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, splitting Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga into two volumes for theatrical release, a decision that shaped how audiences absorbed his homage to grindhouse cinema, samurai film, and spaghetti westerns. Uma Thurman led as The Bride in a project that reinforced Tarantino's standing as a director who could fuse genre pastiche with genuine emotional stakes, and the film's stylized violence and structural audacity made it a defining action picture of the early 2000s, still referenced constantly in discussions of modern genre filmmaking.
This cell preserves a title card, the frame where the film formally announces itself before the story unfolds. Title cards from Kill Bill hold particular value for collectors because they mark the entry point into Tarantino's carefully constructed cinematic world, a threshold moment separating anticipation from narrative. As 35mm print material, it represents a physical fragment of theatrical history, tied to the picture's original release run and its place in early digital-era filmmaking still shot and distributed on film.
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; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, consistent with a stereo optical track; Dolby Digital data blocks are not clearly resolved at this size, and no DTS timecode line or SDDS outer-edge tracks are distinguishable.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-green tint typical of modern safety stock; the dye image appears neutral with strong red title lettering and no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively showing the same title-card composition, consistent with a release print of Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003).
Era check
The blue-green tinted safety base, variable-area optical soundtrack placement, and four-perforation 35mm format are all 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 000062983
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
