Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to borrowing from other films, for lack of a better word. All of his films have the DNA of films that have left an impression on him from his time working at a video store. For the most part, most filmmakers do borrow from the media that inspires them, it's part of being an artist. But Tarantino's use of homage and reference occasionally go further than the average filmmaker. It goes a little further than just homage, many of his influences are overtly shown to a point of borderline copying.
Tarantino's borrowing goes from using scenes from other movies. For example, the dance from Pulp Fiction is right out of Bande A Parte; the Inglorious Basterds doorway shot is identical to The Searchers closing shot. Even MacGuffins show evidence of this, like Pulp Fiction's briefcase borrowed from Kiss Me Deadly. But it isn't just meager scenes or plot devices that he borrows for his own films, many of them share strong resemblances to other films' plots and characters. One that borrows more than his other movies is his Kill Bill Duology.
For this list, the focus will be on the big players that Tarantino used instead of the quick references he uses like The Bride and her daughter watching Shogun Assassin in bed.
Lady Snowblood
The first Kill Bill film opens with a mother declaring vengeance on those who wronged her. Sound familiar? It is because the 1973 samurai film, Lady Snowblood, is the most obvious influence on Kill Bill. The film recounts a woman's tale of bloody vengeance for her mother, rather than her daughter in the case of Kill Bill — as she is trained to go against those who destroyed her family. Although that seems like a small and vague influence on the movie and nothing more than an homage, one viewing of Lady Snowblood will show anyone that it is much more than that. Everything from the plot is very similar. Costume design is identical for certain characters, specific shots are replicated, and even certain sets are almost exact replicas of those from Lady Snowblood.
If that isn't enough, Lady Snowblood features the same iconic and over-the-top blood splatters when someone is killed by a sword. Even the targets of Lady Snowblood are introduced in the same way the Deadly Viper Assassination Club is, in a sequence where they are cutting her father down to have their faces shown in a freeze-frame with their names on the screen. There is more that could be said, but to list every similarity between Lady Snowblood and Kill Bill might be a bit lengthy.
The Bride Wore Black
It is reasonable to not expect a Francois Truffaut movie on the list, but it's on here for good reason. The film follows a widow whose husband was shot and killed on the church steps of their wedding, thus unleashing her journey for revenge one by one on the five people who supposedly murdered her husband.
Tarantino's influence from Truffaut's movie is almost as on the nose as Lady Snowblood's. A woman widowed in a wedding dress goes out seeking revenge on the five people who killed her husband. That reads as a plot synopsis for Kill Bill maybe a little more so than Lady Snowblood. The only thing that gives Lady Snowblood the influential edge is the number of details that Kill Bill replicates from it, but this one is a close second.
The Five Deadly Venoms
If the previous two titles weren't big enough influences for Kill Bill's Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, here's one more. To be fair, the Deadly Vipers are easily one of the biggest highlights of Kill Bill as they offer a fun, cool, and unique group of antagonists for the bride to hunt. Like The Five Deadly Venoms, they are all uniquely skilled people with some cool code names based on deadly animals. Its influence doesn't really go past that, but does it need to when it helped Tarantino think of an all-time great cast of antagonists?
Bruce Lee/Game of Death
Quentin Tarantino doesn't have much love from the Bruce Lee fan base, thanks to his portrayal of Lee in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. But Tarantino's homage to Bruce Lee is a bit more well-received. In Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Bride wears a black stripped yellow jumpsuit that is nearly identical to Lee's from his final movie, Game of Death.
Kill Bill even has the video game style of having different 'bosses' facing off against the protagonist in a series of set pieces. Although it isn't as influential on the duology as the previously mentioned titles, it is the most popular and mentioned homage of Tarantino's for good reason. That jumpsuit just works so well in bloody fight sequences, it is great.