For most of us Quentin Tarantino fans, it seems like there is nothing the man can’t do…almost. As indicated by this video clip, he isn’t exactly Fred Astaire. Regardless, the guy’s having a blast at the premiere of ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ Can you blame him?
Not only does Tarantino have a way of breaking rules in his filmmaking, he proves in this clip he knows how to break the red carpet rules, as well.
Check it:
Almost more interesting than the films Quentin Tarantino has chosen to do are the ones he has either been rumored to be behind or has stated himself that he would like to do. In honor of Quentin Tarantino week here on the site, we thought it was time to go back and look over some of these lost projects. Some of them never got past the concept stage. Some might even still be lingering somewhere in the back of QT’s mind.
Of all the on-again-off-again projects in Tarantino’s filmmaking career, none have been more up and down than ‘Double V Vega,’ the continuing adventures of The Vega Brothers. After the release of ‘Pulp Fiction’ in 1994, the writer/director began talking up how he wanted to revisit the characters he set up in that film and ‘Reservoir Dogs.’ For those of you who don’t know, Michael Madsen’s character in ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ Mr. Blonde AKA Vic Vega, is the brother of John Travolta’s character, Vincent Vega, in ‘Pulp Fiction.’ Despite the film’s actual title, many just referred to it as ‘The Vega Brothers,’ and for 15 years now, it has been one that every Tarantino fan has been awaiting official word on.
In 2002, the UK Sun had word from a source that the film was moving along:
Expect the charm to come from Travolta and the crazy stuff from Madsen. It will follow the pair’s exploits around a club they own, set in the late Eighties. There is also an argument between the brothers over a woman. In true Tarantino fashion, it will be a film full of twists, plenty of action with gangsters a plenty. Tarantino hopes to complete writing The Vega Brothers early next year so he can start shooting in the summer.
In 2004, Tarantino spoke about the potential film in an in-depth interview with Rolling Stone. After the critical and financial success of ‘Kill Bill,’ Tarantino was in the mood to really challenge himself. At that time, he wanted to do his war movie, which would eventually become ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ he wanted to do a straight action movie, and he wanted to do his first sequel.
It’s a sequel to both Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, actually, it’s a sequel and it’s a prequel. It’s the Vega Brothers, played by Michael Madsen and John Travolta. I have been trying to do it for years, and the more time I take, the older these two guys get. But I’ve come up with an idea that won’t much matter how much they age….the magic of movies. It’s going to be great. It’ll be funny, and these guys are so great, alright, they’re going to be like two oversized mob-men fighting over the last bowl of pasta, that we can’t go wrong. It’s just going to be John and Michael, and I hope to make this my next movie. We’re laying down the pipework for it now.
However, at this same time, Tarantino was telling other sources that, even though he had the idea, he didn’t have a story. Tarantino told a radio station in San Antonio that without the story, there was no point trying to get the film made. It was at this point that Tarantino fans realized ‘Double V Vega’ would definitely NOT be his next movie after ‘Kill Bill.’
In 2005, there was a small snippet of information where Tarantino said he had finally gotten his head around how to write the story.
Even though the character’s have gotten older…I just have to have the ambition to write it.
In late 2006, CHUD conducted an interview with Michael Madsen, and the subject of the possible Vega Brothers film came up. While he didn’t offer up any idea when the film would begin production, he did give a little more details than had been previously divulged. Here is what he had to say about the project and its potential synopsis.
Well, first he said he would do it, then he said he wasn’t going to do it. Then he called me and said, ‘You know, I’ve figured out a way to do it. It can’t be a prequel because you and John don’t look the same. “It wouldn’t make sense as a sequel because you’re both dead.’ And he gave me an idea that would be really outrageous – that John and I would be the twin brothers of Vic and Vincent. We come from Amsterdam to LA to avenge the deaths of our brothers. I think that’s pretty interesting. For me, I’d love to do it.
Again, nothing came out of this, and months went by without any word. In April of 2007, we would receive what would more than likely be the final word on the matter. While doing an interview on Opie and Anthony, Tarantino had this information to give about the potential film.
I even had a title for it. It was called Double V Vega. It actually would have taken place during the time Vincent was in Amsterdam, when he was running one of Marcellus’ clubs in Amsterdam. And Vic goes to visit hi.
But we’re a little older now, and since they both died – it would have to be a prequel. I actually came up with a way I could have done it, even being older and dead where they all had older brothers and both of their brothers got together because the two guys died. And they wanted revenge or something like that. But now, they [the actors] are too old for that. I got to say, it’s kind of unlikely now.
And that seems to be it on the subject. There is no telling where this project lies in Tarantino’s mind. Judging from the last interviews he did about ‘Double V Vega,’ it seems like a done deal with Vincent and Vic Vega remaining in their coffins and off the sequel radar. While the chances of ever seeing a Vega Brothers film is extremely unlikely, you can never say never. Who knows what potential storylines could open the doorway for this film to finally get off the ground?
Two tons of metal, 200 miles an hour, flesh and bone and plain old Newton… they all princess died.
It’s almost unfair that most people (in the US, anyway) who saw ‘Death Proof’ in the theater had to sit through the barrage of mayhem and massacre that was ‘Planet Terror’ beforehand. Not to say that Robert Rodriguez’s half of ‘Grindhouse’ is bad, but it’s easy to see why so many people were disappointed in Quentin Tarantino’s half of the entire film. ‘Death Proof’ served as a bit of a comedown after the left and right pummelling of Rodriguez’s movie. In fact, ‘Death Proof’ itself is like two movies under one roof. The first half is incredibly dialogue heavy, and, if you’re not a lover of Tarantino’s brand of dialogue, you might be turned off before the whole thing gets going, before the engines begin to rev up for the second half.
It’s just one more instance in Tarantino’s career as a filmmaker that he looks at the rules of movie making and says “To hell with that.” The first half of ‘Death Proof’ follows three women, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, and Sydney Tamiia Poitier. Like ‘Jackie Brown,’ this half takes its time establishing these three women. We follow them as they go about their evening, preparing themselves for heading out to a lake house for some weekend partying. Little do they know a psychopath is stalking them. When they first meet Stuntman Mike Mikke, played by Kurt Russell, they just think he’s creepy but nothing too harmful and nothing they should concern themselves with. Over the course of the night, Stuntman Mike maneuvers his way into their good graces, even convincing one of the girls, Ferlito, into giving him a lapdance. In keeping with the Grindhouse style of the whole experience, Tarantino gladly hacked this scene out of the finished version, as if some, horny projectionist had spliced it out for his own collection. Needless to say, the night doesn’t end well for any of these girls.
If you haven’t seen ‘Death Proof,’ it’s probably a pretty good idea you not play this video.
Like with so many of the genres he has tackled, Tarantino takes the modern slasher and turns it on its ear. ‘Death Proof’ is unlike any slasher film we have ever seen, setting up a first act that makes you believe the remainder of the film is going to be about this killer working his way through one group of helpless victims. Fortunately for us, we are dealing with a filmmaker who has no intentions of running along the rails. Therefore, what we are given is a film in two halves, the first of which is a slasher movie where there are no survivors from the clutches of the villainous killer.
The second half of ‘Death Proof’ is a whole other matter. It takes place 14 months after the events of the first half, and Stuntman Mike has moved on to a whole new cropping of women to victimize. This time around, he sets his sights on a group of women working on a local film crew. Among these women is stuntwoman Zoe Bell, who plays herself here. The others in the group are Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thomas, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The group of girls, at the behest of Bell, go to look into test-driving a white, 1970 Dodge Challenger, just like the one Kowalski drives in ‘Vanishing Point.’ After getting the car out on the road, Bell unveils her true plan. She wants to play a game called Ship’s Mast, in which she ties herself to the hood and someone else drives at top speeds. It isn’t long after they begin playing that Stuntman Mike takes the opportunity to try to run the women off the road.
The culminating car chase is arguably one of the greatest car chases ever put to film. Tarantino was never impressed by car chase sequences that utilized CGI. He felt the last, great car chase sequence came from ‘Terminator 2,’ and, as such, he filmed his car chase without the usage of computer special effects and without speeding up the film. He wanted to make a car chase that he could “feel in his stomach,” like the ones found in ‘Vanishing Point,’ ‘Dirty Mary Crazy Larry,’ and the original ‘Gone in 60 Seconds.’ Like those films, ‘Death Proof’ wasn’t simply a film that had a car chase somewhere within it. The car chase was a part of the film, it became a part of why the film is so memorable, and the way it is devised and executed is breathtaking. When the cars smash into one another, you can almost feel the metal hitting metal. I’ll be the first to admit I enjoyed the shit out of the car chase in ‘Matrix Reloaded,’ but the way that car chase was shot and the usage of CG just made it all feel plastic. ‘Death Proof’ is hardcore steel through and through, and you notice the weight of the objects flying down the road in excess of 100 miles per hour. This chase scene and the delicate way Tarantino wanted to handle it is also, more than likely, the reason the director served as his own director of photography for the first time in his career. With full control on what was being shot, he could pin-point every, little detail that made the car chase found in ‘Death Proof’ work so well.
But car chase and amazing stunts aside, there is so much more working under the head, if you’ll excuse a pun, in ‘Death Proof.’ Back to the dialogue, it is undeniably Tarantino, and, just as he does with all of his films, he has chosen actors and actresses who can sing those lines of dialogue. It’s not kitschy and quirky like something you might find in a film written by Diablo Cody, although that isn’t all bad either, but there’s a rhythmic way Tarantino’s converse with one another that you just don’t find anywhere else. Some of the lines are monologues, some of them are redundant, and some are just, plain cool, but you know once someone says a line of dialogue Tarantino is proud to have written down.
It was a stroke of genius for Tarantino to hire Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. Russell wasn’t Tarantino’s first choice, though. Actors like John Travolta, Willem Dafoe, John Malkovich and Sylvester Stallone were all considered. None of them worked out due to prior commitments. Even Kal Penn was approached at one point to star in the film. However, Tarantino knew how much of a badass Russell was in his early career. The films Russell collaborated with John Carpenter were enough to make Tarantino hand over the reigns of Stuntman Mike to him, and Russell does not disappoint one bit. There are so many, different aspects Russell has to pull off in his performance of Stuntman Mike. At one point, he has to be cool, but not too cool to overpower any amount of creepiness the character might need to convey. Late in the film, he has to turn the character in a completely new direction, as the second set of would be victims turn their sights back on their attacker. For the last, few moments of the film, alone, Russell deserved awards for his performance in ‘Death Proof.’
The film, as with all of Quentin Tarantino’s movies, has a booming soundtrack full of eclectic and lost greats. Tracks like “Paranoi Prima” by Ennio Morricone and “Jeepster” by T. Rex bring the full force of the film’s badass potential to a head. But it’s the end track, the song that would cap off the entire evening for those who attended the full ‘Grindhouse’ experience, that really sticks with you. April March’s “Chick Habit” is not only an incredibly inspired choice for the end of ‘Death Proof,’ it is a song that commands your attention. It is also a song that you will not get out of your head anytime soon.
As part of the three-hour-plus ‘Grindhouse,’ ‘Death Proof’ didn’t generate much box office buzz. ‘Grindhouse’ cost the Weinstein Company a total of $67 million, and it only made about $25 million back. Of that $25 million, there is no telling the amount of people who even stuck around for ‘Death Proof.’ Many people, after ‘Planet Terror’ and the fake trailers that ran between the two films, got up and left, not being able to handle the cumbersome running time of seeing two features in one evening. Internatinoally, ‘Death Proof’ was released by itself, just as ‘Planet Terror’ was. 27 minutes were put back in to the film, scenes that included the “lap dance” sequence taken out for effect in the ‘Grindhouse’ double feature.
While it ended up being a box office failure, and while many consider ‘Death Proof’ to be Tarantino’s first step towards his decline as a filmmaker, it remains, for me, anyway, as a true Quentin Tarantino film. It has all the essential parts that make a Tarantino film so recognizable, measured and seasoned dialogue, beautifully crafted sequences of extreme violence, and a complete thumbing of the nose to modern, filmmaking convention. It is Tarantino’s passion for film that drive him, and each of his films are his answer to a love he has for that particular genre. While ‘Death Proof’ might be considered his version of a grindhouse movie, his version of a B-movie that is a long way from high art, it is still no less remarkable in its conception or execution than any of Quentin Tarantino’s other films.
I can’t make the claim that I’m any kind of a celebrity, but I think it’s safe to say there isn’t much of anything more annoying than the papparazzi. Okay, maybe if some papparazzi jerk is shoving their camera right up in your face during a potential blizzard and just after you’ve come out of a Starbucks. Little did the camera guy in this clip know that Tarantino had been working some martial arts magic with Gordon Liu in preparation for ‘Kill Bill.’ You can see the results below.
It’s probably going to break out as a debate whether or not QT was justified in getting pissy with this guy. Personally, I don’t blame him one bit. Regardless how you come down on it, you can’t help but smile just a little at Tarantino’s laugh after the guy slips on the ice. Classic.
Almost more interesting than the films Quentin Tarantino has chosen to do are the ones he has either been rumored to be behind or has stated himself that he would like to do. In honor of Quentin Tarantino week here on the site, we thought it was time to go back and look over some of these lost projects. Some of them never got past the concept stage. Some might even still be lingering somewhere in the back of QT’s mind.
There’s no surprise to anyone in saying Tarantino has been working for a few years now on getting a remake of Russ Myers’ 1966 ‘Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!’ off the ground. The rumors began flying about this project back in January of 2008, when Liz Smith ran a small snippet about it in her column on Variety. The announcement also came from the New York Post. In her column, Smith had this to say about the project:
Tarantino wants his version to be even raunchier, natch. His first casting choices are Kim Kardashian, Eva Mendes and — oh, please! — Britney Spears. What, no Lindsay Lohan?
Almost immediately, the rumor wagons began circling about who would be cast, particularly in the role of Varla made completely unforgettable by the performance in the original by Tura Satana. Later in 2008, July to be exact, Liz Smith ran another column, this time claiming that Tarantino had found his Varla. Smith claimed Tarantino was considering casting porn star Tera Patrick in the lead role of his remake.
Tarantino, who has admired her past performances, thinks his “Pussycat” remake may be the mainstream jumpstart Tera needs.
Once again, the New York Post followed suit in making this announcement even getting a comment from Patrick about the potential of her playing the part.
It would be the hottest remake ever, and I’m honored to be considered. I was built for this part.
These rumors quickly died out as another one came screaming at us later in the Summer. In August, the UK paper, The Telegraph, seemed to confirm something Liz Smith had hinted at all the way back in January. They claimed Tarantino had chosen, not “considering”, but had already cast, Britney Spears to the part. Here is what The Telegraph claimed a source told them:
Quentin is convinced Britney will be brilliant. She’s delighted. She thinks it could turn her career around.
It is perfect Tarantino material. He wanted to get Britney first. She’s playing the most important character.
This rumor, evidently, had reached Tarantino’s ears earlier in the year. He was claiming at Cannes in May that the idea of Britney Spears being cast in the film were complete bullshit. Those cries of falsehood were confirmed just days after The Telegraph ran their story. An unnamed rep for Spears had this to say to Access Hollywood:
Though she definitely intends to explore acting roles down the road, right now she’s concentrating on recording her next album.
Another source “close to Tarantino” simply said:
There is no truth to this.
In the Fall, we had the opportunity to sit down with none other than Tura Satana. Needless to say, the idea of Tarantino remaking her famed film came up. Here is what she had to say:
WAMG: So Tura, there are plenty of rumors going around about Quentin Tarantino remaking ‘Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!’, can you tell us about that?
Tura: Yes, he is definitely making it.
WAMG: We are also hearing that he is looking at casting Britney Spears
Tura: No, that is not true. When I first heard that, I sent him an email and told him that, if she fills my role, I would come and castrate him!
WAMG: HA! Well, is he looking at you for advice and things of that sort?
Tura: Yes, we have talked about it. He is currently rewriting the entire script, I will definitely be involved.
You can check out the entire interview right here.
And that’s pretty much where the news about QT’s remake of ‘Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!’ ends. Since mid-2008, he has been hard at work on ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ The remake is still at the forefront of Tarantino fan’s minds, and it remains the one film talked about in this column this week that still has a pretty good chance of getting made. The IMDB page for it is still live, and, though he has been talking recently about finally doing a wester, this could be a project he revisits some day down the road.
And, for your chance to dish out who you think should play Varla, check out the Fantasy Cast we put together in this film’s honor.
Even if you’re not a fan of the movies he puts out, you have to appreciate the passion Quentin Tarantino has for movies, both those he makes and those he bases his own works on. If there’s nothing more fun than watching Tarantino talking about one of his movies, it’s watching him completely own a movie critic who just doesn’t get it. The movie critic in question here is Jan Wahl, a film historian and notorious hat collector from San Francisco. Tarantino came on a KRON-TV morning show to speak about his new film, ‘Kill Bill.’ Wahl, the resident critic, began criticizing his film for being too violent and not empowering women as Tarantino claimed the film did.
Watch QT unleash the thund-ah on Jan and her ridiculous hat!
Almost more interesting than the films Quentin Tarantino has chosen to do are the ones he has either been rumored to be behind or has stated himself that he would like to do. In honor of Quentin Tarantino week here on the site, we thought it was time to go back and look over some of these lost projects. Some of them never got past the concept stage. Some might even still be lingering somewhere in the back of QT’s mind.
Tarantino has stated he believes the Shaw Brothers’ ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin,’ directed by fight choreographer Lau Kar-leung, to be the “3rd greatest kung fu movie of all time.”
For those who do not know much about the film, here is the synopsis: The anti-Ching patriots, under the guidance of Ho Kuang-han, have secretly set up their base in Canton, disguised as school masters. During a brutal Manchu attack, Lui manages to escape and devotes himself to learning the martial arts in order to seek revenge. In a short period of time he masters the deadly use of his fists, feet and palms, along with such weapons as swords, sticks, and lances. With his learning complete, he takes on the Manchus.
In 2003, in an interview with Oriental Daily, the director even let slip that he might be interested in remaking the film. The paper stated that the Shaw Brothers had even asked Tarantino to direct the film but that production wouldn’t be underway until 2006 due to schedules.
This specific plan, however, was quickly proven to be erroneous, and it came out that there were no plans for Tarantino to produce an actual remake of ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.’ However, Tarantino, always the film student, was heavily influenced by the film. This can be seen in the training sequence seen in ‘Kill Bill Vol. 2.’ These are a direct reference to the classic, kung fu film. Tarantino even cast Chia Hui Liu/Gordon Liu, star of ‘The 36th Chamber,’ in two, separate roles for ‘Kill Bill.’
Despite the idea of him remaking ‘The 36th Chamber,’ being false, Tarantino has previously stated that he would like to do a Chinese kung fu movie at some point in his career.
I have that thought all the time, but not this one (‘Kill Bill’). I think I will make one in the future. Certainly will be shot in China but in American way and with Chinese American as the leads. That’s because it’s impossible to blend Hong Kong actors and (mainland) Chinese actors into the whole movie. Chinese Americans are still Americans. By this way, all characters will speak the same language with the same accent. I want to shoot something of my own.
In an interview in April of 2007, Tarantino once again stated his desire to direct a Chinese kung fu story. It was reported on Sina.com that he had signed an agreement with the Shaw Brothers giving him carte blanche to direct remakes of some of their films. Among these films was ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.’ Along with that film, Tarantino said he plans to produce abstractions of the storylines from ‘One-Armed Swordsman’ and ‘Dubei Dao.’ Just as Takashi Miike did with Japanese actors for ‘Sukyaki Western Django,’ Tarantino would cast Chinese actors for his new film but have them all speak in English.
While a direct remake of ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ doesn’t look like it will ever come to fruition, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Tarantino ended up making his kung fu movie. In fact, just like ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ he may actually title the film ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin,’ but base the film around an original story.
Tomorrow’s Tarantino Lost Project: His remake of ‘Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!‘
In 1955, the first Palm d’Or was handed out at the Cannes Film Festival to ‘Marty.’ It was the highest honor the festival gave out for achievement in cinematic brilliance. Nearly 40 years later, and a brief hiatus in there where no Palm d’Ors were given out, a young filmmaker named Quentin Tarantino was awarded the prize. The film he won it for was an amazing piece of film that grafted style, story, and character in all of its greatness.
Today, we bring you his acceptance speech for winning the Palm d’Or in 1994 for ‘Pulp Fiction.’ The film beat out 24, other candidates, and, in true, Tarantino fashion, he flips some hecklers the bird before he says word 1. Brilliant.
Almost more interesting than the films Quentin Tarantino has chosen to do are the ones he has either been rumored to be behind or has stated himself that he would like to do. In honor of Quentin Tarantino week here on the site, we thought it was time to go back and look over some of these lost projects. Some of them never got past the concept stage. Some might even still be lingering somewhere in the back of QT’s mind.
Let’s start the discussion on today’s film with a quote from our favorite director:
Someday I’m going to get the rights to do ‘Casino Royale,’ the first James Bond novel, and do it the right way. I really wanted it to be my followup to ‘Pulp Fiction’ and do it with Pierce Brosnan, but have it take place after the events of ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ – after Bond’s wife, Tracy, has been killed. “I want Bond to be in mourning when he falls in love with Vesper Lynd, the woman in the novel. From what I know of Brosnan and read in interviews, I think he’d want to go in the direction I’d want to take Bond, though I’m not certain producers of the series would agree.
This quote came in October of 2003 in an interview Tarantino did with The New York Daily News. The director even claimed to have been working behind the scenes with the Fleming family. Still, Tarantino expressed a belief that producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli were hesitant to move their beloved franchise away from the action-oriented style to a more character-driven one.
In 2004, Tarantino had this to say to Sci-Fi Wire:
I don’t see that they have anything to lose at all. They’ve got this gigantic franchise, they can’t do anything wrong with it. Pierce Brosnan’s only going to do one more movie for them, if that, so if he stayed on to do one more with me, let’s just this one year go my way and do it a little differently. I won’t do anything that will ruin the series.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a James Bond movie that didn’t cost $115 million and only cost $40 million or something like that? You know it’s going to make its money back, and we [would] all do good. Maybe we win the critics this time, then you’re back in business the way you were before.
In that piece, Tarantino also expressed interest in making the new ‘Casino Royale’ adaptation a period piece, setting it in the swinging ’60s.
Of course, “certain producers” agreed that ‘Casino Royale’ was the way to go with the Bond franchise. They just didn’t agree that Tarantino was the right choice to helm it. In 2005, it was announced that Martin Campbell would be directing the next James Bond film, and that it would, in fact, be a reboot of the franchise starting with ‘Casino Royale.’
Needless to say, Tarantino believed his idea had been stolen.
I’m annoyed that the James Bond producers never even called me up to talk to me about it because I can tell you they would not be making ‘Casino Royale’ if I hadn’t talked about it first.
They should have called me. Especially since they are taking my idea and they are taking the publicity I gave them towards that idea. They should have at least out of courtesy had coffee with me.
Whether the Bond franchise rebooted with ‘Casino Royale’ had anything to do with Tarantino’s involvement with trying to get the film made remains to be revealed. It does seem quite coincidental that the producers on the film went the direction they did after the long trek Tarantino took trying to get it made his way. Who knows what a Tarantino written and directed James Bond film might have looked and sounded like? We may never know.
Tomorrow’s Tarantino Lost Project: His remake of ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’
It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since PULP FICTION debuted, officially making Quentin Tarantino a household name. I was in my junior year of high school when Tarantino’s opus hit theaters. I hadn’t yet gotten the filmmaking bug at that time, that would plant its seed my senior year, but what this film did was to solidify my status as a movie geek.
I’d already been an avid movie-watcher, going through an average of probably 2-3 movies a week. That doesn’t sound like much, but keep in mind I was in high school and had plenty of that nasty homework stuff to wade through when I wasn’t working for gas money. What PULP FICTION did was to make concrete my appreciation of and passion for the creative process of making movies.
PULP FICTION was such a breath of fresh air… well, fresh air with plenty of profanity, but there really hadn’t been anything quite like this movie when it came out. While the film was incredibly original and hip and cool, it also was filled with throwbacks and homage to older films, classics and genre gems that I hadn’t even heard of at the time.
Watching PULP FICTION for the first time is an experience that movie geeks can relish and from which newcomers can learn a bit of movie history. For movie geeks, the film can be a game of “Where’s the reference?” Many scenes have a duel purpose, the primary goal is naturally to move the story forward, but Tarantino loves to where his geekiness on his sleeve.
The scene featured above (funny with French subtitles) has Butch Coolidge is searching for a suitable weapon to kill Zed and rescue Marsellus. This is an homage to multiple films, each weapon referencing a different movie… the baseball bat from WALKING TALL (1973), the hammer from THE TOOLBOX MURDERS (1978), the chainsaw from TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974). Butch finally settles on the katana, or samurai sword, which is more of a genre reference that clearly influences Tarantino’s work.
Harvey Keitel’s “Wolf” character is derives partially from Luc Besson’s LA FEMME NIKITA. The dance competition at Jack Rabbit Slim’s is derived from Jean-Luc Godard’s 1964 film Bande a part (Band of Outsiders) from which Tarantino also named his production company.
Honestly, before experiencing PULP FICTION I seriously doubt I could have clearly and accurately defined what exploitation cinema was. Granted, my awareness of this genre of film would not occur instantaneously overnight, but once again Tarantino would prove to be my guide into another new world of moving picture pleasure.
My discovery of other great films through PULP FICTION as my cinematic gateway wouldn’t truly take hold for a couple years, once I was in college. Until I first saw PULP FICTION, my modus operandi when it came to recreational movie-watching was still fairly limited to horror and sci-fi films as well as American action flicks. I had only just begun to discover some of the standards of Hong Kong martial arts films.
PULP FICTION is a film that doesn’t easily fall into one specific category of movies. It had action, drama, comedy, and mystery and if you want to get technical, added a little science fiction of sorts. Yeah, I’m talking about that all-to-famous scene when Vincent checks out the contents of the brief case, which is actually an homage to Robert Aldrich’s 1955 movie KISS ME DEADLY.
That mysterious golden glow would spawn and ongoing debate with my closest friends who also has a developing appreciation of film. Without a doubt, our obsession with what was in the brief case was not an isolated phenomenon, as other fans across the country were having the exact same debates that would takes years to fully fall by the wayside.
Tarantino’s second movie would prove to be perhaps his best, meaning he’s set the bar high for all his films to come. Fortunately, Tarantino is a brilliant filmmaker and has been able to continually produce quality films that repeatedly meld the crossbreeding of innovation and homage, pushing himself in a progressive direction, but never forgetting the influence other films and directors have had on his own style.
PULP FICTION wasn’t just a landmark film for Tarantino, but it was a crucial film for several members of the cast. Before this film, John Travolta’s biggest claim to fame since the late 70’s with SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and GREASE was with his LOOOK WHO’S TALKING trilogy, the third of which came out the year before Tarantino would receive his comeback opportunity from Tarantino as a super-cool rebellious hit man named Vincent Vega.
Aside from his work with Spike Lee, and a role in Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS, Samuel L. Jackson had been primarily used in stock bit roles and small supporting character parts. For an African-American who was literally credited as “Black Guy†in 1989’s SEA OF LOVE, it may have seemed a distant goal to reach the level of success that Jackson would experience in 1993-94.
The Hughes Brothers would start the trend in 1993 by casting Jackson in MENACE II SOCIETY, followed by JURASSIC PARK and TRUE ROMANCE, written by Tarantino. This undoubtedly led Jackson to his role in PULP FICTION, as Tarantino probably found himself awe-struck by his kindred style.
Uma Thurman, a beautiful woman and a talented actress, was not new to receiving great roles prior to PULP FICTION, but she also wasn’t a recognizable talent either. Prior to 1994, Thurman had worked with Terry Gilliam (BARON MUNCHAUSEN), Stephen Frears (DANGEROUS LIASONS), Phillip Kaufman (HENRY & JUNE) and Gus Van Sant (EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES). So, working with Tarantino may have been a change of pace, but what this actress/director relationship would do is put her on the Hollywood map and make her a highly recognizable star.
Popular culture, both old and new, decorate PULP FICTION on every level. From the wardrobe and cars to locations and especially music, we find ourselves strangely straddling the past and the present. The soundtrack was one for the ages, including music from Kool & the Gang, Al Green, Dusty Springfield and Chuck Berry, just to name a few.
Whether it’s ‘Surf Rider’ during the opening credits or ‘Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon’ from Neil Diamond, performed by Urge Overkill during Mia Wallace’s overdose scene, the music is actually the backbone of this movie. Without the music, the scenes lose their uniquely playful but serious tone.
Jack Rabbit Slim’s with it’s $5 milk shakes and servers dressed like Buddy Holly and Jane Mansfield co-exist with mob hit-men waxing philosophical and suburban-based high-end drug dealers. Even the boxing match that Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) is supposed to throw for Marsellus Wallace is a throwback to another era. It would seem out of place in today’s culture, but Tarantino created a sort of alternate universe by which this and other events could occur out of their normal timetable.
So, what about the people who paid their ticket price and didn’t like PULP FICTION? Believe it or not, they are out there, but don’t ask me what’s wrong with them. Regardless of whatever their reasons are for disliking this film, one thing cannot be dismissed… PULP FICTION was a revolutionary cinematic event, featuring multiple elements that made it stand apart from the pack.
PULP FICTION presented itself in a severely non-linear style of storytelling, with it’s parts edited together out of sequence, taking the viewer forward and backward in time as well as taking them across time from one event to another happening simultaneously. For some, this became the strongest argument from those who would criticize PULP FICTION as a confusing mess. Of course, we know better than that, don’t we?
Coincidentally, this style of writing and ultimately editing PULP FICTION out of sequence was the corner stone of the film’s success. Initially, the diner scenes with Ringo and Honey Bunny have little purpose in the story, but in the end they serve a vital purpose. It’s all in the way the puzzle is put together. Try and imagine the film as a purely linear story… does it still make sense? Does it still hold your interest? The same story told in a linear fashion would not work.
While RESERVOIR DOGS had more than it’s share of sharp, intelligent and gritty dialogue, once again it would be PULP FICTION that truly placed Tarantino on the short list of writers who have mastered the colorful and intriguing, while not entirely realistic style of writing dialogue that flows “like buttaâ€. I personally rank Tarantino right alongside David Mamet as a master of writing this kind of surreal, poetic dialogue. Yes, I DID just describe Tarantino’s dialogue as “poeticâ€.
I see some of you still shaking your head at me, refusing to give PULP FICTION its rightful place in cinematic history. Fine. You don’t have to believe me. Just look at its critical record… nominated for seven Oscars winning one for Best Original Screenplay, won the Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival, won Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and won four of five nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Altogether, according to IMDB, PULP FICTION won 44 awards on top of 40 additional nominations… what’s that? I’m sorry. I thought I heard your jaw drop. By the way, PULP FICTION remains strong with viewers, it holds its place at #5 on IMDB’s Top 250 List based on more than 359,200 votes and currently boasts a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomato-Meter.
