Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

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Bill’s Hero Revolver

The Bride’s Hero Firestar Pistol

Note: Most images throughout the article can be clicked on for higher resolution versions

Background: Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2

Kill Bill Vol.1 (2003) and Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) are collectively referred to as “the fourth film by Quentin Tarantino. It was originally intended to be one film, but given the four hour length, was split into two films released separately.

Starring Uma Thurman as “The Bride” and David Carradine as “Bill”, the revenge drama was an homage to Hong Kong kung fu, Japanese samurai, and Italian spaghetti western genre films.

Directed by Tarantino, it was co-written by himself and Uma Thurman following their successful working relationship in Pulp Fiction.

The cast also included Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, and Sonny Chiba.

Hero Customized Revolver Used By David Carradine as “Bill”

While the most iconic and important weapons used in the two films are the “Hanzo” swords, being a Tarantino film, there are a number of firearms used as well.

Carradine carried a pair of revolver sidearms in both Volumes of the film, and the one featured below is one of two made for and used in the movie. Both were custom-fitted live fire/blank fire pistols rented to the production for use in the film.

As the pistol used in the film to shoot The Bride in the close-up flashback scenes (and the first image in the trailer) it is one of the most important props used in the films.

Below are a series of photos with and without the custom barrel extension:

Below are some still screencaptures from scenes in the film in which the pistol was featured:

Hero Firestar Pistol Used By Uma Thurman as “The Bride”

Thurman used a Firestar pistol in both Volumes of the film, and the one featured below is one of two made for and used in the movie. Both were customized to a blank fire configuration and rented to the production for use in the film.

When “The Bride” finally confronts Bill at the climax of Vol. 2, she comes armed with this weapon (as Bill is armed with his revolver, the other piece featured in this article).

Below are a series of photos of the movie gun:

Below are some still screencaptures from scenes in the film in which the pistol was featured:

Provenance & Authenticity

Provenance includes copies of the original Gibbons Ltd. rental agreements to propmaster Steve Joyner of the “Supercool Manchu, Inc” production as well as Certificates of Authenticity from The Prop Store of London. Two of each of these pistols were rented to the production.

There are also references to the pistol in “The Kill Bill Diary, The Making of a Tarantino Classic as Seen Through the Eyes of a Screen Legend“, by David Carradine.

“As they were setting up the shot, I twirled the guns a little. These are great pieces – cute little nickel-plated single-action things, with pearl brid’s-beak grips…”

“I flipped the pretty little single-action out of the holster with an underhand twirl, one of my signature moves (I have many), pointed it at the camera, pulled back the hammer, and fired…”

“Uma will come bursting through the door, he says, brandishing a 9mm in one hand, with her samuari sword in the other…”

“We shoot up about a hundred rounds. The gun gets real hot.”

“I get to do some more fast draws. Quentin sets up a shot just for that, and I show him my best stuff. I’m really up against it, as the gun has a futuristic silencer on it that makes it a bitch to pull out fast, and a hassle to get it back in. Then there’s doing it left-handed”