Title: Pulp Fiction

Running time: 154 minutes, Rated R, available on standard DVD

Miramax and Lionsgate has released Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 Palme d’Or Award winning (also Oscar winner for best Screenplay and seven Oscar nominated) masterpiece Pulp Fiction on Blu-ray. A shuffled story line intertwining two hit men, a mob boss, the mob boss’s wife, a boxer, two diner robbers, a gold watch and a mysterious glowing briefcase – along with some other memorable side characters set to a great soundtrack.

It’s been 17 years since Pulp Fiction has been out, and if you haven’t seen it by now, you’re either a kid, an ex con or you’ve been in a coma (social or literal);  and you’ve had every opportunity to see it by now. If you want to read a synopsis of the film, you can find it pretty much anywhere on the internet.  I will point out that this film has some great dialogue and the casting was just incredible; in fact Travolta, Jackson and Thurman all got Oscar nods for their performances and its a big shame they didn’t win.  In an interview on the special features, John Travolta alludes that this film saved his floundering career, which anyone can wholeheartedly agree.  Samuel L. Jackson talks about how humbling it was to have to audition for the part, even though Tarantino told him the part was written with him in mind. I state as a fact as a cinephile that Samuel L. Jackson owned the part of Jules, and there was no way in hell the film would ever be as successful if they went with another actor.

The special features include a US, French, German, UK and Japanese trailer, TV spots, a sit-down 5 critic review of the film, several behind the scenes home videos and interviews, a Siskel and Ebert episode dedicated to Quentin Tarantio & Pulp Fiction, footage and an interview of Quentin Tarantino by director Michael Moore at the Independent Spirit Awards, footage of Quentin Tarantino winning the Palme d’Or, Marketing and Still Gallery.  It also had a great Trivia track, although I felt had some inaccuracies.  The diner scene was shot at the Hawthorne Grill which was a couple blocks from my grandpa’s TV repair shop. It wasn’t demolished after filming, the film actually saved it from shutting down because of the tourism appeal;  however eventually it was bought out by a 24-hour diner franchise I shall not name. The trivia track also stated the interior wasn’t shot at the diner, but if that’s true, the set designer did an awesome job because it was almost exact.

The I feel Pulp Fiction had a giant impact on Generation X, and several young directors have tried to copy Tarantino’s  directing and storytelling style based on this film alone; but what some don’t realize is that Tarantino was inspired by older directors like Howard Hawks, Ingmar Bergman, John Luc-Goddard (among others).  Aspiring directors don’t have to copy Tarantino, they just have to take a few pointers by familiarizing themselves with a few classic directors work, take some good notes and most of all know how to tell a story.

Total rating: A

Reviewed by: JM Willis