We’re still talking about Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Manos: Hands of Fate, too. I don’t think that alone is sufficient to determine a film’s worth.
I’m afraid to rewatch it, in case my tastes have changed and I now find it stupid. I like my memories of it. But I, too, hate Tarantino’s dead euphemism scene. At the time, I thought the scene’s meta-meaning was thart QT really wished he were black. After Hateful 8, I think it really means he hates his actors, especially black ones, and wants to see how much he can humiliate them and call it “art”.
As the story goes, the part written for Steve Buscemi but Buscemi got busy with another film so Tarantino stepped into the role.
The scene never bothered me too much: Jimmie was pissed about being dragged into the situation and so was intentionally being an asshole towards Jules because he knew he could get away with it. I think it comes across worse in the context of the movie’s quippy dialogue and “Dead *** storage” not exactly being quotable by decent human beings.
I also think that age has been…well, less than super kind to it. I don’t think it is bad, but I think it looks today like Tarantino is trying too hard to be edgy and cool.
Inglorious Basterds is a much, much better movie. Funnier, better written, and I am starting to realize that it will be the movie I most remember of Tarantino’s.
I just watched it, since it’s on Netflix now. Haven’t seen it in 20 years but I saw it a few times before this.
It doesn’t seem dated whatsoever.
I remember how exciting it was with its random violent violence interspersed with quirky funny dialogue. And the introduction to irreverent dialogue in the first place. It was a big deal that John Travolta was “back.” It was most people’s introduction to Samuel L. Jackson as Samuel L. Jackson that we think of today. And the messed up timeline.
And of course the soundtrack! We all had it - from Columbia House, natch.
Now I’m trying to think of when and where I woulda have seen this, as I was only 15 when it came out (rated R) but by the time I was 18 I had definitely seen it.
Anyway, I think it definitely changed the movie game, or at least created a new path for movies that came after it. Kind of like John Waters but bigger budget and more recognition.
I remember leaving the theater after seeing it. Strangers were gushing to each other about how unbelievably good it was.
Younger people may not realize how groundbreaking it was, but I’ve heard millenials refer to it as a classic.
And yes, the music was great. The strange thing about the music is that it was anachronistic for the time, it was 50s music in a 90s movie, but it worked. I still have the CD somewhere.
Mostly the '60s and '70s, actually. The official soundtrack only has one song released in the '50s - Ricky Nelson’s “Lonesome Town.” There’s three or four more '50s songs in the full movie, but most of the big musical cues in the film are from a decade or two later.
Dog vomit. I remember renting it on a VHS tape from Blockbuster (two things that don’t exist anymore) and struggling to get through 30 minutes a day so I could return it.
A bunch of us went to see an early evening showing, and retired to the pub afterwards. The pub discussion centred quite heavily on the order of events in the movie, so we ended going back to the cinema to catch the late showing.
I think its still stands up very well, but I think Jackie Brown is Tarantino’s best film
Didn’t like it then. I thought it was way too violent. In fact, i had to turn it off when he stabbed the needle into her chest to resume watching it the next evening. In retrospect, I can understand the artistry there but if QT was such a master he could work his magic w/o all the gratuitous violence. I also understand that blood sells. Shunpiker’s review: One thumb down and the other one sideways.
It’s greatest shortcoming, is it’s greatest selling point: Tarantino’s unique quirkiness as a story teller.
Since we are still in the midst of a “quirkiness in films” fad (see the Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean franchises), Pulp Fiction is only out of vogue because it’s title is no longer considered snappy and clever.
Of course it’s well crafted, and that’s why even when this quirkiness fad does finally pass on, it will still stand up as a good film.
One thing I’ve noticed about ALL the many film style fads that have happened (noir, inspirational,authority-challenging, patriotic, etc), the films themselves that survive the end of the fad, and which serve to give each fad respect, are the ones which in and of themselves are MADE WELL, by the right set of people. The ones which fade away and are later seen as “horrible dreck , how could this ever have been a hit, what was wrong with those people anyway?”, are the ones which were slapped together after the first films set the standards, and were shoddily assembled.
