stock that anchors her presence in the story before the violence and history unfold around her.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block strip and a DTS timecode line also present, consistent with a multi-format release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters accurately.
Base & colour
Base shows a light cyan-blue tint typical of modern safety stock; dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices or cue marks visible; minor surface marks consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the subject and setting are consistent with Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003).
Era check
The combination of cyan-tinted polyester safety base, variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and DTS timecode line is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062977
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
