Round 1: The Usual Suspects vs. Kill Bill: Volume 1

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Round 1 Match: The Usual Suspects vs. Kill Bill: Volume 1

The polls will close for this match on Friday, October 19 at 12:00am

Quentin Tarantino is such an odd creator, and the first of the Kill Bill series is no exception to his crazy, sometimes weighty sense of direction. But it's up against Brian Singer's Usual Suspects, which managed to bring home two Oscars; one more than its first round opponent. Will the Suspects take down one of Tarantino's tournament hopefuls, or will The Bride hack and slash her way into the next bout?
​

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Kill Bill: Volume 1 all the way.

Take away the shocking ending, and The Usual Suspects barley rises above average.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 is a stylish and brutal revenge film, and Uma Thurman nails The Bride character, portraying one of the most bad-ass assassins you'll ever see. Kill Bill features great action, great music, and better directing.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I'm gonna go with Usual Suspects here.

Kill Bill is a solid action film and the Bride is one of Tarantino's best ever characters. Yet the film essentially boils down to QT trying to cram in as many nods to East Asian cinema as his celluloid could take which does get a bit annoying.

Usual Suspects is one of the defining films of the 90s as a new directorial emerged (we miss you Bryan Singer, please return to form soon) and everyone was talking about THAT twist at the end. While Mitch wishes to disregard the ending, if we were to do that with many films in this tournament then the same argument could be made of the preceding action and build-up; that it was fairly average. However it is BECAUSE of the ending that it gets regarded in the same breath of high caliber films so we cannot dismiss it or just judge the film without the ending.

Usual Suspects, for Kaiser.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I Should've elaborated on the "take away the shocking ending" stuff.

Memento, Se7en, The Machinist, American Psycho, and The Mist feature shocking endings. But each film provides a more intriguing ride to the end, I can't same the same thing about The Usual Suspects. The plot is fairly simplistic, and without the "Kaiser Soze" twist, The Usual Suspects would've been another forgettable mystery/suspense film.

As far as defining films of the 90's goes, The Usual Suspects is recognizable, but when it comes to popularity, The Usual Suspects is middle-of-the road at best. Terminator 2, Goodfellas, Titanic, Toy Story, Pulp Fiction, and Jerry Maguire are just a few examples of other films that triumph over The Usual Suspects as defining films of the 90's, especially when you consider popularity, quality, and memorable moments.

I can see where you're coming from with the "cramming nods to East Asian cinema" criticism, but I look at as another way for Tarantino to pay homage East Asian cinema. He did the same thing with Jackie Brown (paying homage to blaxploitation films), and the end result was fantastic film. Tarantino took a similar approach with Kill Bill Volume. 1, and he nailed it.