Just watched 'Pulp Fiction'. Why is it considered so great?

[Liberal_in_LA]

I watched Pulp Fiction for the first time! I was viewing a lot of top-movies-of-all-times lists and decided to see what the fuss was about. Ok, it was well acted... Samuel Jackson, Travolta and Bruce willis did a fine job. The dialogue was witty, although there were a few too many 'n' word and 'f' words for my taste. I thought it was a good film but the greatest of all times???

[Taverner]

1. You have to consider when it came out

The 80's were notorious for cookie-cutter movies (much like today) that followed a proscribed paint by numbers formula.

Out comes this movie from nowhere, that's completely nihilist in its outlook.

Today, that has become the norm, but check out the movies before it.

We need something new to knock things into gear again.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. I see... like when 'I love Lucy' was created.. First sitcom ever.

[NashVegas]

38. That And

All of the great films from the 1980s up to that time, that could be called "art," had a distinctly female appeal.

Here comes PF and it's got guns and swearing and amazing dialog (which you may or may not have been primed for with Reservoir Dogs) - all that guy stuff - and a meaningful plot, to boot.

[dipsydoodle]

3. First film I recall

with a circular story line - very clever. Apart from that its black humour as opposed to Reservoir Dogs for exmaple which is just plain violent.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. The story timeline messed w my head a bit (spoilers ahead)

I think it was middle, beginning, end

1a. couple attempt to rob restaurant
1. killing of college boys
2. Travolta dates Uma
3. Willis wins fight - long sequence ending with Willis killing Travolta & Willis and Ving Rhames making nice
4. Travolta accidently kills Marvin, long sequence ending with Samuel Jackson's epiphany.

chronilogical order would be 2, 1,1a & 4, 3

[dipsydoodle]

16. Another spoiler ahead

Yes - I think you expressed the sequence quite well.

[Huge Ego Sorry]

33. Not to nit-pick...

But the actual order is 1 (Travolta's character has a chat with Jackson's character about the impending date before they kill the kids), 4 (which happens on the way back from the events of (1), but the epiphany happens at the end of (1a)), 1a, 2, then 3. All the major characters in the movie have a chance at redemption; which Willis and Jackson's characters accept, and Travolta's character rejects.

[Goblinmonger]

34. Redemption.

It's what it's all about. Travolta opts out and gets killed. I just taught "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" to my seniors this week and we had a discussion about Pulp Fiction and the connections to the poem (only about half of the class had seen the movie, but it was a good side discussion).

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Watched it yesterday for the first time.... what impressed me

was the way Mr. Tarentino gloats in the interviews on the second CD. He may be a genius, the actors certainly seemed to like him, but as far as the movie went, I just wasn't all that impressed. My impression of it was what was created by most kids the first day they received an erector set. Probably not a beautiful thing to look at but perhaps functional at least. Please excuse the grammatical errors.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. So I'm not alone is watching 'PF' 13 years after release! Didn't have the version with extras

[HysteryDiagnosis]

11. A acquaintance lent it to me... in turn I will lend him "V". He will of course

get the better deal imho. :)

[Ezlivin]

5. Royale with Cheese

Plus the movie resurrected the careers of Bruce Willis and John Travolta.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. sure did. Who knew Bruce & Travolta could act!

[Kahuna]

9. Beats me..

:shrug:

[Olney Blue]

10. Brilliantly composed scenes....

[wtmusic]

12. Got me.

I guess if you drop the F bomb enough times it qualifies as great in some books.

I wouldn't even rank it as Most Pretentious Film of All Time, although it sure comes close.

[mediaman007]

13. How about the soundtrack?

What an eclectic collection, from 50's to the 90's, country to pop to beach tunes. As in Kill Bill 1 and 2, the music is perfect.


Miserlou
Jungle Boogie
Let's Stay Together
Lonesome Town
Son of a Preacher Man
Bullwinkle Part II
You Never Can Tell
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags)
Flowers On the Wall
Surf Rider

[whatdoyouthink]

14. Because I said so

Really - allot of good (weird, deranged) people in it - and we like that - look at all those Republicans running - kind of fun to watch (don't want to - but cant turn off the TV)

[ChicagoRonin]

15. Might be a generational thing

As a curiosity, how old are you? (Same goes for others responding) From my perspective: "Pulp Fiction" came out in 1993-94, when I was wrapping up college. Quentin Tarantino had already made a splash with "Reservoir Dogs", riding the early 90s indie filmmaking juggernaut that would launch the careers of guys like Kevin Smith (with "Clerks"), Robert Rodriguez ("El Mariachi") and Richard Linklater ("Slacker"), lead to Oscar-winning movies like "Sling Blade" (written/directed by and starring Billy Bob Thornton) and transform small studios like Miramaz and New Line Cinema from distributors of low-budget horror and thrillers, to art-house darlings, and eventually A-list Hollywood factories. For myself and lot of other folks, Tarantino's stuff hit a chord, partly due to sheer audacity and shock value (very un-PC and profane dialogue) plus some (at least we thought then) very clever writing and editing techniques. "Dogs" and later "Pulp Fiction" became highly quoted movies for my age group, and their hip, post-modern crime-story take on storytelling is still influencing films now ("Sin City," "Lucky Number Slevin" and "Shootin' Aces" would be recent examples, in my opinion). "Pulp" and movies like it grabbed us the way Seattle grunge and certain novels did. However, in retrospect, despite the eventual critical accolades "Pulp Fiction" did receive, I'd have to say a lot of it was hype and fad. I still think "Pulp Fiction" is pretty well put together, but I'd not saw it's "clever" as opposed to "smart".

[wtmusic]

17. Agree

that a lot of it was hype and fad.

I'm older - 50 - and remember when "Pink Flamingos" was considered genius by some. IMO as we get older both audacity and cleverness carry very little weight, in any artistic endeavor.

[Skittles]

18. I'm 50 - loved Pulp Fiction then, love it now

:thumbsup:

[Orrex]

19. Fantastic film (SPOILERS, so there!)

There's a moment in which Bruce Willis, having freed himself from the dungeon, pauses at the door, then goes back to rescue Marcellus. I don't think I've ever seen a more perfectly crystalized moment of character transformation in an American film (if you can think of one, please name it). He could leave and be totally in the clear; the man who wants to kill him will be dead, and the three deviants sure as hell won't go to the cops to report their prisoner missing. But he nonetheless rises above himself and goes back to rescue his own would-be executioner.

Christopher Walken's monologue about the watch is one of the best self-contained mini-narratives in American cinema.

The camera work and cinematography are extraordinary, especially in the context of the time, as others have mentioned.

It's not for everyone, to be sure, and I still don't like Travolta all that much.


But any film with Harvey Keitel is guaranteed to be fucking awesome at least while he's onscreen.

[dipsydoodle]

21. mini-narratives

On a par with that is Denis Hopper's to Christopher Walken in the mobile home / caravan scene in True Romance.

[Orrex]

22. Exactly! Likewise Baldwin's legendary scene in Glengarry Glen Ross

It's rare that a scene is written and delivered so well, while being so self-contained, that it could practically be a (very) short film all on its own.

[runningfortheborder]

32. Brass balls!

Such an amazing scene. I really liked the whole movie, but that scene is timeless. I have to admit that Ben Affleck did a decent job trying to embody that roll in Boiler Room (which is another great sales movie). Probably the best performance of his career, lol!

[swimmernsecretsea]

28. OMG

The watch scene with Christopher Walken! I mean, come on! His acting style can be so mannered at times, but it's a testament to QT that he blended humor, pathos, and drew both out until you thought it would snap. And somehow, despite the absurdity of the speech, it's even a bit moving. I was in such awe that I was mentally blank for a second after the scene ended.

There have been many times since when I thought Quentin Tarantino should be stopped. (From Dusk Till Dawn, producing Hostel, etc.) But I, as I think many, remember Pulp Fiction and recall what he did there, and decide lightning could strike again.

[Cheap_Trick]

20. Pulp Fiction? Fan-fucking-tastic

At the time, it was an outside the box film. It helped usher in a new wave of films and directors. But to each their own. I still don't understand the love of The Big Lebowski(and you thought PF had too many F words) or Fargo. Maybe it's seeing them after so many years of hype and best of lists. When you finally get around to seeing them, your expectations are sky high and it's almost impossible for ANY film to live up to them. I bought the Citizen Kane 2 disc set a year or so ago, but still haven't watched it. I guess I'm afraid of the same thing again.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. Watched Citizen Kane then rewatched with Ebert's commentary... then I got why it was so great.

The Ebert commentary explained scene by scene why C. Kane was so great. FOR IT'S TIME it was groundbreaking.

[Goblinmonger]

26. Citizen Kane contains my favorite shot of any movie

when Kane is standing in front of the huge fireplace during the puzzle scene. He is so small and insignificant amidst all that he has amassed. Think about it probably weekly.

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. Remember the scene. Fireplace was big enough to raise a family in.

[radiclib]

23. For me, it's the dialog

There are more quotable lines from this movie than any ten others I could name. The characters are vivid, absurd and utterly engaging, evil or not. And the performances are priceless, even Eric Stolz' as a preppy, racist smack dealer. But the prize goes to Samuel Jackson, whose every utterance is a hoot.
Also, '94 was a time when "irony" was extemely hip, and this movie is loaded with it. My favorite example is how Jules is able to talk smack to Marcellus, the big boss, and get the results he wants, but he's totally intimidated by this hen-pecked dweeb in a bathrobe who frets over linens and whines about getting divorced. Hilarious. And the scene at Jack Rabbit Slim's is an all-time classic.
I'll admit I didn't "get" it a first, but it's become one of my all-timers, and one of a very few I can watch over and over.

[Forkboy]

25. The Gimp...'nuff said.

[skypilot]

29. I caught it on video...

...about a year after it was released in theaters. I was 30 years old. It didn't do a thing for me. In fact, when I first saw a trailer for it I didn't think the trailer made it look terribly interesting but the other people in the theater seemed to get really excited by it. After it hit the theaters and I kept hearing good things about it, I figured that maybe the trailer hadn't done the movie justice. But I'd put off seeing it for too long and it was no longer in theaters by the time I'd made up my mind to see it so I had to wait for the video. I didn't think it was worth the wait. I kept waiting for the movie to take off and then suddenly the credits were rolling. I tried to watch it a second time but I was bored stiff now that I knew how each segment turned out. I didn't care much for Reservoir Dogs either and I was starting to think that maybe I just wasn't into Tarantino at all but then I saw Jackie Brown which I loved and have seen many, many times. I have the DVD. But Pulp Fiction? Meh.

[Goethe]

30. I

I watched Pulp Fiction last summer...first I didn't like it much... But then I changed a bit my mind... It's not so bad.

[runningfortheborder]

31. If you like Tarantino it's a great movie.

If you aren't into the raw swearing and blood all over, its not for you. That's just Tarantino for you...

[terryg11]

35. That's Marcellis's soul in the briefcase!!!

That's what's so great about it!! His soul is in there!! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE IN YOUR LIFE?!?!
ANd they took it out of the back of his neck, thus the bandage you see when we first meet Marcellis in the bar!!


Yahoo!!

[MISSDem]

36. I watched Get Shorty last night and it kinda reminded me of Pulp Fiction.

All of these folks get killed though and there was no blood.

[leftofthedial]

37. "why is it considered so great?" becase it is.

"greatest of all times???" no

[shenmue]

39. I only thought it was okay too.

It wasn't a bad movie, I just didn't think it was the greatest ever. Sometimes cult fandom builds a life of its own, and a lot of things speak only to insiders. :shrug: To each his own.