DVD REVIEW HERE COMES THE BRIDE.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

We'll have to reserve judgment on Quentin Tarantino's ``Kill Bill - Vol. 1'' for the moment. Right now the buzz is that ``Vol. 2'' goes a long way toward explaining the first film. So that should mean that the violent, stylized, puzzling revenge story of ``1'' will get some meaning - or at least some context.

The buzz is also that you can see ``2'' without having seen ``1,'' but that seems unlikely. However, if you saw the first film, it's likely you're going to want to see the second - if you care. And that's the problem; there was little to care about in ``1,'' which tells the story of the Bride (Uma Thurman) - her real name, for whatever reasons, is bleeped out when it's spoken - who has been left for dead along with the rest of the people at her wedding ceremony. It seems the Bride, once a member of a crack team of assassins, had gotten pregnant and apparently wanted out. The rest of the team - headed by Bill (David Carradine) - had other plans, resulting in a bloodbath.

The Bride survives a bullet to the head and ends up in a coma for a number of years, only to wake and find out she's being used in a disgusting fashion by a male orderly. Revenge starts immediately and continues unabated for the rest of the film.

First up is Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) - Copperhead as she was known in the team - who is now married to a doctor, has a young daughter and lives in a nice suburban home. Revenge in Tarantino's world isn't pretty, but it is interesting and odd.

That's what keeps the viewer interested - the director's sense of great cinematic style, which includes a rather cool anime section explaining the reason O-Ren Ishii/Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu) - a former member of the team and now the top Yakuza in Tokyo - is such a top-notch killer. Then there are the extraordinary choreographed fight scenes, not any more believable than the Hong Kong stuff Tarantino was cribbing from - but more balletic, as if he were slipping in a bit of ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.''

As with early films like ``Pulp Fiction'' and ``Jackie Brown,'' Tarantino enjoys scrambling his narrative. In ``Fiction,'' his nonlinear story line created pathos, such as when John Travolta's character is killed midway through the picture but is alive later on when earlier events are shown.

But in ``Vol. 1'' the technique is frustrating if you are looking for genuine emotions amid the comic-book violence. The film appears encased in its own distant cinematic world, as if looking through a distorted glass. But if ``Vol. 2'' lives up to the hype, then ``Vol. 1'' may seem very clear.

``Kill Bill - Vol. 1'' (Miramax; $29.99) includes a making-of featurette and some musical numbers.

Medieval times

Who better to quote than yourself? Hey, we all do it. I did the theatrical review of ``Timeline'' last November and, a second viewing on DVD has done little to change my opinion. Directed by veteran filmmaker Richard Donner (the ``Lethal Weapon'' series, ``Maverick''), ``Timeline'' offers the idea that people can be sort of faxed to a different historic era. This is accomplished when a wormhole somehow opens up to the 14th century (don't concern yourself with science here), and a large high-tech firm, ITC, run by a Bill Gates sort played by David Thewlis has been faxing employees back to the valley in France where a key battle between French and English forces is about to occur. ITC has then been feeding information it learned to a group of archaeologists presently digging on the site of the battle.

When their leader, Professor Johnson (Billy Connolly), becomes suspicious that the tips are too good, he visits ITC. A short time later, the archaeology team - primarily Johnson's son Chris (Paul Walker), Kate (Frances O'Connor) and Andre Marek (Gerard Butler) - find the professor's glasses in an area of the dig that's never been opened before. Within very little time - and logic - the team hooks up with ITC and agrees to go rescue Dad back in the past, aided by three of the company's paramilitary sorts.

If you're lost, don't be. All Michael Crichton (who wrote the novel the film is based on) and the filmmakers wanted was to put some 21st-century folks in the Dark Ages and watch what happens. And what happens is instant brutality and chaos.

Through this, Donner does what he does best, keeping the action churning. There is also a damsel in distress (Anna Friel), but in true 21st-century fashion, this French lady is as tough as a suit of mail. As for the men, Walker may get top billing, but Butler is the dashing one. His Marek has been so enamored of the Middle Ages that he taught himself to handle the weapons of the era and is ready for a fight.

While Crichton writes novels filled with thinly drawn characters, sluggish subplots and oodles of implausibilities, there is enough Saturday afternoon fun in ``Timeline'' - particularly in the battle scenes - that the film won't seem a complete waste of, well, time.

``Timeline'' (Paramount; $29.99) includes four featurettes.

Anime offer you can't refuse

Japanese anime director Satoshi Kon created in ``Tokyo Godfathers'' an offbeat and enjoyable takeoff of the sentimental John Ford Western that inspired it. Instead of outlaws, though, in Kon's story it's three homeless people - an alcoholic named Gin, a middle-age transvestite named Hana and a teenage runaway named Miyuki - who discover an abandoned baby in a pile of papers. As they search for the infant's parents, they unexpectedly find themselves re-examining their own lives.

The Tokyo created by Kon is vibrant, a bit off-kilter and always surprising, filled with dangers but also moments of kindness. ``Tokyo Godfathers'' is a visual delight - creative animation that isn't - as is so often the case in America - aimed primarily at the young.

``Tokyo Godfathers'' (Columbia; $26.98) includes a making-of featurette.

Paul McCartoon

Now ``Paul McCartney: The Music and Animation Collection'' is aimed at kids (even older ones). The ex-Beatle has created the music - even served as voice talent for a trio of short animation films by Geoff Dunbar. The first, ``Tropic Island Hum,'' was written by McCartney and his late wife, Linda. There's not much of a story, but it espouses a philosophy of being kind toward animals and embracing a vegetarian lifestyle. It does, however, have a jaunty title song - written by McCartney - that runs through much of the work. The second, ``Tuesday,'' based on the award-winning book by David Wiesner, is a lyrical vision of frogs flying on lily pads until they reach a populated suburb where they create havoc. In the third piece, ``Rupert and the Frog Song,'' the children's book character Rupert the Bear sees frogs - amphibians are big here - performing a midnight concert.

By the way, that's Dustin Hoffman's voice in a cameo in ``Tuesday.''

The hand-drawn animation will remind you of Disney works in the '40s and '50s. Its sweet innocence is an antidote to a too-hip world.

``Paul McCartney: The Music and Animation Collection'' (Miramax; $29.99) contains three short animated tales directed by Dunbar, an interview with Paul McCartney and ``The Making of Tropic Island Hum.''

Rob Lowman, [phone]

robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

DARYL HANNAH, standing, and UMA THURMAN in ``Kill Bill - Vol. 1''