Kill Bill tour: Culture and Travel Context

Kill Bill vol 1 and vol 2 are two action movies, or rather one long movie split in two (it was intended to be made as one film but was split because the original version was more than four hours) and released on October 10, 2003 and April 8, 2004.

Watch the movies first. The article contains some spoilers and outright "in-jokes" referring to scenes in the movie(s), but in order to minimize the spoilers, not everything is explained here, and so the article refers to events that readers won't understand without watching them first.

The protagonist "The Bride" (later her name is revealed as Beatrix Kiddo) used to be a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad - organization. The members were named after snake species and she went by the name "black mamba". One day she discovered she was pregnant and therefore decided to quit the job, escape, and start a new life under a new identity. Bill, the boss of the organization (and who was also in some kind of relationship with her), mildly speaking, didn't accept this. The Bride found a new man, and as they were about to get married in El Paso, the rest of the squad showed up at the wedding rehearsal, and gunned down everybody - or so they thought. The sheriff and his team investigating the crime scene have no idea of who she is and so she is just referred to as "The Bride".

The Bride survives and wakes up from coma in a hospital four years later, and here the movie begins. She decides to travel around the world to search for and kill the four assassins and finally Bill himself. The movie(s) takes her around the southwestern U.S., Japan and Mexico, and there are flashbacks from her time training in China with the martial arts master Pai Mei. Much of the movie has been shot on location, though the U.S. parts were all shot in Southern California and most of the Asian parts in China.

The film follows a nonlinear narrative, and the destinations are listed in the order they first show up in the movie. Most places are around Southern California, and you may want to drive to get around, the same goes for the Mexican location. The few Asian locations are better accessible by public transportation.

1 Vernita Greene's house, 5500 Atlas St (South Pasadena). The house, green in the movie (where else would a character with that name in a Tarantino film live?), is in a residential district and as such likely inhabited. As of April 2017 it was painted white. If you are driving, the late nurse Buck's yellow Pussy Wagon truck or otherwise, park it right outside. Otherwise you can easily get in by bus; it's unclear if school buses still stop outside, but there are bus stops on Huntington Drive North near the crossing with Alpha St, served by LA Metro lines 78 and 79.. (updated Feb 2020)

2 Two Pines wedding chapel (Sanctuary Adventist Church), 198 St East, East Av G (about 15 miles east of Lancaster (California)). Not in El Paso, but in the Mojave Desert (the Joshua tree in front is a dead giveaway), in the hamlet of Hi Vista. The church where everything began is actively promoting the fact that the movie was shot here (they shot the whole she-bang: bride, groom, reverend, reverend's wife... hell, they even shot that old colored fella that plays the organ), for example on its website they're referring to themselves as the "Kill Bill church". Other movies have been shot here as well, and in the windows there are (or have been) "Film Here" ads. Photography requires permission, both for the outside and inside of the church. It's also a functional church, and movie fans are welcome to attend services too. Car or taxi are the practical ways to get to the chapel. If you really insist on walking across the desert like the Bride in Volume 2 looking for Budd's trailer, local bus Line 50 will take you to Wilsonia Gardens, the corner of 170th St E and Ave. K-8, about 7.5 miles (12 km) from the church.. (updated Feb 2020)

3 The hospital (St. Lukes Medical Center), 2632 East Washington Blvd near Altadena Dr (Pasadena). The hospital where she wakes up is filmed from the inside only, and is not in Texas either – nothing was filmed in Texas. St. Lukes Medical Center is a former hospital, and since 2002 it has been a place for filming hospital scenes. Unclear if it can be visited other than from the outside but local buses 32, 33, 264 and 268 stop at different stops in the corner of East Washington Boulevard and North Altadena Drive.. (updated Feb 2020)

4 Hospital garage (American Cement building, 2404 Wilshire Blvd Garage), 2404 Wilshire Blvd (Los Angeles/Northwest). The American Cement building next to Mac Arthur Park in Los Angeles has likewise been used in other movies too, and as of early 2019 it also featured a "film here" banner on the wall. It is a public parking garage, so you can park your car here or just take a look inside. Who knows if you will find a particular yellow truck here? If you are not getting around by car, Westlake/MacArthur Park metro station is just across the park and bus 20 stops right outside on Wilshire Boulevard.. (updated Feb 2020)

5 Production ig, 2 Chome-1-9 Nakacho, Musashino (Mitaka). This company produced the anime section with O-Ren Ishii's life up to now. Their studios are in Mitaka, and might have tours available. Other than that, they have a store in the Shibuya Marui department store in Shibuya. The studios are three blocks northeast of Mitaka railway station. The Shibuya Marui department store (also known as 0101), in turn, is a couple of blocks north of Shibuya railway station, next to the railway on the western side. (updated Feb 2020)

This cultural overview is an excerpt of a community travel guide. Confirm current access, schedules and prices with the venue before planning a visit.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Kill Bill tour by Wikivoyage contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.