Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson

Prizefighter Butch Coolidge has decided to stop payment on a deal he's made with the devil. Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are young lovers and small time thieves who decide they need a change of venue. Mean...( read more  read more... )while, two career criminals, Vincent Vega and Jules, go about their daily business of shooting up other crooks that are late on payments to their boss. While one is asked to baby sit their boss' dangerously pretty young wife, the other suddenly realizes that he must give up his life of crime.

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95% liked it

994,211 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

49 critics

R, 2 hrs. 45 min.

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Release Date: September 23, 1994

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DVD Release Date: May 19, 1998

Stats: 75,333 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (75,333)


  • November 16, 2009
    The quintessential Tarantino film. If you like Pulp Fiction, you'll enjoy any of his work. If not, you really shouldn't waste your time with any of his other films. Put me firmly into the "fan" column.

    Pulp Fiction greatly rewards repeated viewings, the amount of foreshadowing i...( read more)s just ridiculous. The movie never seems dull, despite its 2 1/2 hour length, and is full of endless amounts of homages and in-jokes that you will never notice unless you watch the trivia track.

    The entire expansive cast is perfect, I couldn't imagine anyone else taking even the smallest of the roles. Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Ving Rhames, and many others give absolutely iconic performances. Even Quentin gets to step into the spotlight in front of the camera, for a bit. This may not be my favorite Tarantino movie, but it's one that I can watch and enjoy again and again.
  • October 28, 2009
    I'm sorry I'm sorry, but i dont get it. I dont get how this movie is SO great. The plot was non existent. It was just 4 stories that interacted with each other. Samuel L. Jackson made this movie...and that's a rare thing for me to say since i dont care for SLJ. The actors are gre...( read more)at. The dialogue is good. I love Quentin Tarantino. There was just NO PLOT. I wish it was better for me. Maybe in the future I will come to understand how everyone else sees this movie as a masterpiece.
  • September 3, 2009
    I've said it before but Quentin Tarantino is a thief. That said this is a very enjoyable swag bag and there is no mistaking his enthusiasm, energy and most importantly, his influence. He got a lot of people to pick up a camera with his impact in the early 90's which has done cine...( read more)ma a lot of good. I hate the script though, something he's always congratulated on but I can't understand. It's too inane to be cool, I enjoy the realism (His characters go to the bathroom, whoo hoo!) but his scripts are just awful. And so the love hate relationship continues..
  • August 31, 2009
    A much overrated flick if you ask me, at its time of release it was very unique in style and ideas, it made Tarantino a HUGE star and had an amazing cast but its actually very dull with not much of interest going on anywhere. Sure the dialog is very hot at times and does show Tar...( read more)antino's writing skill but its nonsense half the time and just goes on for too long.
    The rough cutting of the plot and editing is another new thing that took the film world by surprise, now copied by everyone of course but at the time it was a wow factor that enhanced the films reputation. Myself I didnt like the style and found it very confusing at first, only in time it has become clear and appreciated.
    Great acting by everyone with the usual foul language haha not overly impressed with this really, very average and now very dated.
  • August 29, 2009
    This film is very good, with many powerful voices. The story at the beginning is good and the story is good at the end, with good acting throughout. The story could be better but the story is good and I highly recommend this movie-

    *Is pelted with Big Kahuna Burgers, milkshakes ...( read more)and notices a man in a gimp mask looking on from the other side of the room*

    OK, OK! I'm joking! Enough! I promise to stop reviewing in that idiotic, inane and clearly contradictory style! So back off, gimp! And you! Yeah, you with the watch! I know what you were planning to do so step the Hell away from my arse!

    Anyway, on to the proper review.

    Despite almost every aspect of this film being quoted/parodied/paid tribute to/etc, I will always see this film as a defining moment for me. Having seen it at a very young age (14, also the same year I saw A Clockwork Orange), I was finally relieved to see a dialogue-heavy affair that was able to pull off high tension action scenes. And that's just one of Tarantino's many trademarks that draws me to his style.

    The thing about Tarantino's dialogue is that its often Seinfeldian in nature, in that it's about life's little trivialities. Things like the leading character from Kung Fu, little differences between nations and foot messages get discussed, all of the examples being mused over by Jules (Samuel L. Jackson, being badass supreme) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta, a role which works so well for him that its a pity to see him stumble onto family friendly roles). After a while, I got used to the idea of these two just talking about nothing in particular and thought "Well, even if the whole movie is these two guys chatting, I'm enjoying myself". Then we get to Brett's place and suddenly things are even better. Gunshots ring out, Jules is in full B.M.F mode, their victims are pissing their pants.
    Most other directors would have some music leading up to such a scene, most likely fast-paced. That's the short of thing horror movies do (though obviously their big scenes differ) and if you see enough films, eventually the suspense disappears because you know the music becomes more frantic just before something big occurs (Hitchcock knew enough not to do that in most films. The Birds is one such example). Tarantino just lets things flow naturally and his action scenes are no different.

    His "casting" of himself as Jimmie is unusual too. Jimmie is, at best, a supporting character in one of the movie's segments and doesn't really contribute to the segment, only serving as a frustrated man who doesn't take kindly to the situation unfolding before him (seeing as how it involves a dead man, two hitmen and a lot of blood, I can't say I blame him). Quentin Tarantino may be one of the few white men in history to drop the N bomb and not be called racist for it.

    Combining my comments on music and Tarantino trademarks, Tarantino's music selection here is fantastic. Urge Overkill's cover of Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon is so sensual, so breathtaking, you'll probably have it stuck in your head for (girl, you'll be a woman soon...) days on end (I love you so much can't, count all the ways) and I can only hope the (I've died for you girl and all they can say is) Neil Diamond original is just as enjoyable as I haven't heard that yet ("He's not your kind". Right, I'll stop that now, I promise. See how infectious it is?).

    And I can't go anywhere on a musical discussion without praising the choice of You Never Can Tell by Chuck Berry during the Jack Rabbit Slims dance contest. If I had decent dance steps, I think I'd choose this song to dance to as well and it tells a lovely story (it was a teenage wedding and the old folks wished them well... and now THIS ONE is stuck in my head).

    With all this being said, I'm flabbergasted at the questions on Flixster all being about the same few things and I'm sick of it. We have questions on what's in the briefcase, the biblical passage, who plays the waiter in Jack Rabbit Slims (yes we all know it's Steve Buscemi and that it's a reference to comments his character made in Reservoir Dogs, just get over it people), the "Zed's dead, baby" comment. Honestly, is it so hard to come up with something original from this movie anymore? Has this film been reduced to a bunch of overused quotes and scenes? Is this the fate befalling all movies, past, present and future? (Ugh, OK, OK, I'm calm, I'm calm, bitch be cool!)

    Before ending this review, I really should say something about Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis' performances.
    If I were to meet Uma, I would tell her that I consider this to be her finest role to date. She's seductive, witty and such a cool customer. She only appears in two segments (one of those is a cameo at best) but she's involved with some of the most influential scenes of the film (and she's one Hell of a dancer)
    As for Bruce, while not my favourite character, I did like Butch. Bruce these days seems to swing between action hero and oddball character, so here's a nice role that while it's tilted towards the former, is really more of a real everyman. Butch is just a guy trying to earn his pay and he gets caught up with shady characters and somehow turns the tide on some even lower characters. OK, he does similar with his tough guy roles but he also has a cache of one-liners too (goes with the tough guy territory) but he's almost a bystander in the events of his segment. Similar to John, I wish Bruce would do some of these low-key roles a little more often.

    First Tarantino film I saw and a portent of things to come. Only film I have to see now as of posting is Inglorious Basterds and I have full confidence it will be a dynamite flick. The Vega Brothers may be dead in the water now, but I hope a Grindhouse sequel is being considered. Whatever he does, I'm there.
  • November 19, 2009
    VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DISLIKE THIS MOVIE
  • November 19, 2009
    I first watched this film at 14 and ever since then i fell in love with it. I had never seen a film like this before and it just blew me away. It is easy to see how this was Tarantino's break out film. It is just amazing/brilliant and the characters are so memorable and the dialo...( read more)gue is just so clever. One of my favourite lines from this move: "shit! Oh man i just shot Marvin in the face!"
  • November 18, 2009
    Close to perfect...An original that spawned many immitations
  • November 18, 2009
    Solo se resume en una palabra.....EXCELENTE!!!!
  • November 18, 2009
    A movie in which it shows you all the bad scenes from the other movies, in fact that is why this fil is so appealing.

Critic Reviews


May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

There's a special kick that comes from watching something this thrillingly alive. full review

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie resurrects not only an aging genre but also a few careers. full review

January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It's the movie equivalent of that rare sort of novel where you find yourself checking to see how many pages are left and hoping there are more, not fewer. full review

View more Pulp Fiction reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • kotaybam2005
    May 21, 2009
    It is the best of Quentin Tarantino and I loved it
  • alwaysawesome
    May 8, 2009
    Superb Movie! Just love Bruce Willis
  • RasTk0
    October 23, 2008
    mine alltime favorite movie... its just faaantastic...

    Zeds dead, baby. Zeds dead. AWESOME!!!
  • TheMightyCelestial
    June 18, 2008
    "What" ain't no country I ever heard of.
  • maryh420
    January 6, 2008
    I was quite young when i first watched it. But am I ever glad I did. Its nuts
  • orestes3009
    December 10, 2007
    Tarantino's best work... Epic movie. Great script,directing,cast
  • OhYouGay
    December 3, 2007
    Fucking amazing! My faveourite film of all time. Got me interested in Tarantino's other work, although I think this is his best. Hilarious dialogue, great characters, gorey and some ace moments, such as the Travolta and Thurman dance scene.
  • CrazyRoggy
    October 7, 2007
    This is possibly the best scripted movie of all time, I love this movie so much i have seen over 30 times (no joke) Quentin Tarantino is a god, and i have own all his movies, and this in my opinion is his best one. If you have not seen this movie you should get off your ass and go rent it right now, even buy it because you will love it and want to watch it again and again. The lines is this movie are classic and will never get old, and this movie will remain as one of the best ever made
  • madyXluvsXhorror
    September 22, 2007
    mmm that is a tasty burger, vincent u ever had a big kahoona burger?

    no.

    well if u like burgers then u should try em!
    me i usually cant get em coz my gf is a vegetarian so i guess that pretty much makes me a vegetarian, but i do love a good burger!!!

    god damn this movie kicks so much ass
  • HopesAndExpectations
    September 5, 2007
    God I love this movie. I've seen it about fifteen times now. I wanna watch it again soon!! God bless

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts


  • Reference:
    This movie references:
    Reservoir Dogs (1992)
    Jack Rabbit Slim's is advertised on the radio in Pulp Fiction. An ad for Jack Rabbit Slim's comes on the radio in Reservoir Dogs during the torture scene.
  • Reference:
    This movie references:
    Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)
    Vincent calls Mia cowgirl - Thurman was the star of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues in 1993.
  • Reference:
    This movie references:
    Urban Cowboy (1980)
    Mia calls Vincent Cowboy - Travolta was the star of Urban Cowboy in 1980.
  • Fun Fact:
    Honey Bunny and Pumpkin were specifically written by Tarantino for Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth.
  • Fun Fact:
    The scene where Vincent plunges a syringe into Mia's chest was filmed by having Travolta pull the needle out, then running the film in reverse.
  • Goof:
    Vincent and Mia go to Jack Rabbit Slims. Mia is wearing black dress shoes. On the way home though, she wears gold ballet slippers.

Pulp Fiction : Watch Free on TV


Pulp Fiction Trivia


  • From which fictional fast food is the meal Brett's eating in "Pulp Fiction"?  Answer »
  • Which actor has been in Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jackie Brown and S.W.A.T  Answer »
  • Who connects the following movies: True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Catch Me If You Can and Suicide Kings  Answer »
  • What two movies did John Travolta and Uma Thurman Star in together?  Answer »

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