Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Kill Bill: Volume 1 arrived in October 2003 through Miramax, splitting Quentin Tarantino's revenge epic into two volumes at Harvey Weinstein's urging. Following the QT playbook of genre pastiche, it fused samurai cinema, spaghetti westerns, and Hong Kong action into something singularly his own, reviving Uma Thurman's career and cementing her partnership with Tarantino after Pulp Fiction. The film's stylized violence, anime interludes, and needle-drop soundtrack made it an instant touchstone of early 2000s cinema, influential enough that its visual language still gets quoted in advertising and fashion today.
This cell is simply marked The Bride, the film's central figure and the role that reintroduced Thurman as a genuine action lead. Collectors seek her out because she is the axis the entire story turns on, the wronged woman assembling her own myth through the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad's ledger. A cell under this plain designation carries no scene-specific claim, just her presence as the character herself, making it a foundational piece for anyone building a collection around the film's core iconography rather than a single sequence or line.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible on one edge alongside what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block strip between the perforations on the same edge; a DTS timecode line also appears present as a thin dashed line adjacent to the optical track.
Edge print
Not fully legible at this capture resolution; partial characters are visible along the lower edge but cannot be reliably quoted.
Base & colour
Base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with modern safety stock; dye image appears warm and well-saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with Kill Bill: Volume 1.
Era check
The combination of cyan-tinted safety base, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, DTS timecode line, and variable-area optical track is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2003 release date of the film on record.
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 000062979
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
