Why I prefer the black-and-white version of Kill Bill’s big sword fight

For over two decades, Kill Bill has split the fan world in two – like Hanzo steel. As you remember, the movie was released in two volumes, Volume 1 was released in 2003 and Volume 2 in 2004. Of both volumes, there exist a slightly different version that was released in Japan. While the changes in Volume 2 are minimal (for a comparison see here), the changes in Volume 1 are a bit more substantive (more on that in just a second). To complicate matters, there exists an integral version of both volumes which makes use of mostly the Japanese versions (plus some other modifications), called The Whole Bloody Affair, uniting both volumes into one film. That version had long been out of reach for fans but started a wide theatrical run in late 2025 and is now conquering screens (and hearts) of Tarantinophiles worldwide.

The changes in Volume 1 (see here for a detailed comparison or here) center mostly on the famous House of Blue Leaves sequence, the part of the film with the most obvious difference. The Japanese version is a bit more graphic in its violence (some cuts were made), but seems especially so mainly because it stays in color, while the international version (based on the version made for the US market that needs an MPAA certification of course) has the main part of the Crazy 88 take-down in black and white. Now, while a lot of people crave the Japanese version and cry censorship regarding the international version, I prefer the original theatrical, international, black and white version of Kill Bill, and for three main reasons.

Reason number one

This is in fact how it was written, you can read the script here. Articles like this one get it wrong therefore, even thought there is obviously the matter of different versions of a script. To quote from the script:

Not only is the FIGHT CUT TO THE HEAVY METAL MUSIC, but The
Bride seems to be somewhat dancing to it as she fights.
This explosion of furious violence is punctuated
CINEMATICALLY BY THE COLOR IN THE FILM POPPING OFF, and the
fight being filmed in HIGH CONTRAST BLACK AND WHITE, turning
the squirting, spewing geysers of BLOOD FROM CRIMSON RED TO
OIL BLACK.

Additionally, the greatest sub-sequence of this fight is the Bride practically “break-dancing” with her opponents cut to the song “Nobody but me”, which works perfectly without color.

Reason number two

The switching from color to black and white and back is perfectly cut to two key moments: the Bride gouging an eye out and the bride’s blinking of her eyes (obviously not in the Japanese cut, and therefore also not in the Whole Bloody Affair cut). The film returning to color therefore feels a bit like somebody flicked a switch. This editing trick is not needed if the scene were to remain in color (and is thus a bit different in the Japanese/integral cut of the film).

And that, too, was already in the script (blinking not explicitly mentioned however), to quote from a few pages later:

EX CU The Bride's eyes
pointed up, watch them move closer, COLOR COMES BACK INTO THE
FILM. We see her face is splashed with blood.

Reason number three

Lastly, the color version seems less “artistic” and more graphic: and as all black and white film does, it can do without distracting the viewers’ visual senses. The color red is an alarm color, and you will be able to concentrate more on the emotions and action, if your senses aren’t overwhelmed by all that red.

This last aspect seems to have been Tarantino’s main reason for keeping the black-and-white version: As he points out in an interview (watch here, relevant passage starts at the 90-minute-mark), while they had a strategy to tango with the MPAA (they would go several rounds of screenings and feedback and then present a black and white version on the fourth attempt), the film was met with higher acceptance by the board than expected. Tarantino decided to go with the black and white, even though he saw a chance to get away with a color version of the film and get an R-rating, because he felt that audiences would be overwhelmed by an “onslaught of red” and that would end up being all audiences and critics would talk about. And to quote him, “it’s kinda cool when it turns to black and white”.

Conclusion

While I loved the version of Kill Bill pre-MPAA tussle, with all cuts and all additions from the Japanese version intact (so basically what you get by watching The Whole Bloody Affair or a BluRay imported from Japan), I would prefer the main part to remain the black and white vision of the fight (undo the cuts, that’s fine), because I think it is the better visual depiction of this scene, and I would forever feel robbed of its artistic brilliance, if it were entirely in color.

In a perfect world, we would see a release of The Whole Bloody Affair on BluRay and UltraHD-BluRay at some point, maybe with a menu option to pick whether to see it in its international “flavor” or in its Japanese flavor. With seamless branching, this is technically possible but maybe it’s too much for ask.

To conclude: we’ll never know if the cited passages from the script already had the tussle with the MPAA in mind, but I love this editing trick and the desaturation and I consider it Quentin’s original intention, as already in the script. I love black-and-white cinematography as much as the next cinephile, but that’s not to say that the uncut, Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair cut isn’t an absolute marvel (it is one of the greatest theatrical experiences I have ever had).