Uma Thurman wraps up a "roaring rampage of revenge" in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2, "one of the most heart-poundingly visceral movies ever made". Some critics were left wanting, though, hankering after the snap-crackle dialogue of QT's earlier movies - a point which the director makes note of on this DVD. But the last word was left to the paying public, who made this a worldwide No.1 hit.

Cut And Paste

The obligatory 'making of' featurette contains the usual plot breakdown and junket interviews, but there's also a reflective note as QT ponders the sharply divided response of critics. With the help of his principal cast, he also retraces some of the film's key sequences eg Daryl Hannah and Uma Thurman going at it full tilt inside a poky little trailer - what the director calls "war of the blonde gargantuans" - and the hilarious Pai Mei training sequence.

The Damoe deleted scene also mixes belly laughs and gut-wrenching swordplay. A beautifully choreographed piece of action, it sees David Carradine (as Bill) going toe-to-toe with a black, samurai-wielding cockney who sounds suspiciously like Dick Van Dyke's chimney sweep in Mary Poppins. Meanwhile Uma Thurman watches from the sidelines in quiet awe. (Well, it really is something to behold.)

Killer Tunes

A novel addition to the package is an unplugged performance by Robert Rodriguez's band Chingon, at the Kill Bill Vol. 2 premiere afterparty. The sometime filmmaker plays mariachi for a toe-tapping selection of what he calls "Mexican spaghetti western" ditties from the film's soundtrack. (Among his rapturous/drunken audience, you may spot a sweat-drenched QT.)

No doubt saving the bulk of special features for a boxset edition of the complete Kill Bill opus, this DVD release may be slim but - like Beatrix Kiddo herself - it leaves a lasting impression.

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