20 years ago, Uma Thurman’s Bride got her revenge on the eponymous villain of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (one of the best kung fu movies of all time), but there is one relatively easy method that Bill could have used to thwart The Bride’s vendetta. In Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Bride awakens from a five-year coma after being betrayed and nearly killed by her former associates on the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, and sets about seeking revenge on all of them, leading up to her much-hyped confrontation with the titular Bill (David Carradine – one of the actors who has been in the most movies). Kill Bill Vo1. 2 culminates in The Bride (revealed in Vol. 2 to be named Beatrix Kiddo) slaying Bill with a legendary maneuver called The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, which is a devastating attack save for its one fatal flaw.
The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique Explained
As explained by Bill himself in Kill Bill Vol. 2, the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique is “quite simply, the deadliest blow in all of martial arts”, with Bill and Beatrix’s kung fu master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu) being the only known master of the technique. As Bill explains, “He hits you with his fingertips at five different pressure points on your body, then lets you walk away. But once you’ve taken five steps, your heart explodes inside your body, and you fall to the floor, dead.”
Although Bill states that Pai Mei does not teach the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique to any of his students, he gets a big surprise in his final confrontation with Beatrix when she performs the technique upon Bill. The ending of Kill Bill Vol. 2 ultimate sees Beatrix and Bill reconcile their enmity with Bill walking away and dying a relatively peaceful death after taking his fifth step. However, there is one counter to the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique that Pai Mei never accounted for, and that Bill didn’t put enough thought into to consider before accepting his fate.
Bill Could Have Stayed Alive With A Wheelchair
The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique works a bit like a landmine with a delayed response, in that it doesn’t go “Boom!” until either the individual’s foot is removed from the mine, or the fifth step is taken. That means that since Bill was sitting on his patio in a chair, he was not in any immediate danger as long as he remained seated. Since he would not trigger The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique’s “countdown” until he actually took a step, all Bill would need to do is simply be transferred into a wheelchair.
It surely wouldn’t have been too big of a favor for a man of Bill’s connections and wealth to simply call up an assistant to bring over a wheelchair and place Bill into it. At that point, Beatrix’s tool of vengeance would have been effectively countered, albeit tentatively so.
While Bill had some level of mobility restored by being able to get around in a wheelchair without actually taking a step, he obviously could not remain in the wheelchair indefinitely. Sooner or later, Bill would have had to get up for the basic needs of everyday life, which would call upon him to begin taking the five steps he was allotted to live. However, the second half of Bill’s counter to Beatrix’s attack would have stopped The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique dead in its tracks.
All Bill Needed To Beat The Bride Was A Heart Transplant
Because of The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, Bill’s heart had become a ticking time bomb inside of his chest. The solution to this problem, however, is a simple one – Bill needs a new heart. As with placing Bill into the wheelchair, his connections and wealth make a late-night heart transplant very easy to pull off. As long as Bill himself remained seated and didn’t take any kind of steps with his feet while being placed into the wheelchair, transported to the hospital, and carried onto the operating table, he could have had a heart that was as good as new in his chest in no time.
Of course, Bill’s own admission to his sins in ruining Beatrix’s life and keeping her still-living daughter hidden from her for years may have weighed a lot on his conscience. With Bill stating that his former lover Beatrix is “my favorite person”, he might have decided that karma had finally come for him, and the best thing to do was accept it and part with Beatrix on good terms. Nevertheless, let it be a word to the wise, indeed – should any students of Pai Mei come to settle a score with The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique as their weapon of choice, a wheelchair-heart transplant combo is the one counterattack that even the deadliest move in all of martial arts cannot overcome.
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Tell us, do you think Bill could’ve survived the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique in Kill Bill?
Watch the move in action below.
Kill Bill: Volume 2 |
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The Bride continues her quest of vengeance against her former boss and lover Bill, the reclusive bouncer Budd, and the treacherous, one-eyed Elle. |
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| Studio: A Band Apart, Miramax Films |
| Running Time: 138 minutes |
| Release Date: April 16, 2004 |
| Cast: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Gordon Liu, Michael Parks |
| Director: Quentin Tarantino |
| Writers: Quentin Tarantino |
| Genre: Martial Arts, Action, Crime, Thriller |
| Box Office: $152.2 million |
