Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction, 1994
Pulp Fiction (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)



I actually feel like this is going to happen more than once, and the last time it happened was with The Shawshank Redemption. This is the second movie on the list that for so long I have heard so many people praise the movie but can't really seem to pinpoint what about the movie makes it stand out among so many other movies. I'm actually surprised that so many people really liked the movie, but can't seem to really say what they like specifically about the movie.

After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)

This one is kind of difficult, because I didn't really like or hate Pulp Fiction. It's one of those movies that now that I've seen it I probably won't watch it again, but I'm not really upset about spending the time I had to watch the movie. The movie was nominated in 1995 for several awards, it is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, and more specifically one of the greatest mob/gangster movies ever made.

According to IMDB, the movie only cost eight million dollars to make. Which is incredibly surprising when you consider that a little over 62% of the entire budget was spent on talent salaries. The remaining three million dollars in the budget, which sounds like a lot but in actuality is very little, would have been used towards things like: equipment rentals, crew, locations, and money for post production.
To put that into perspective, the largest budget that I have worked on has been one million dollars and it wasn't easy. A low budget like that typically means a lot of long days - a typical work day is a minimum of 12 hours, short weekends - if you get any days off at all, and limited pay for crew.
Making a movie with a thirty million dollar budget, which is a reasonable budget today, isn't always a cake walk. Although, I would be glad to start working on an eight million dollar budget project. So in that aspect, I say well done Tarantino. There aren't many movies that can go on to become nominated for so many awards, and be considered one of the top 100 movies of all time made on such a limited budget.

I also have to admit that I'm starting to see where the love for Tarantino is rooted in the hearts of so many fans; although I don't know that I would go so far as to consider myself a "true fan" of Tarantino at this point. I don't know, I might become a "true fan" the end of the 365 Movie Challenge. From a filmmaking perspective though, there are a few things that I really admire about Tarantino. Specifically, I his eagerness to collaborate with other filmmakers. I almost wish that it would have worked out as planned, and that each story within the movie could have been directed by another person.

Another small and kind of minor thing that I have noticed about Tarantino that always seems to work to his advantage is that he is able to write, direct and edit the majority of the things he works on. I think allowing a single creative mind to have this kind of role in each aspect of filmmaking builds a more unified and solid finished product. Of course this also aids in the production when you're able to write roles with a specific actor in mind of playing the part.

I don't really think it's shocking to say that I had a hard time with the pacing of the movie. I felt like some of the stories were longer than necessary. I got tired of sitting around the table talking about which facilities are better to rob than others. I mean, that's generally not a conversation I'm really interested in. Although on the contrary, I feel like Tarantino has arguments and fights down to a science. Any scene where two or more characters are arguing or fighting seem more realistic to me than any scene where they're just kind of shooting the shit.

Final thoughts: At the end of the day, the best thing I really have to say about the movie really just boils down to how well it was done on such a low budget. With much of my own experience focused around independent feature films, seeing such a well put together product was the biggest "wow factor." The story isn't typically something that I would be interested in or something that I would pick up to watch again on a rainy Saturday afternoon, but I did like it.

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