"Kill Bill, Vol. 1" may be the most violent movie ever made.

OK, that sounds like hyperbole, but consider this — heads fly, limbs are hacked off, women are beaten brutally and shot in the head, and blood flows like a river.

Ultimately, whether audiences will enjoy "Kill Bill" will depend on how they feel about writer/director Quentin Tarantino. Either you love him or you hate him, and this film is unlikely to change anyone's mind either way.

Yet, for those who can stomach "Bill's" peculiar brand of ultraviolence, this revenge yarn is an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride that will satisfy even the most carnage-crazed action fan. (It should be noted that at least one scene was changed from color to black and white to keep the film from getting a rating more harsh than R.)

Uma Thurman stars as a character known simply as The Bride. After spending four years in a coma, this former killing machine is awakened and takes revenge on those responsible for nearly killing her, as well as her unborn child and the man she was to marry.

And she has a long list of enemies, including Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox), a housewife who's now "retired" from the business, and O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), who has now become the head of the Tokyo underworld.

You hate to use the word "subtle" to describe a filmmaker as bombastic as Tarantino, but there is actually some subtlety here, such as a Zenlike pause in the action that may be the most poetic thing he's ever done. There's also a brilliant animated sequence done in the Japanese anime style, which tells the origin of O-Ren, and which may seem like an odd digression; but it works in the context of what is essentially a live-action cartoon.

This film is certainly not for all audiences. Even the those with strong stomachs may feel a bit queasy after seeing some of the more blood-splattered sequences.

This is also the best performance Thurman has given in years. Her intensity here makes you believe a woman this spindly could actually wreak so much havoc with a sword, a knife and other weapons. Same goes for Liu, who really seems to be having fun being bad again. And kung-fu movie veteran Sonny Chiba owns every scene he's in (unfortunately, there just aren't enough of them).

This film also has one of the best soundtracks in recent memory. The RZA's score has the lurid tone of music from early chop-socky films at times, alternating with music that may bring to mind "blaxploitation" flicks.

"Kill Bill, Vol. 1" is rated R for nonstop violence and mayhem (shootings, stabbings, martial-arts combat and violence against women), graphic gore, frequent use of strong sexual profanity and crude sexual slang terms, brief drug content (hypodermic use), a scene of torture, a brief scene of rape, use of racial epithets and brief male nudity (animated). Running time: 112 minutes.

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