After releasing his first full length feature film called Reservoir Dogs, legendary filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino, (also known for Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained) went on a vacation to Amsterdam, to come up with another script besides True Romance and Natural Born Killers which were already in the hands of Tony Scott & Oliver Stone, Quentin wanted to write and direct his own film so he can make a name of himself, the film I’m referring to, is my one of my top 5 films of all time called, Pulp Fiction.
Pulp Fiction was released in 1994. (same year Natural Born Killers came out) The film earned universal acclaim from critics and movie goers alike, plus it made a lot of money at the box office.
Quentin’s groundbreaking film cemented him as an established filmmaker. John Travolta, who was at the time, starring in critically panned movies, managed to defibrillate his career by starring in this picture as hitman, Vincent Vega. Samuel L. Jackson became a household name for his over-the-top portrayal of another hitman named, Jules Winfield. Uma Thurman’s role as Mia Wallace, was also another discovery. Bruce Willis, who was already an A-lister like his Look Who’s Talking co-star, John Travolta, was also suffering from critical and box office flops, decided to challenge himself as a serious actor, rather than being typecasted as an Action Hero since Die Hard.
Pulp Fiction went on to become an eligible nominee at the 67th Academy Awards. The film was nominated for various awards including Best Picture, Best Director, (Quentin Tarantino) Best Actor, (John Travolta) Best Supporting Actor, (Samuel L. Jackson) Best Supporting Actress, (Uma Thurman) and Best Original Screenplay. (Quentin Tarantino) The film only won for Best Original Screenplay, which is the only way Quentin won an Oscar. Don’t forget that he also won Best Original Screenplay for Django Unchained.
The following review features no potential SPOILERS. You’re okay to read this article, just so you know that you haven’t got a chance to watch the entire thing from beginning to end.
Golden & Bronze Elements
Golden: The Main Cast consisting of Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Amanda Plummer, & Tim Roth, all did an excellent job on their respective performances.
This is the first ever collaboration between Quentin & Sam’s partnership, similar to Tim Burton & Johnny Depp’s partnership on making movies together.
Other Cast Members such as Christopher Walken, Phil LaMarr, (one of my favorite voice actors) Eric Stoltz, Harvey Keitel, also have pivotal roles. I have no other choice but to give Samurai Jack/Green Lantern/Hermès Conrad, Bonus Points, for participating in this movie, back when he was working for MadTV. There’s a sketch that made fun of Forrest Gump & Pulp Fiction mixed together as Gump Fiction.
Fun Fact: Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain, was rumored that he auditioned for the role of Lance. Unfortunately, he killed himself and Eric Stoltz took over his part.
Quentin Tarantino did a B.A. (you know what that means) job on writing and directing his Magnum Opus, plus he makes a brief appearance as Jimmy.
A big time cinephile, Quentin is well known for pop culture references.
Despite Quentin directing the film, his buddy Robert Rodriguez, filled in Quentin’s Director’s Chair in an uncredited role for his scenes as Jimmy.
Each character is interesting, and they weren’t boring as plain ol’ cardboard cutouts. Butch’s backstory was interesting, Mia was a former actress, and Jules teaches us the meaning of a pilot episode. Quentin is knowledge of The Entertainment Industry.
Kathy Griffin, (before her infamous Trump scandal) makes a cameo appearance. In every Tarantino tradition, a comedian is featured in each film since Steven Wright participated as a Radio DJ in Reservoir Dogs. Rodney Dangerfield made an appearance as Mallory’s dad in Natural Born Killers.
Steve Buscemi makes a cameo appearance as a waiter.
The Story is split into segments, told in a non-linear narrative or in this case, an out of order sequence, rather than going in chronological order. This technique went on to inspire Christopher Nolan’s non-linear narrative in his films. Most notably, Memento.
When Vincent is talking about his trip to Amsterdam, this is a meta reference to Quentin’s actual vacation while he was writing the screenplay, I guess it was a little afterthought to throw it in.
Dialogue in this film is very memorable, it is perhaps one of the most quotable movies of all time, filled with pop culture references, dark/shock humor, and sharp-tongued insults.
Without giving too much away, the best part that made me laugh uncontrollably is when Butch starts acting like a ferocious monkey over something that he personally lost. Don’t forget a huge mess in the car. If you know what I mean.
My favorite line from the film is… “It’s all Kool & The Gang!”
One character mentioned Madonna. Quentin also made a reference to the singer in Reservoir Dogs with his character Mr. Brown, rambling on her song, “Like A Virgin.”
A katana is depicted in one important scene. Quentin went on to direct Kill Bill as well as reuniting with Uma, his platonic muse.
If you haven’t seen this film, it’s unpredictable and manages to subvert one dimensional character into three dimensional individuals caught in a sticky situation.
Bronze: There’s a fake looking Blue Screen Effect during a taxi scene. I don’t know if Quentin did that on purpose to troll us or decided to just throw it in for nostalgic purposes. I’ll give this flaw a pass, because he managed to tell us interesting segments on each character’s story arc.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
My honest opinion about Pulp Fiction, is indeed a timeless classic. Quentin’s masterpiece remains as an influential anomaly for college professors on teaching their students at film schools on why Quentin’s Magnum Opus continues to spread dozens of filmmakers to come up with their own unique way on using the non-linear technique for their use of storytelling. Besides this movie, Quentin’s other movies are also masterpieces, whether it’s written or directed, they’ll remain as timeless classics and I consider Quentin, as one of my favorite filmmakers of all time.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 