Tarantino's grindhouse glory gleams

By now, it should be carved in stone that Quentin Tarantino is the penultimate writer/director in the eyes and minds of the current 20-something generation. After four brilliant films in 12 years, Tarantino is the epitome of quality above quantity. That is not to say that his latest labor of love, "Kill Bill," is any small offering. Both volumes clocking in at a shade long of four hours collectively, "Kill Bill" is an epic tale of revenge and redemption.\nThe first half of the saga, newly released on disc, is just as enjoyable on the small screen as the large. We witness the vengeful rampage of The Bride (an electric Uma Thurman), now awoken from a gunshot-induced coma, as she vanquishes two of the five killers who wronged her on her wedding day four years previous. By "Vol. 1's" end, she has bested both assassin-turned-housewife Vernita Green (in front of her daughter, no less) and Tokyo crime queen, O-Ren Ishii (along with about 40 of her bodyguards), leaving the sadistic Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), the menacing Budd (Michael Madsen) and of course, Bill (David Carradine) on the chopping block for "Vol. 2."\nDrawing fragmentally on grindhouse martial arts flicks, spaghetti Westerns and anime, Tarantino has once again managed to transcend his source material and create something truly original which both cinephiles and uninitiated casual viewers can enjoy, respect and appreciate.\nObviously waiting to unleash the meaty extras on a monstrous "Complete Kill Bill" set later this year, this single disc is laced with the perfunctory trailers and previews, as well as a generic, 20-minute making-of documentary.\n"Kill Bill: Vol. 1" is what happens when a filmmaker tosses all the movies which enthralled and inspired him as a young man into a pot and stirs vigorously. Along with "Kill Bill: Vol. 2," Quentin Tarantino has concocted a wickedly tasty stew.