Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction (1994) – Movie Review

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Screenwriters: Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avery

Producer: Lawrence Bender

Studios: Miramax 

Production Companies: A Band Apart, Jersey Films

Top Billed Cast: John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Harvey Keitel, Frank Whaley, Christopher Walken

LOGLINE: Intersecting stories about modern day L.A. Gangsters, Boxers and Robbers all revolving around a mysterious case.


VIEWING CIRCUMSTANCES: The first time I saw this was in high school, when I wagged and went to a mates, unfortunately, not the best, he fast forwarded some sections, and there were too many other distractions - luckily it was a god enough film to cut through that crap, and by good enough I mean revolutionary. Also I now own the DVD and can enjoy it in peace.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: A classic. Though not his first, this is the film that truly marked the coming of the great QT. And thank god for QT. The man is just cool, well actually I don't know, I've never met him. Let me rephrase. His movies are cool, they ooze coolness. And this fine piece is one of his best. 

STORY: The little trick of chopping up the pieces and putting them out of sequence aside, it's still a great story and would be if you played it sequentially. The Dialogue (yes capital D, it desrves that much respect) is brilliant and has it's own melody and rhythm, each character has their own unique voice, but they are each instruments in the symphony that is Pulp Fiction.

PRODUCTION: Great direction, not QT and Sally's (the late Sally Menke was his editor and longtime collaborator) best but still great.

PERFORMANCE: The piece that revived Travolta was probably his best for many to come, but in the ensemble cast Samuel is the stand out of many fine performances from many fine actors.

OVERALL: Some people hate this film. It's true I've met them. I think they're just trying to be different. I even heard one complain about the dialogue. Baby, when you can write a story half as good as this, then you can complain about the 'too much' dialogue. Anyway with dialogue like that who cares? It's like a Kevin Smith film, the dialogue is so good it almost is the point of the story, despite what all screening books teach "show don't tell", KS & QT, can tell me all they want.

MEETSLINE: Every movie ever made (it's full of homages)

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
"Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherf^(&er, say what one more Goddamn time!"


Vincent: And you know what they call a... a... a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?
Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules: Then what do they call it?
Vincent: They call it a Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese. What do they call a Big Mac?
Vincent: Well, a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it le Big-Mac.
Jules: Le Big-Mac. Ha ha ha ha. What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent: I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King. 


"Uuummmm, this is a tasty burger!...Mind if I have some of your tasty beverage to wash this down with? 


Check out the big brains on Brett!"


"Don't be tellin' me about foot massages. I'm the foot f^(&in' master."


"Which one is Trudi? The one with all the $h!t in her face?"

"Vincent: Want some bacon? 
Jules: No man, I don't eat pork.
Vincent: Are you Jewish?
Jules: Nah, I ain't Jewish, I just don't dig on swine, that's all.
Vincent: Why not?
Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.
Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherfucker. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That's a filthy animal. I ain't eat nothin' that ain't got sense enough to disregard its own feces.
Vincent: How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.
Jules: I don't eat dog either.
Vincent: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?
Jules: I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.
Vincent: Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?
Jules: Well we'd have to be talkin' about one charming motherfuckin' pig. I mean he'd have to be ten times more charmin' than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I'm sayin'?"

"That's a pretty fucking good milkshake. I don't know if it's worth five dollars but it's pretty fucking good."

Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you."

"Fabienne: Whose motorcycle is this?
Butch: It's a chopper, baby.
Fabienne: Whose chopper is this?
Butch: It's Zed's.
Fabienne: Who's Zed?
Butch: Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

"so he hid it, in the one place he knew he could hide something: his ass."

"Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face. "

"How would you like that? Burnt to a crisp or bloody as hell? "


"I'll just walk the earth."


"It breaks down like this: it's legal to buy it, it's legal to own it, and, if you're the proprietor of a hash bar, it's legal to sell it. It's still illegal to carry it around, but that doesn't really matter 'cause... get a load of this: if you get stopped by the cops in Amsterdam, it's illegal for them to search you. I mean, that's a right the cops in Amsterdam don't have."

RECOMMENDED ACCOMPANIMENT: Fast food burger and sprite and/or "pipeweed"

RATING: 

4 1/2 out of 5 reels of film.

Movie Review by A.B. McBlogsmith the Backwards Cap Film Reviewer

(C) Review Flix 2011