Kill Bill Faces Scrutiny Over Lady Snowblood Parallels

Quentin Tarantino’s reputation for crafting standout cinema is well established, with his Kill Bill series often topping lists of his finest work. Lately, though, a fresh wave of criticism has emerged, with many punters pointing out just how closely the films mirror the 1973 Japanese samurai flick Lady Snowblood. The similarities in the action, the revenge-driven storyline, and even the visual style have led some to reckon Tarantino’s work is less original than it first appeared.

The conversation kicked off again after a social media post showed a still from Lady Snowblood, cheekily suggesting Tarantino should be ‘put in jail’ for copying. This sparked a flurry of comments, with others piling on to accuse the director of borrowing from a range of films, while also taking the mickey out of his past remarks about other productions being rip-offs. Notably, Tarantino once called The Hunger Games a knock-off of Battle Royale. What’s often overlooked, though, is that Tarantino has openly acknowledged Lady Snowblood as a major influence on his own saga.

Open Acknowledgement of Influence

Tarantino has never shied away from his admiration for Lady Snowblood. According to Criterion, the Japanese film was a significant inspiration for the Kill Bill series. In a 2004 interview, he explained that the story’s roots came from a mix of revenge films, saying,

It’s coming from, in its basic form, all of these different revenge genre movies that I was jumping off from. The Bride could easily be this cowboy character from this spaghetti western. She could easily by Angela Mao character Deep Thrust or Broken Oath.

He went on to specifically mention Meiko Kaji, who played Yuki Kashima in Lady Snowblood, as a key influence. Tarantino said,

There’s two characters that Japanese actress Meiko Kaji played. One was a character named Scorpion. She did about four movies with that, and she did a great revenge samurai movie called Lady Snowblood. She could be that character. You could keep going down the whole list, but she falls in that whole long line of hell bent for revenge characters.

Rather than a straight copy, it seems Tarantino intended to pay tribute to the original, weaving its spirit into his own work.

Comparing the Two Films

From the perspective of many fans, it’s easy to see why the comparison is made. Lady Snowblood follows Yuki Kashima, played by Meiko Kaji, as she seeks vengeance for her mother’s suffering and her half-brother’s death. Kill Bill, meanwhile, centres on Uma Thurman’s character, The Bride, who wakes from a coma and sets out to settle scores with her former boss and his crew.

There are clear echoes between the two: both feature women on relentless quests for payback, both are driven by past trauma, and both are willing to go to any lengths to achieve their goals. The snowy showdown between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill is a direct nod to a famous scene in Lady Snowblood. Even the use of the song ‘The Flower of Carnage’ ties the two together, as it plays during a pivotal moment in both films.

Homage or Copy?

While the similarities are hard to ignore, Tarantino’s open admission of his influences complicates the accusation of outright copying. He’s known for blending genres and styles, and in this case, he’s taken elements from Lady Snowblood—narrative structure, visual motifs, music, and character types—and reimagined them through his own lens. The result is a film that feels more like a spiritual successor than a simple remake.

For those interested in the numbers, Kill Bill was released in 2003–2004, directed by Tarantino and starring Uma Thurman. Lady Snowblood came out in 1973, directed by Toshiya Fujita with Meiko Kaji in the lead. Both films have strong ratings, with Kill Bill scoring 8.2 on IMDb and Lady Snowblood at 7.6. On Rotten Tomatoes, Lady Snowblood edges ahead with a perfect 100% on the Tomatometer, while Kill Bill sits at 85%.

At the end of the day, both films are available for streaming—Kill Bill on Amazon Prime Video and Lady Snowblood on HBO Max—so viewers can judge for themselves whether Tarantino’s work is homage, imitation, or something in between.