Tarantino's Best film, A cinematic masterpeice, watching this once is not nearly enough. The creativity, directing, acting and Dialogue are phenominal, giving this movie a 5/5 is not enough it deserves 1,000/5. This movie is one of the best films ever made, it is flawless. I love how realistic everything is, I can see all of htis happening in real life, the charachters are very beleivable.

Perfection!

'Pulp Fiction' is a film that I have learned to evaluate on the basis of a character hierarchy, from ones I like the best to ones I like slightly less, but I do like them all, and since every one fits perfectly into the frenzied, interconnected narrative, removing one would be an utter travesty. I have particularly come to love Winston Wolfe, played by Harvey Keitel, a professional cleaner who shows up to help get rid of a body. He arrives in a fast car, metes out orders and expects them to be followed, and his instructions remove any evidence of foul play, ane he disappears, never to be seen again. Jules (Jackson) and Vincent (Travolta) work for gang boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). They are hit men, obviously enough. Jules is the more ruthless of the two, yet he quotes from Ezekiel and eventually is spared a bullet by what he believes is divine intervention, which leads him to renounce his current career and go looking for something more worthwhile. Butch (Willis) is a boxer who gets in trouble with Wallace, and tries to flee town with his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros). Vincent is tasked with looking after Marsellus's wife Mia (Thurman). And Pumpkin (Roth) and Bunny (Amanda Plummer) are a love struck couple that holds up a diner, while Jules and Vincent are present. To describe the plot is difficult and unnecessary. It is really a series of separate stories that are all connected to one another, in often surprising and unexpected ways. This movie was a phenomenon, and helped to establish Quentin Tarantino as a major director, improving upon the reputation he had made for himself with Reservoir Dogs.

The dialogue is spontaneous, funny, endlessly creative, full of smart and crisp exchanges, laced with excessive amounts of profanity. It is explosively entertaining, with even seemingly mundane scenes carrying a greater significance, and crafted with a brilliance that makes them every bit as compelling as their flashier, more exciting brethren. The film revitalized the career of John Travolta, who earned an Oscar nomination, and would follow this up with Get Shorty and Primary Colors, both of which featured some of his best work as an actor. Jackson is mesmerizing, in a trademark badass role, who undoubtedly has the best lines of anyone. There was nothing like it at the time, and even Tarantino has not been able to equal it, but then I doubt has ever really tried, though Jackie Brown comes as close as anything. It is simply magnificent.

Pulp Fiction, despite borrowing from just about every movie ever made, is the most invigorating cinema experience a filmgoer can ever hope for. Its hodgepodge of violence, mayhem, and generally deviant behavior is an assault on the senses, not to mention political correctness. However, despite all the film's cleverness and style, it hinges on the performance put forth by Samuel L. Jackson as Jules. The fact that he was denied an Oscar is a downright shame. Martin Landau, the best supporting actor winner that year, was terrific and funny in Ed Wood, but Jackson was perhaps the most commanding screen presence in film history as the bible-quoting, godfearing hitman. The last scene in the coffee shop with Tim Roth still sends chills down my spine, no matter how many times I've seen it. Rumors of a prequel involving Jules and Vincent (John Travolta) have been floating around lately. If Quentin Tarantino wishes to regain the fans he lost with the dissapointing (but still pretty good) Jackie Brown, he should get to work right away. I'll be the first in line to see the finished product.

Right from the very first minute this movie grips the viewer hard until the very end. One never realizes how long this movie was after watching but only knows one thing and that is what was the better film he or she has seen in life, and it feels that only maybe just one or two.
Pulp Fiction is one of the most gripping and intriguing film for those who have a taste for such films. It has this dark yet comic tone and the movie walks the viewer on this thin line of real and unreal world. The non-linear style of storytelling hardly confuses the viewer but instead makes it easier to understand the whole story.
Samuel L. Jackson is at his very best in this one and so is John Travolta. But although the non-linear storytelling is not confusing, yet one has to watch the film with complete focus because every dialogue has a meaning and what seems even the least important dialogue in the beginning change the course of story in the end.

Pulp Fiction is a skilful collection of interconnecting stories, with overlapping and interwoven plots, the main characters of which inhabit a world of drugs, crime, and damage limitation. The main link in each story is Vincent Vega, brother of Mr Blonde from Reservoir Dogs and played by the once-again-cool John Travolta. Vincent and his partner Jules (Jackson) are killers working for Marcellus Wallace (Rhames); the film tells the story of what happens when simple things like a date, a fixed fight, a diner robbery and returning you boss's dirty laundry do not go according to plan.

There are so many aspects of Pulp Fiction that are worthy of praise. The screenplay is incredibly tight and makes it a pleasure to watch the varied stories unfold. The all-star cast is notable for including perennial favorites Keitel and Walken, bringing Thurman and Jackson into the mainstream and reinvigorating the careers of Travolta and Willis. The result is some memorable performances not only due to the interesting mix of stars but, more importantly, because of the cracking dialogue. The writing is extravagant and clever; each character has a distinct personal style which leads to some wonderful scenes, with engaging dialogue that is included not to advance the plot, but simply to entertain.

Tarantino apparently worked in a video shop and was inspired to write Pulp Fiction by his love of old films. Most viewers will not understand all of the obscure references or get the nods to cult movies and you don't need to. Pulp Fiction stands apart as a fantastic film in its own right - quirky, funny, and with (literally) heart-stopping moments.

Samuel L Jackson,Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Ving Rhames turn in strong performances as Quentin Tarantino's complex, irregular structured masterpiece triumphs over the crime genre. Bloody, and with a strong narrative and memorable quotes Pulp Fiction is a film for the ages. A must watch for any movie lover.

I just finished screening this movie for the first time after putting it off for a number of years because of what seemed like equivocating appraisals from some of my friends. In hindsight, however, it seems to me that while the movie must have definitely bowled them over, overall they weren't sure exactly what to make of it or how to articulate what were probably a confused mix of feelings. But I am so impressed that I feel compelled to add a few specific observations to the many fine reviews already on this database.

First, this movie hits you with an impact somewhere in between, say, APOCALYPSE NOW and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and for some people may be just as disturbing (however, in this respect I am happy to report I didn't think it rose to the level of NATURAL BORN KILLERS). Full of graphically violent action and language, PULP FICTION is not a picture for everyone - I would definitely not recommend it to my parents, born in the 1930's (even to my one fairly "hip" relative of the same generation who, at age 66, still teaches high school sex education and likes to talk about things like sunbathing nude, among other potentially sensitive issues).

Irrespective of audience sensibilities, however, the film-makers, supported by superb acting in every role, manage to create a world full of the most fascinating sleazy characters possibly ever to appear on screen. From Travolta's pronounced almost-child-like curiosity about the world to Jackson's sincere and thoughtful philosophical ruminating and Willis's deep devotion to the memory of his father, I think such fascination lies not only in the characters' personalities as they are portrayed but in the way they tantalize the viewer into considering the possibility that such people could actually exist. As a lawyer of some years' experience dealing with all sorts of people I was particularly drawn to this aspect of the film.

Thus, and in response to some other reviewers' comments, I think this movie is more character-driven than plot-driven. Instead of a story peopled by basically weakly developed characters employed primarily as a mere device to move the plot along, as is too frequently the case in the movies (especially these days), the undeniably strong, clever, and unpredictable plot lines in PULP FICTION are actually of essentially secondary interest and importance, serving primarily as vehicles to get you worried about the fate of characters you can't help caring about despite the truly low attributes that otherwise form the basis for their respective personas. As at least one other reviewer noted, when the film ends you are actually disappointed, left craving more of these crazy people and their explosive lives.

Finally, and as strange as it may sound, this film reminds me of another Monumentally Great Film which one would never typically associate with it in any way in a million years - CASABLANCA. As in that film made way back in 1942, and as another reviewer has suggested, perhaps its special appeal - its unusually high degree of emotional impact - lies in its distinctly successful simultaneous application of several different genres in a single film - drama, action, dark humor - with the whole thing bound together by essentially flawless execution in every department. And while CASABLANCA is no doubt clearly much more wholesome and high-minded, like the older film PULP FICTION is not without a pronounced theme of redemption, even if it is not as strongly felt, considering all the later film's sleaze and violence.

In sum, when people say that this is probably the best film of the 1990's, it is easy to see why. Fundamentally a truly outstanding movie, it is a must-see for anyone who considers themself a film buff and can handle graphic subject matter.

(Incidentally, if you would like a more toned-down, much more overtly humorous and less serious picture with a not-altogether dissimilar look and feel, don't miss another 1990's Travolta picture, GET SHORTY.)

If you don't like Pulp Fiction, your favorite movies include either a) The Land Before Time or b) Alone In The Dark. LOL..
As a gigantic generalization to the public, I've often found that people who don't like Pulp Fiction usually don't like Quentin Tarantino movies at all. I can respect this, even though I am an avid fan of Tarantino and the aforementioned Pulp Fiction, but I know a fair share of people who simply don't like his style of film. I found the most common thing people didn't like about Tarantino's flicks and Pulp Fiction specifically, is that they are far too slow-paced, usually from heavy amounts of dialogue (or even long silences) occuring within a single shot or scene.

Anyways, to answer the OP, it's important to recognize Pulp Fiction as a movie that was able to raise the bar in terms of filmmaking by breaking away from many plot and filmmaking devices of modern films and adapting them in new ways by using many "classic" approaches. In other words, Pulp Fiction had a unique style to the film that was never approached previously to modern filmmaking. Tarantino had stated his influences many times, and for the better part, you can call many of his films a "modern-day throwback" to film styles of the past.
Also in one hand i could say on a additional positive note.
Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" is an insanely influential 1990s film. It's a fantastic example of Tarantino's sensibilities- simultaneously updating and respecting films that came before it, complex and clever dialogue, deterministic and involving narratives, unique and unforgettable characters. (Though I must say that the Bruce Willis segment is the least imaginative Tarantino has ever been.) "Pulp Fiction," like most of Tarantino's films, is kinetic, immediate and loads of fun- just never expect anything too deep....It still gets a perfect score from me.

When I think of Tarantino, I always think, "Pulp Fiction" as do many others. but why do they think this, I wonder? Is it because its the movie he wrote and directed with the most headliners in it? Or is it beacuse it's the movie all the headliners wanted to be in?

This film keeps with director Tarantino's trademark of non-linear storytelling, and as such the narrative is presented out of sequence. Pulp Fiction is centered around three distinct but inter related stories - mob hitman Vincent Vega, prizefighter Butch Coolidge and Vincent's fellow contract killer Jules Winnfield. Although each storyline focuses on a different series of incidents, they connect and intersect in various ways.

The film starts out with a diner hold-up staged by "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny," then picks up the stories of Vincent, Jules, Butch, and several other important characters, including mob kingpin Marsellus Wallace, his wife, Mia, and underworld problem-solver Winston Wolf. It finally returns to where it began, in the diner, where Vincent and Jules have stopped for a bite; they foil the hold-up and set the robbers on a more righteous path. There are a total of seven narrative sequences—the three primary storylines are preceded by identifying intertitles on a black screen:

Prologue—The Diner (i)
Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
"Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a—flashback, b—present)
"The Gold Watch"
"The Bonnie Situation"
Epilogue—The Diner (ii)
"Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny" are having breakfast in a diner. They decide to rob it after realizing they could make money off not just the business but the customers as well, as occurred unplanned during their previous heist of a liquor store. Moments after they initiate the hold-up, the scene breaks off and the title credits roll.
As Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) drives, Vincent Vega (John Travolta), riding shotgun, reports on his experiences in Europe, from which he's just returned—the hash bars in Amsterdam; the French McDonald's and its "Royale with Cheese." The dress-suited pair are on their way to retrieve a briefcase from Brett (Frank Whaley), who has transgressed against their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace. Jules tells Vincent how Marsellus had someone thrown off a fourth-floor balcony for giving his wife a foot massage. Vincent says that Marsellus has asked him to escort his wife while Marsellus is out of town. They Brett in dramatic fashion after Jules recites a baleful "biblical" pronouncement.
We then move onto Vincent vega and Mia wallace (Marsellus's wife) meeting up and doing the twist at Jack Rabbit Slim's.
Meanwhile at an empty coctail lounge aging prizefighter Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) accepts a large sum of money from Marsellus (Ving Rhames), agreeing to lose in the fifth round of his upcoming match. Butch and Vincent briefly cross paths as Vincent and Jules—now inexplicably dressed in T-shirts and shorts—come to Marsellus's lounge to deliver the briefcase. The next day, Vincent drops by the house of Lance and Jody to score some high-grade heroin. He shoots up before driving over to meet Mrs. Mia Wallace and take her out. They head to Jack Rabbit Slim's, a slick 1950s-themed restaurants staffed by lookalikes of the decade's pop icons.
After participating in a twist contest, they return to the Wallace house with the trophy. While Vincent is in the bathroom convincing himself not to act on his growing attraction to his boss's wife, Mia finds Vincent's stash of heroin in the pocket of his coat. Mistaking it for cocaine, she snorts it and overdoses. Vincent finds her and fearfully rushes her to Lance's house for help. Together, they administer an adrenaline shot to Mia's heart, reviving her. Before the two part ways, Mia and Vincent agree not to tell Marsellus of the incident, fearing what he might do to them.
Television time for young Butch (Chandler Lindauer) is interrupted by the arrival of Vietnam veteran Captain Koons. Koons explains that he has brought a gold watch, passed down through generations of Coolidge men since World War I. Butch's father died in a POW camp, and at his dying request Koons hid the watch in his rectum for two years in order to deliver it to Butch. A bell rings, startling the adult Butch out of this reverie. He is in his boxing colors—it's time for the fight that he's been paid to throw...hwoever the plan doesn't quite come off.....

Butch flees the arena, having won the bout. Making his getaway by taxi, he learns from the death-obsessed driver, Esmeralda VillaLobos, that he killed the opposing fighter. Butch has intentionally double-crossed Marsellus, betting his payoff on himself at very favorable odds. The next morning at the motel where they're laying low, Butch discovers that his girlfriend, Fabienne, has forgotten to pack the irreplaceable watch. He returns to his apartment to retrieve it, although Marsellus's men are almost certainly looking for him. Butch finds the watch quickly, but thinking he's alone, pauses for a snack. Only then does he notice a machine gun on the kitchen counter. Hearing the toilet flush, Butch readies the gun in time to kill a startled Vincent Vega exiting the bathroom......
Driving back from the apartment, Butch encounters Marsellus by chance. Butch rams him with the car, then is almost immediately involved in a collision. A chase on foot ensues, and the two men land in a pawnshop. Butch is about to shoot Marsellus, when the shopowner, Maynard, captures them at gunpoint. Maynard and his accomplice, Zed, take Marsellus into the back room and rape him, leaving a silent masked figure referred to as "the gimp" to watch a tied-up Butch. Butch breaks loose and knocks out the gimp. He is about to flee when he decides to save Marsellus. As Zed is raping Marsellus, Butch kills Maynard. Marsellus retrieves Maynard's shotgun, shooting Zed in the groin. Marsellus informs Butch that they are even with respect to the botched fight fix, so long as he never tells anyone about the rape and departs Los Angeles forever. Butch agrees and leaves......

The story then returns to Vincent and Jules at Brett's. After they execute him, another man bursts out of the bathroom and shoots wildly at them, missing every time before an astonished Jules and Vincent can return fire. Jules decides this is a miracle and a sign from God for him to retire as a hit man. Vincent disagrees. They drive off with one of Brett's associates, Marvin, their informant. Vincent asks Marvin for his opinion about the "miracle," accidentally shooting him in the head while carelessly waving his gun.
Forced to remove their bloodied car from the road, Jules calls upon the house of his friend Jimmy (Tarantino). Jimmy's wife, Bonnie, is due back from work soon and he is very anxious that she not encounter the scene. At Jules's request, Marsellus arranges for the help of Winston Wolf. Wolf takes charge of the situation, ordering Jules and Vincent to clean the car, hide the body in the trunk, dispose of their bloody clothes, and change into T-shirts and shorts provided by Jimmy. He also pays Jimmy for his linens, used to cover the bloody seats while they drive to a junkyard where Wolf's girlfriend, Raquel, works. Wolf and Raquel leave for breakfast, and Jules and Vincent decide to do the same.
Jules and Vincent eat, and the discussion returns to Jules's decision to retire. In a brief cutaway, we see "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny" shortly before they initiate the hold-up from the movie's first scene. While Vincent is in the bathroom, the hold-up commences. "Pumpkin" demands all of the patrons' valuables, including Jules's mysterious case. Jules surprises "Pumpkin," holding him at gunpoint. "Honey Bunny," hysterical, trains her gun on Jules. Vincent emerges from the restroom with his gun trained on her, creating a stand off. Jules explains his ambivalence toward his life of crime and as his first act of redemption convinces the two robbers to take the cash they've gathered and go, pondering how they were spared and leaving the briefcase to be returned to its rightful owner.

A complete Masterpiece when it's all said-and-done. 10/10

One of the early scenes in "Pulp Fiction" features two hit-men discussing what a Big Mac is called in other countries. Their dialogue is witty and entertaining, and it's also disarming, because it makes these two thugs seem all too normal. If you didn't know better, you might assume these were regular guys having chit-chat on their way to work. Other than the comic payoff at the end of the scene, in which they use parts of this conversation to taunt their victims, their talk has no relevance to anything in the film, or to anything else, for that matter. Yet without such scenes, "Pulp Fiction" wouldn't be "Pulp Fiction." I get the sense that Tarantino put into the film whatever struck his fancy, and somehow the final product is not only coherent but wonderfully textured.

It's no wonder that fans spend so much time debating what was in the suitcase, reading far more into the story than Tarantino probably intended. The film is so intricately structured, with so many astonishing details, many of which you won't pick up on the first viewing, that it seems to cry out for some deeper explanation. But there is no deeper explanation. "Pulp Fiction," is, as the title indicates, purely an exercise in technique and style, albeit a brilliant and layered one. Containing numerous references to other films, it is like a great work of abstract art, or "art about art." It has all the characteristics we associate with great movies: fine writing, first-rate acting, unforgettable characters, and one of the most well-constructed narratives I've ever seen in a film. But to what end? The self-contained story does not seem to have bearing on anything but itself.

The movie becomes a bit easier to understand once you realize that it's essentially a black comedy dressed up as a crime drama. Each of the three main story threads begins with a situation that could easily form the subplot of any standard gangster movie. But something always goes wrong, some small unexpected accident that causes the whole situation to come tumbling down, leading the increasingly desperate characters to absurd measures. Tarantino's originality stems from his ability to focus on small details and follow them where they lead, even if they move the story away from conventional plot developments.

Perhaps no screenplay has ever found a better use for digressions. Indeed, the whole film seems to consist of digressions. No character ever says anything in a simple, straightforward manner. Jules could have simply told Yolanda, "Be cool and no one's going to get hurt," which is just the type of line you'd find in a generic, run-of-the-mill action flick. Instead, he goes off on a tangent about what Fonzie is like. Tarantino savors every word of his characters, finding a potential wisecrack in every statement and infusing the dialogue with clever pop culture references. But the lines aren't just witty; they are full of intelligent observations about human behavior. Think of Mia's statement to Vincent, "That's when you know you've found somebody special: when you can just shut the f--- up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence."

What is the movie's purpose exactly? I'm not sure, but it does deal a lot with the theme of power. Marsellus is the sort of character who looms over the entire film while being invisible most of the time. The whole point of the big date sequence, which happens to be my favorite section of the film, is the power that Marsellus has over his men without even being present. This power is what gets Vincent to act in ways you would not ordinarily expect from a dumb, stoned gangster faced with an attractive woman whose husband has gone away. The power theme also helps explain one of the more controversial aspects of the film, its liberal use of the N-word. In this film, the word isn't just used as an epithet to describe blacks: Jules, for instance, at one point applies the term to Vincent. It has more to do with power than with race. The powerful characters utter the word to express their dominance over weaker characters. Most of these gangsters are not racist in practice. Indeed, they are intermingled racially, and have achieved a level of equality that surpasses the habits of many law-abiding citizens in our society. They resort to racial epithets because it's a patter that establishes their separateness from the non-criminal world.

There's a nice moral progression to the stories. We presume that Vincent hesitates to sleep with Mia out of fear rather than loyalty. Later, Butch's act of heroism could be motivated by honor, but we're never sure. The film ends, however, with Jules making a clear moral choice. Thus, the movie seems to be exploring whether violent outlaws can act other than for self-preservation.

Still, it's hard to find much of a larger meaning tying together these eccentric set of stories. None of the stories are really "about" anything. They certainly are not about hit-men pontificating about burgers. Nor is the film really a satire or a farce, although it contains elements of both. At times, it feels like a tale that didn't need to be told, but for whatever reason this movie tells it and does a better job than most films of its kind, or of any other kind.