And all of Quentin’s fans will be pleased to know that he is putting his most recent movie Kill Bill, released in two parts, back together.
He told The Sun: “It will be Kill Bill the Japanese version – the four hour movie all together with an intermission in the middle. It will probably be the first release from Miramax’s new company, first at cinemas and then on DVD. It will also probably get a higher age rating. We had to cut it when Miramax was part of Disney but now we can do whatever the fuck we want.”

http://www.tarantino.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=369&Itemid=2

Tarantino had to cut his own movie for the U.S. release. Fact.
This was not what he wanted to do. Fact
He considers the Japanese version to be more desirable. Fact

Tarantino has said it WAS an artistic decision, it broke up the very bloody action we the audience were probably becoming desensitized to by that point in the film, and it is GLORIOUS black and white cinematography.
As for the scene staying in color for Japanese release, maybe that audience can withstand (and prefers) full-on red bloodshed given the cinematic tradition there. America is a different market, very whitebread on average; very dumbed-down by our mass entertainment media. Britain, however, is more strictly censor-happy.

I don’t believe for a second that Miramax or the MPAA had anything to do with it. Tarantino has full creative control, although I’m sure he takes notes when they’re offered.

I’m much more outraged by the lack of commentary or more extras on either disk. Some national reviewer noted that QT’s gonna make us pay for this movie FIVE TIMES. (and in my case, that will be true.)

Although I do see KB as two distinct films. You can (if such a thing is conceivable) watch vol. 2 without having seen Vol. 1 first, but you’re gonna want to, once you see 2.

Quentin rocks. Can’t wait for his WWII movie and the eventual KB sequel.

Oh I am upping your bandwidth limit to 3.5Gb as your getting close to your 3Gb limit :D

Sorry about the caps, but the black and white IS Quentin’s choice of style. He even wrote it down to the detail than when Uma blinks, the colors come back on.

The script was online long before they finished filming, and there is was — black and white in Blue Leaves.

The story that QT toned it to B/W because of censorship is complete B.S. It might be meant as a tribute to 70’es kung fu movies, where violent scenes were toned in B/W because of censorship, and that could be how this rumour started.

Besides, there’s so much blood ‘n’ gore in color in the rest of the movie that it wouldn’t really matter if Blue Leaves was in color or not.

So the sequence is in color in the Japanese DVD? Oh well, beats me. (shrugs)

There. I needed to let that out. :)

Look, believe me or don’t, but I’m not lying. Enjoy your DVD, ‘cause it’s the way QT meant it to be. It’s them japs who get the wrong version with stupid colors. :)

The Lord of the Rings is a great example. My friends have rushed out to buy them on disk as soon as possible. Me, I’ll wait until the fully-remastered-extended-scene-directors-whatever box set comes out. Then I’ll put it on my wish list.

(PS: Saw my name in the clippings. Tak! (if I’ve got my Danish right.))

If it was actually QT’s artistic intention to have the scene in B&W, then it makes absolutely no sense why he would alter that for the Japanese market. Additionally, since there were many other bits removed from the UK release (as compared to the Japanese release), the evidence seems overwhelmingly in support of a UK censorship job.

Michael, as for your complaints regarding the DVD release, I agree that it’s fucking pitiful. Personally, I was afraid this would be the situation and avoided buying it. That being said, I still eyeball it every time I’m in HMV. One question though, is the brain shot still in it? I hope they didn’t cut that!

I guess I’ll have to wait for the special edition, when both come out together. I want the uncut versions and nothing but. I mean removing the line “luckily the boss was a pedophile”? What’s wrong with these people. You have to be 18, legally, to purchase the fucking DVD… so what is their argument here? I’m an adult, I have money, give me the mother-fucking film like it was supposed to be.

Nuff said.

You have to be 18…

That reminds me. I did get “carded” for picking this DVD up. I’m 31! Carded is in quotes because instead of asking for my id, they just asked for my birthdate before ringing it up. I didn’t see that coming.

I’m an adult, I have money, give me the mother-fucking film like it was supposed to be.

I agree with ya, I want the full uncut version… however I am not buying either on DVD until they are relased in the box set, hoepfuly a “director’s cut” boxset at that :D

but hey, it’s not only movies, it’s games too! And books too of course, although there was a time when books were censored more than today, but books might just again be next i tell you.

censor: cut cut cut censor censor censor. imagine… kids could start reading violent books and go kill their schoolmates! no really! it has to be stopped! now!
adult: it’s not the movie nor the videogame that kills people, is it? nor the book?
censor: but hey, kids reading violent books… they might run rampant! let’s censor everything! ok? oh, you’re no kid anymore? well, tough luck!

i order my games from co.uk… that might soon not be safe anymore either. movie wise… i fear you either have to have someone in a “censorfree” country or get a “backup copy” of your legally purchased dvd… which of course has just been made illegal to have, backup copies that is. you only may make a backup if the original is NOT copy protected. How many DVDs which are sold today are NOT copy protected? ZERO.

Consumers are like sheep. Remember divx? no not the codec. the settop boxes! took them long enough to realize how stupid that concept was, millions $$ wasted, yippie. Regional Codes… well the industry is complaining already about them! the customer has long stopped complaining about them since any and all players will accept any region code dvd and the shops are soundly fucked, yippie, another $$ million wasted. DeCSS! best copy protection ever!
MPAA Guy1: You think , they’ll ever find out that we embedded the decryption key into the source?
MPAA Guy2: Nah.. and if they do we can sue them anyway!
MPAA Guy 1: And what if it’s a 13 year old boy?
2: Sue him I say!
1: He might sue back?
2: Who cares! We got $$ millions more to waste!
1: Yippie!
2: Those stupid consumers will consume and consume and give us all their money anyway!
1: Yeah! It’s the law!

Shall I go on? Wading deep enough through $$hit? It NEVER stops. Really.

how stupid can it get you ask? always a lot more than you can possibly imagine… and then some.

-peace.