# Kill Bill: help me spot the references (maybe spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941 "2003-10-12T01:45:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/61 "2003-10-15T22:34:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomyoung \* > \*\*FWIW, I’m pretty sure O-Ren’s sword had no hilt. \*\* All swords have a hilt. It’s what you hold them by. cbawlmer et al: The Bride is looking specifically at her lifeline when she deduces how long she’s been out. ---
**Author:** ![tomyoung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@tomyoung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomyoung)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/62 "2003-10-15T22:42:29Z")
I meant the guard, then. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/63 "2003-10-15T22:51:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\* QT told him to play the waiter _as_ “Mr. Pink,” having survived somehow and now being on the lam from the cops. > \*\* I had never heard that Tarantino gave him those directions. That’s really funny. And, especially great considering Mr. Pink’s thoughts on tipping. I hope he keeps their sodas filled all the way up at all times. Well. Toluca Lake is 15 or 20 miles from Pasadena, so that blows my theory out of the water. Of course, it might be the same house, it just isn’t Jimmie’s house. Just to add another reference to the many thrown out. How about the sheriff referring to his deputy as Number One Son. A possible reference to Charlie Chan. I guess you could say that Charlie Chan was one of the original Hollywood Asian stereotypes, only to be eclipsed by Kung Fu fighter in the 60s and 70s. Or, you could just say that it’s a funny thing to hear coming out of the mouth of a Texas sheriff. pat ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/64 "2003-10-16T04:49:03Z")
So I have just gone and seen the movie for a second time. I remembered to pay special attention to the swords in the airplane. I’m almost positive now that every seat has its own katana holder on the side. The Bride has hers in it, as do the people behind her and in the seats across the aisle. The seat directly next to Bride, however, is vacant, and there is no sword, but there is definately a holder for it! Now, that’s GOT to be in reference to something. There is also a similarity between the way the yakuza biker gang keeps their katanas on the motorcycles - they stick out in exactly the same way as in the plane. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/65 "2003-10-16T09:27:09Z")
It’s good to know I’m not insane. Well, as far as this movie goes, at least. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/66 "2003-10-16T14:06:36Z")
I _think_ “O-Ren Ishii” is the name of a Japanese warrior of legend, along the lines of Wong Fei-Hong, the character played by Jet Li in every single **Once Upon a Time in China** movie and by Jackie Chan in **Drunken Master**. Can anyone verify this? ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/67 "2003-10-17T00:49:43Z")
Google isn’t helping me find anything on O-Ren so far. However, Hattori Honzo was a famous ninja, according to [this](http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamondback/archives/2003/10/09/diversions1.html) review. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/68 "2003-10-17T02:01:31Z")
**look!ninjas** I guess you _would_ know, huh? Yeah, it’s quite possible that I got the names mixed up. Wouldn’t be the first time! ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/69 "2003-10-17T04:06:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by karomon \* > \*\*The actress who plays Go-Go, the crazy Japanese schoolgirl, is another reference via casting. She has prieviously appeared in the movie “Battle Royale” as Chigusa. In BR, she is a schoolgirl (hence the uniform) who stabs a fellow classmate in the crotch after he propses that they do the nasty. Which is exactly the same thing she does in Kill Bill, albeit in somewhat different circumstances. \*\* That’s no the only Battle Royale reference. When Vernita and the Bride are hiding the knives from the child, they’re in the same pose as the one child at the begining of BR (the girl who picks up the knife after the teacher is stabbed) Similar camera angles too. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/70 "2003-10-17T13:04:53Z")
I swear I posted a follow-up on Hattori Hanzo last night. What happened, I couldn’t say. But if you want more info on him, I’d try [this](http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6753/HanzoHattori.html) site. Incidentally, I know next to nothing about ninja. It’s simply the power of Google. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/71 "2003-10-17T14:29:00Z")
Was the “airplane against the orange clouds” a Braniff commercial reference? ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/72 "2003-10-17T14:51:47Z")
[Quentin talks about the films that inspired him.](http://www.japattack.com/japattack/film/tarantino.html) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/73 "2003-10-17T15:11:44Z")
Ah ha. So was the Braniff commercial a reference to _Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell_? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/74 "2003-10-19T00:37:44Z")
Re: **Pulp Fiction**. I don’t know if this would be a director’s trademark or a reference, but (PF spoiler contained herein, though I’m sure nearly everybody here has seen PF) [spoiler]there was a pretty big similarity between the Pussy Wagon and Zed’s motorcycle. Both the fact that it was stolen from a rapist that the person stealing it just killed, and the keychain (like the ‘Z’ in PF). Also, the missed but easy shot that Vernita fires at The Bride reminded me a lot of the guy jumping out of the bathroom and trying but failing to shoot Vince and Jules in **Pulp Fiction**.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/75 "2003-10-19T09:22:49Z")
I don’t know about the shot. [spoiler] Firstly, it’s not an easy shot. Vernita is firing on the turn, and she can’t see exactly where the gun is pointed because of the cereal box. Both these things make for inaccuracy - and if I’m not mistaken the pistol she used has a very limited range to boot. Second, the guy in Pulp Fiction doesn’t miss. It’s clearly visible in the scene that two of his shots hit the wall _behind_ Jules - the bullets could not have struck there without passing right through Jules’ body. That’s why Jules has his revelation; he feels he was saved by a miracle. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/76 "2003-10-19T11:33:27Z")
The close-ups of the eyes looked very similar to the close-ups in the Sergio Leone spagetti Westerns, especially the end of **The God, the Bad and the Ugly**. As others have already pointed out, hte music is very similar too. ---
**Author:** ![chrisn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@chrisn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/77 "2003-10-19T14:26:04Z")
I took O-Ren Ishii’s name to be a reference to the director Teruo Ishii, a cult-figure amongst chambara movie fans. Sonny Chiba starred in a few of his films back in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/78 "2003-10-19T23:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raizok \* > Hmm… what else… Star Trek with the Klingon proverb. Beyond that, I took opening with a caption involving an invented proverb to be a nod to Jean-Pierre Melville. (Granted, it’s _Le Cercle Rouge_ that has the made-up proverbs, rather than the more appropriate _Le Samourai_.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/79 "2003-10-25T15:32:06Z")
Maybe this is a dumb question, but why is it that while everybody speaks pretty good Japanese, nobody seems to be able to pronounce “yakuza”? They rattle off well-prounounced paragraphs and then go “yaKUza”. Is that some reference I don’t get? I assume the audience for a movie that assumes you saw _Battle Royale_ can safely assume you’ll know what they’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941/80 "2003-10-25T16:33:25Z")
An oblique reference, perhaps: When Vernita’s cereal box gambit goes awry, the kitchen floor gets showered with multicolored bits of cereal. Reminds me of the Lee Marvin movie Point Blank when after a violent outburst by Marvin, his ex’s bathroom floor is covered with multicolored bits of perfume bottles & swirls of perfume. May be a connection, since Point Blank is a revenge movie as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-bill-help-me-spot-the-references-maybe-spoilers/206941.md?page=5)