Pulp Fiction: 9 Things That Still Hold Up Today

Many filmmakers who got their start in the indie boom of the ‘90s have since fallen by the wayside, but the success of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood proved that Quentin Tarantino is still just as popular among today’s moviegoers as he was when he burst onto the festival circuit with Reservoir Dogs in 1992.

Some of the longevity of Tarantino’s career can be attributed to the fact that his second film, 1994’s Pulp Fiction, lived up to his first. A cultural landmark of the postmodern movement, Pulp Fiction is still a timeless gem to this day.

9 Samuel L. Jackson & John Travolta’s Hilarious Chemistry

The opening diner scene of Reservoir Dogs had established Tarantino’s style of humanizing genre characters with mundane everyday conversations about Madonna and the etiquette of tipping. But this style reached its peak one movie later in Pulp Fiction with Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta’s hysterical chemistry as two mob hitmen who bicker like Jerry and George in Seinfeld.

Pulp Fiction is a rare example of a gangster film whose dialogue scenes are more compelling than its action scenes. Jules and Vincent are even more interesting when they’re comparing American and European McDonald’s than when they’re killing people.

8 Nonlinear Storytelling

Much like Tarantino’s debut feature Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction has a nonlinear story structure. Whereas Reservoir Dogs used a nonchronological narrative to hide the twist and keep the audience guessing, Pulp Fiction goes a step further with an anthology structure and three semi-separate storylines that cross over with one another.

Jumping all over the timeline was undoubtedly the most exciting, engaging way to tell this story. Tarantino broke all the rules of screenwriting with his Pulp Fiction script. In one scene, Vincent is gunned down in cold blood; a few scenes later, he’s alive again (in the past). The audience has to really pay attention.

7 Tarantino’s Awesome Soundtrack Choices

Tarantino is renowned for his soundtracks. After Reservoir Dogs’ “Stuck in the Middle with You” scene became one of the most beloved music moments in movie history, Pulp Fiction’s entire soundtrack was jam-packed with licensed hits.

Songs like “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck Berry and “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield were considered retro throwbacks back in 1994, and they remain timeless gems to this day.

6 Andrzej Sekuła’s Iconic Cinematography

Tarantino brought back cinematographer Andrzej Sekuła, who had previously shot Reservoir Dogs, to work on Pulp Fiction. As brilliantly shot as Reservoir Dogs was, particularly in its kinetic camera movements, Sekuła’s cinematography in Pulp Fiction is even more beautiful and iconographic.

There are countless memorable shots in the movie, from Jules and Vincent getting guns out of the trunk of the car, shot from inside the trunk itself, to the long tracking shot following Vincent through the extravagantly crafted Jack Rabbit Slim’s set.

5 Christopher Walken’s Gold Watch Monologue

Christopher Walken only appears in one scene in Pulp Fiction, but he gives an unforgettable performance. He plays an old war buddy of Butch’s father in a flashback to when he was given the titular heirloom in “The Gold Watch” storyline.

Walken’s monologue about what Butch’s father had to go through to keep the watch during his time in a Vietnam P.O.W. camp is endlessly compelling. This cameo appearance rivals Samuel L. Jackson’s Ezekiel 25:17 speech for the title of Pulp Fiction’s greatest monologue.

4 Sally Menke’s Seamless Editing

Sally Menke edited every single one of Tarantino’s movies from Reservoir Dogs until her untimely passing in 2010. After Inglourious Basterds, Menke’s final collaboration with Tarantino, her assistant editor Fred Raskin took over editing responsibilities of Q.T.’s filmography.

Tarantino’s script for Pulp Fiction jumps all over the place. In the hands of a lesser editor, it could’ve ended up being a confusing mess. Thanks to Menke’s razor-sharp editing, the audience is never lost and the convoluted structure is easy to follow.

3 Tarantino’s Idiosyncratic Dialogue

Tarantino’s utterly unique style of dialogue was first introduced in Reservoir Dogs, but it got even more poetic and unforgettable in Pulp Fiction. It’s easier to name the Pulp Fiction quotes that aren’t iconic than the ones that are.

It’s not quite how people actually talk — it’s how people wish they could talk — but the focus on minutiae like the etiquette of foot massages and the differences between store-brand coffee and “serious gourmet sh*t” help to ground the genre situations in a relatable reality.

2 Uma Thurman’s Hypnotic Performance As Mia Wallace

Uma Thurman was relatively unknown before being cast as Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction. The role of Mia made Thurman a huge star overnight. Both the character and Thurman herself became icons of ‘90s cinema.

Mia is filled with profound musings about “uncomfortable silences” and “the usual mindless, boring, getting-to-know-you chit-chat,” and Thurman’s hypnotic line deliveries bring those musings to life.

1 Subversive Reimaginings Of Well-Worn Crime Stories

In constructing his quintessentially postmodern script for Pulp Fiction, Tarantino took well-worn hard-boiled crime stories and reimagined them with a subversive twist. For example, a boxer takes a bribe from a mob boss to throw a fight, but the story is really about his watch, and he ends up being gagged and restrained in a pawn shop basement.

The main conflict of the “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife” storyline seems to be the sexual tension shared by a gangster and his ruthless boss’s other half. However, it takes a wildly unexpected turn when Mia overdoses and the conflict becomes whether or not she’s going to survive. These surprising subversions of familiar formulas still pack a punch today.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3465 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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