What’s THAT like, I wonder?
What, precisely, is the General Question here?
Actually, manny, I’ll bite, and try to give a GQ answer to an IMHO post.
I haven’t watched the film in chronological sequence, but I have read the screenplay in such a manner.
The end result? A much less satisfying story, since part of the effectiveness (genius?) of the film is the way things jump around; it’s quite weird hoping that Vincent doesn’t get killed in the Mexican standoff in the coffee shop at the end after watching him get blown away by Butch a half hour prior.
There’s a reason why Tarantino shifted the story around chronologically.
Yep, I’ve done it, because I’m that kind of a geek. The story just doesn’t develop in the same way. Think Jackie Brown instead of Pulp Fiction. Jackson and Travolta’s banter, which carries the story in the final version, is totally absent at the end. Instead of considered, pseudo-philosophical chatter, you get the much harder dialogue of Marcellus, and Willis’ hard-boiled one-liners.
The film ends on a sort of negative note in the sequenced version; Marcellus and Willis merely agree to not kill each other for awhile. With the Travolta/Jackson ending, we at least finish up with several characters walking out having changed for the… more profitable.
It was plainly obvious in the sequenced version that this was in actuality two very distinct films, different in lighting, different in dialogue, very different in tone. The transition is stark and unsatisfying. But break it up, and you have delightful swings of mood, with no segment overwhelmingly boring or overly upsetting.
Still loved it, though.
Before this gets moved to MPSIMS (where I never set key), I though I’d chime in with the more or les relevant comment that one of my friends claims to have figured out who keyed Vincent’s car. You know the scene; Vince is at his drug dealer’s house buying coke, and tells him how he had his car in storage for a year (or however long it was) while he was in Amsterdam, and he has it out for one lousy day, and some joker comes along and keys it. The dealer says anyone who messes with another man’s car should be executed on the spot.
So was this just a random occurance, or is there more to the story? My friend Jason thinks it was Butch the boxer who did it! The dealer scene takes place before Vincent’s date with Mia Wallace. Earlier in the day (and, I believe, the movie), after arriving at Marsallis Wallace’s by the Wolf’s kindness, we see Vincent exchange word’s with Butch, who just agreed to throw the fight for Marsallis. They’re sitting at the bar, Butch buys a pack of Red Apple unfiltereds, and Vincent comes along and calls him Palooka, or something. Butch gets upset, but can’t do anything on Vincent’s turf in front of Marsallis. It all works out. I think Jason is a genius for catching this. What do y’all think?
That’s interesting. I don’t remember the dialogue but did he say it happened that day?
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Alan Smithee: Tell your friend Jason that’s the best unexplained theory in Pulp Fiction since the “Marsellius-Wallace’s-soul-was-in-the-briefcase” bit. (For those not in the know, the skinny is that a demon extracted it from the back of Marsellius’ head, and the Band-Aid covered the exit wound. Butch and Jules were the middlemen sent to fetch his soul back.) Nice job!
Sofa King: You’re not the only geek who would have done it, as me and my friends from college would have done it lo-oooo-ong ago if any of us had a Pulp Fiction DVD and a player handy. I re-watched the movie last night, which led to my wondering about seeing it ‘in sequence’ again, which led to this idle musing of a post.
Montfont: Y’know, I’ve had a copy of that screenplay for a year now and it never occured to me to read the durn thing in sequence! I gotta find it.
Moderator Manny: There is no precise question. It’s kinda implied. Yeesh. Lighten up.
[Aside] Uh, I don’t expect you to remember all the posts I’ve made when you’ve wandered in to chastise me about the quality of my questions, but I tend pose admittedly ridiculous queries on this forum, either out of HUGE curiosity and/or random silliness. The free-association-of-random-flotsam-jetsam that emerges from my baby brain. I doubt I’ll change, since most posters regularly beat me to the really good/serious inquiries. I figure as long as I’m not being hugely disrespectful, outright mean or incredibly rude, I can keep these questions to, say, three a week. So can ya PLEASE try to cut me some slack? The fact I use my real name and e-mail address oughta be proof enough I’m here to have a good time learning obscure facts and trading opinions.
Hm. Should really rent a soapbox.
Well, the OP just sounds more IMHO or MPSIMS than GQ. I don’t think he was chastising you, just needed a reason for it to be in this forum. Since you seems to be looking for the opinions of others about what the movie is like when viewed in sequence, it would seem to me to play better (get more responses) over in IMHO. But there are also factual issues involved, so it could stay here. If Manny leaves a thread of opinions in here, MadHatter’s next incarnation is going to bring it up as an example of Manny’s inconsistency, and all around evilness.
If you want your threads to stay here, you have to actually ask a question that theoretically has a factual answer. With the proper phrasing, this thread wouldn’t have even been questioned. However, there were several possible interpretations that could have been made from the OP:
GQ: “What was Tarantino trying to achieve by filming Pul Fiction out of chronological order?”
IMHO: “Hey guys, anyone watched Pulp Fiction in sequence? What were your opinions of it?”
MPSIMS: “Pulp Fiction is a good movie, let’s talk about it.”
If you were trying for one of those two last ones, Manny would toss the thread over there, where it would get a better response.
waterj2: UoooOOooh.
See, that’s the trouble with jumping on a soapbox, when other people ask you what the hell you’re doing up there in the first place, and the risk of realizing you’re being a righteous jackass. I’m at Oxford when I should be in Hyde Park.
manhattan: Understood, humble apologies proffered, instant education of the differences between IMHO and MPSIMS gotten, and, well, uh, ahem, gee, it’s getting kind of cold up here…
For the notion that the suitcase contained Marcellus’s soul, check out: What’s in the briefcase in PULP FICTION
Yep. Perfectly legit question, just better suited for another forum. I’m going to move this thread to IMHO.
I made an in sequence copy of pulp fiction years ago from a VCR tape. It’s not nearly as interesting. The story needs to be told out of order, but watching it in sequence did help one of my dumb friends understand the story.
I think I’ve heard the keyed car explanition before.
To Alan Smithee:
Xcuse me for the hijack, but is that the same Jason who came up with the 2001: Space Odyssey WAG about why HAL went nuts? It’s just that this is the second reference to some genius named Jason that I’ve seen in two days!
Oh, and I seem to recall you being in on that thread as well 
So who is this Jason, and what are his thoughts on the briefcase?!?! 
- G. Raven
Oooh, I’m dyin’ over here.
I think everybody in a 5 mile radius from me must have also gotten a DVD player for Christmas. Pulp Fiction is the very first film I thought of as being the perfect accessory. Every time I go to either Tower or Blockbuster it is always rented, and sold out.
Incidentily, Tarantino said that they’re working on a Criterion Collection DVD for Pulp Fiction and another for Jackie Brown. Though he was pretty tight lipped about what was on it, he did mention a couple of cut scenes that haven’t been released yet. Plus it’s Criterion, so you know it’s gonna be good.
A good tip for anyone thinking of buying Pulp Fiction on DVD is to get the Canadian version. The Canadian version contains deleted scenes, trailers, an introduction by Tarantino, and other extras. The American version doesn’t have any extras. I got mine through a Canadian website: http://www.thunderdvd.com . Make sure you get the Alliance version which was released in Canada and not the Buena Vista version which was released in the U.S.
Here is the movie in chronological order
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/tarantino/faq/sequence.html
Also, this is a cool link:
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/tarantino/faq/secrets.html