The 3 Guys Podcast Recorded on 6/2/2022 You won't know the facts until you've seen the fiction. In this episode we review Quentin Tarantino/s masterpiece Pulp Fiction (released 1994) starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis. This week we are joined by our special guest Danny. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS! The 3 Guys Rating  4.7/5

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Notes From The Show * Quick Synopsis * Released: October 14, 1994

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Screenplay By: Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary

Stars: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis and a bunch of other people.

Plot: The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Tagline: You won’t know the facts until you’ve seen the fiction.

How did this movie do Budget: $8 Million Box Office: $214 Million * Awards * Academy Awards

+ Nominations – Best Picture, Director, Actor (Travolta), Supporting Actor (Jackson), Supporting Actress (Thurman), Original Screenplay, and Film Editing.
+ Winner – Tarantino and Avary won for Best Original Screenplay.

• Casting
• • The role of Vincent Vega was originally (and exclusively) written with Michael Madsen firmly in mind. Quentin Tarantino had been working on his script for seven months and, even though Madsen knew of Quentin’s plans and had expressed his desire to play the part, Madsen had already signed up for the role of Virgil Earp in Wyatt Earp (1994), and was unable to commit to the film. He later regretted the decision.
  • Uma Thurman originally turned down the role of Mia Wallace. Quentin Tarantino was so desperate to have her as Mia, he ended up reading her the script over the phone, finally convincing her to take on the role.
  • According to Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Aniston narrowly missed out on the role of Mia Wallace to Uma Thurman.
  • Harvey Keitel convinced his friend Bruce Willis to take part in the film, knowing that Willis had been a big fan of Reservoir Dogs (1992). Bruce Willis worked on the film for only eighteen days.
  • Quentin Tarantino wrote the character of Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe specifically for Harvey Keitel.
  • Quentin Tarantino wrote the role of Jules specifically for Samuel L. Jackson, however, it was almost given to Paul Calderon after a great audition. When Jackson heard this, he flew to Los Angeles and auditioned again to secure the role. Calderon ended up with a small role, as Paul.
  • Mickey Rourke passed on the role of Butch Coolidge in order to pursue his boxing career. He also claimed that he didn’t understand the script. He later regretted this decision.
  • The role of Lance was written for John Cusack, but once he passed on the role, the second choice for the role, Eric Stoltz, was cast.
• Trivia
• • Something bad happened every time Vincent (John Travolta) went to the bathroom (always with a “pulp fiction” book to read), which, upon his exiting, involved him (Mia overdosing, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny robbing the restaurant, Butch shooting him).
  • Blonde, a.k.a. Vic Vega, played by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs (1992), is the brother of Vincent Vega. Quentin Tarantino even had a spin-off film in development, titled “Double V Vega”, which was a prequel to both movies. This film was scrapped, because both actors were too old to play younger versions of themselves.
  • The movie cost only $8 million to make. The initial budget was reportedly even lower until Bruce Willis was added to the cast (he had a recent string of domestic flops but was still a box-office draw overseas). $5 million went to pay the actors’ and actresses’ salaries. The film was already profitable when its worldwide rights were sold for $11 million (again, mainly on the strength of Willis’ presence). It went on to gross over $200 million at the box office. The largest chunk of the budget, $150,000, went to creating the Jack Rabbit Slim’s set.
  • When Vincent is at Lance’s house he says that the other day someone keyed his car. This took place at Wallace’s strip club. In an interview Tarantino was asked about that. He said that the person who keyed the car was Butch the boxer, who Vincent had insulted that night.
  • The 1964 Chevelle Malibu convertible driven by Vincent Vega (John Travolta) belonged to writer and director Quentin Tarantino, and was stolen during production of the film. In 2013, a police officer saw two kids stripping an older car. He arrested them, and while looking up the owner of the vehicle he found the VIN had been altered. It turned out that it was Tarantino’s stolen car. The owner had recently purchased it and had no idea it was stolen.
  • The quote Jules uses is supposed to be from Ezekiel 25:17 in the Old Testament. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) when Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) stands by the headstone at his grave, the marker reads “THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN…” EZEKIEL 25:17.
  • Vincent Vega is the only character who is present in every segment of the film: “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”, “The Gold Watch”, “The Bonnie Situation”, and “The Diner”.
  • The screenplay says that Zed and Maynard are brothers
  • The passage from the Bible that Jules has memorized was mostly made up by Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson. The first part about the righteous man and the tyranny of evil men is not real. However the second half, “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger. And you will know My name is the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon thee”, is a direct quote from Ezekiel 25:17. It’s likely that Tarantino included it as a reference to the Shin’ichi “Sonny” Chiba film Bodigaado Kiba (1973) as the quote is almost word for word from the opening scene. Tarantino has also said that he is big fan of the actor, and is therefore likely to have seen the movie.
  • Towards the end of the film, Jules says he wants to retire and become a drifter. In Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Samuel L. Jackson turned up as Rufus, a piano playing drifter
  • Mia Wallace’s comment “An Elvis man should love this” is a reference to a deleted scene (included in some edited for television versions) where Mia claims that everyone can be classified as either an “Elvis” (Elvis Presley) person or a “Beatles” (The Beatles) person. She bets Vincent that he is an “Elvis”, and he confirms it.
  • Although widely regarded as John Travolta’s second comeback film (Look Who’s Talking (1989) was his first), it served a similar purpose for Bruce Willis, whose films outside of the Die Hard franchise had been considered disappointments (except for Look Who’s Talking (1989)).
  • The man who burst from the bathroom in Brett’s apartment was played by the then-named Robert Arquette (whose sister, Rosanna Arquette, played Jody). However, she was listed in the credits as “Alexis Arquette”, the name she later adopted after coming out as a transgender woman.
  • The end credits mention “Special Thanks to Jennifer Beals”. The actress was close friends with Quentin Tarantino back in the nineties. He often stayed at her house, while struggling as a director before making this movie.
  • John Travolta ad-libbed the line “That’s a pretty good question” after Uma Thurman asks why it’s necessary to talk about bullshit.
  • It is strongly implied that Fabienne was pregnant with Butch’s child: she had talked about looking at herself in the mirror, picturing herself with a potbelly and how good she would look with it. After having a shower, Fabienne goes to tell Butch something but sees that he is fast asleep and says “never mind”. The next morning she talks about having a very large and unusual breakfast, which is uncommon for a woman so petite who isn’t pregnant.
  • At Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Mia Wallace tells Vincent Vega about the pilot she starred in called “Fox Force Five”. Wallace describes the other girls in the force, “There was a blonde one … she was a leader. The Japanese fox was a kung fu master. The black girl was a demolition expert. French fox’s specialty was sex. [Mine was] knives.” So, Mia was talking specifically about the Kill Bill which would be in theaters in 9 years.
  • In the special features, Tarantino describes Pulp Fiction as a salvation film, with the three parts of the anthology seeing the salvation of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny, the salvation of Jules, and the salvation of Butch and Fabienne.
  • John Travolta said that the iconic look of Vincent Vega, like the long hair and cigarette, was his idea. Quentin Tarantino originally wanted Travolta to play Vega with his more or less normal appearance, but approved Travolta’s ideas about his character when presented to him.
  • What was in the case?
    • Diamonds from Reservoir Dogs
    • Elvis’s gold suit from True Romance
    • Marcellus Soul from a deal with the devil (band-aid represents where his soul was taken)
    • An orange bulb
    • In a radio interview with Howard Stern in late 2003, Quentin Tarantino was asked by a caller the contents of the briefcase, and he answered, “It’s whatever the viewer wants it to be.”
  • Foreshadowing: Jules remarked that “Marcellus Wallace don’t like to be fucked by anybody but Mrs. Wallace”, “foreshadowing” his later scene with Zed. Marcellus also demonstrated what happens to those who break this rule.
  • The word “fuck” is used 265 times.
  • Body count: eight (six on-screen, two mentioned).

Released: October 14, 1994

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Screenplay By: Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary

Stars: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis and a bunch of other people.

Plot: The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Tagline: You won’t know the facts until you’ve seen the fiction.

How did this movie do Budget: $8 Million Box Office: $214 Million

Academy Awards

• Nominations – Best Picture, Director, Actor (Travolta), Supporting Actor (Jackson), Supporting Actress (Thurman), Original Screenplay, and Film Editing.

• Winner – Tarantino and Avary won for Best Original Screenplay.

• The role of Vincent Vega was originally (and exclusively) written with Michael Madsen firmly in mind. Quentin Tarantino had been working on his script for seven months and, even though Madsen knew of Quentin’s plans and had expressed his desire to play the part, Madsen had already signed up for the role of Virgil Earp in Wyatt Earp (1994), and was unable to commit to the film. He later regretted the decision.

• Uma Thurman originally turned down the role of Mia Wallace. Quentin Tarantino was so desperate to have her as Mia, he ended up reading her the script over the phone, finally convincing her to take on the role.
• According to Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Aniston narrowly missed out on the role of Mia Wallace to Uma Thurman.
• Harvey Keitel convinced his friend Bruce Willis to take part in the film, knowing that Willis had been a big fan of Reservoir Dogs (1992). Bruce Willis worked on the film for only eighteen days.
• Quentin Tarantino wrote the character of Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe specifically for Harvey Keitel.
• Quentin Tarantino wrote the role of Jules specifically for Samuel L. Jackson, however, it was almost given to Paul Calderon after a great audition. When Jackson heard this, he flew to Los Angeles and auditioned again to secure the role. Calderon ended up with a small role, as Paul.
• Mickey Rourke passed on the role of Butch Coolidge in order to pursue his boxing career. He also claimed that he didn’t understand the script. He later regretted this decision.

• The role of Lance was written for John Cusack, but once he passed on the role, the second choice for the role, Eric Stoltz, was cast.

• Something bad happened every time Vincent (John Travolta) went to the bathroom (always with a “pulp fiction” book to read), which, upon his exiting, involved him (Mia overdosing, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny robbing the restaurant, Butch shooting him).

• Blonde, a.k.a. Vic Vega, played by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs (1992), is the brother of Vincent Vega. Quentin Tarantino even had a spin-off film in development, titled “Double V Vega”, which was a prequel to both movies. This film was scrapped, because both actors were too old to play younger versions of themselves.
• The movie cost only $8 million to make. The initial budget was reportedly even lower until Bruce Willis was added to the cast (he had a recent string of domestic flops but was still a box-office draw overseas). $5 million went to pay the actors’ and actresses’ salaries. The film was already profitable when its worldwide rights were sold for $11 million (again, mainly on the strength of Willis’ presence). It went on to gross over $200 million at the box office. The largest chunk of the budget, $150,000, went to creating the Jack Rabbit Slim’s set.
• When Vincent is at Lance’s house he says that the other day someone keyed his car. This took place at Wallace’s strip club. In an interview Tarantino was asked about that. He said that the person who keyed the car was Butch the boxer, who Vincent had insulted that night.
• The 1964 Chevelle Malibu convertible driven by Vincent Vega (John Travolta) belonged to writer and director Quentin Tarantino, and was stolen during production of the film. In 2013, a police officer saw two kids stripping an older car. He arrested them, and while looking up the owner of the vehicle he found the VIN had been altered. It turned out that it was Tarantino’s stolen car. The owner had recently purchased it and had no idea it was stolen.
• The quote Jules uses is supposed to be from Ezekiel 25:17 in the Old Testament. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) when Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) stands by the headstone at his grave, the marker reads “THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN…” EZEKIEL 25:17.
• Vincent Vega is the only character who is present in every segment of the film: “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”, “The Gold Watch”, “The Bonnie Situation”, and “The Diner”.
• The screenplay says that Zed and Maynard are brothers
• The passage from the Bible that Jules has memorized was mostly made up by Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson. The first part about the righteous man and the tyranny of evil men is not real. However the second half, “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger. And you will know My name is the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon thee”, is a direct quote from Ezekiel 25:17. It’s likely that Tarantino included it as a reference to the Shin’ichi “Sonny” Chiba film Bodigaado Kiba (1973) as the quote is almost word for word from the opening scene. Tarantino has also said that he is big fan of the actor, and is therefore likely to have seen the movie.
• Towards the end of the film, Jules says he wants to retire and become a drifter. In Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Samuel L. Jackson turned up as Rufus, a piano playing drifter
• Mia Wallace’s comment “An Elvis man should love this” is a reference to a deleted scene (included in some edited for television versions) where Mia claims that everyone can be classified as either an “Elvis” (Elvis Presley) person or a “Beatles” (The Beatles) person. She bets Vincent that he is an “Elvis”, and he confirms it.
• Although widely regarded as John Travolta’s second comeback film (Look Who’s Talking (1989) was his first), it served a similar purpose for Bruce Willis, whose films outside of the Die Hard franchise had been considered disappointments (except for Look Who’s Talking (1989)).
• The man who burst from the bathroom in Brett’s apartment was played by the then-named Robert Arquette (whose sister, Rosanna Arquette, played Jody). However, she was listed in the credits as “Alexis Arquette”, the name she later adopted after coming out as a transgender woman.
• The end credits mention “Special Thanks to Jennifer Beals”. The actress was close friends with Quentin Tarantino back in the nineties. He often stayed at her house, while struggling as a director before making this movie.
• John Travolta ad-libbed the line “That’s a pretty good question” after Uma Thurman asks why it’s necessary to talk about bullshit.
• It is strongly implied that Fabienne was pregnant with Butch’s child: she had talked about looking at herself in the mirror, picturing herself with a potbelly and how good she would look with it. After having a shower, Fabienne goes to tell Butch something but sees that he is fast asleep and says “never mind”. The next morning she talks about having a very large and unusual breakfast, which is uncommon for a woman so petite who isn’t pregnant.
• At Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Mia Wallace tells Vincent Vega about the pilot she starred in called “Fox Force Five”. Wallace describes the other girls in the force, “There was a blonde one … she was a leader. The Japanese fox was a kung fu master. The black girl was a demolition expert. French fox’s specialty was sex. [Mine was] knives.” So, Mia was talking specifically about the Kill Bill which would be in theaters in 9 years.
• In the special features, Tarantino describes Pulp Fiction as a salvation film, with the three parts of the anthology seeing the salvation of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny, the salvation of Jules, and the salvation of Butch and Fabienne.
• John Travolta said that the iconic look of Vincent Vega, like the long hair and cigarette, was his idea. Quentin Tarantino originally wanted Travolta to play Vega with his more or less normal appearance, but approved Travolta’s ideas about his character when presented to him.
• What was in the case?
  • Diamonds from Reservoir Dogs
  • Elvis’s gold suit from True Romance
  • Marcellus Soul from a deal with the devil (band-aid represents where his soul was taken)
  • An orange bulb
  • In a radio interview with Howard Stern in late 2003, Quentin Tarantino was asked by a caller the contents of the briefcase, and he answered, “It’s whatever the viewer wants it to be.”
• Foreshadowing: Jules remarked that “Marcellus Wallace don’t like to be fucked by anybody but Mrs. Wallace”, “foreshadowing” his later scene with Zed. Marcellus also demonstrated what happens to those who break this rule.
• The word “fuck” is used 265 times.
• Body count: eight (six on-screen, two mentioned).

About The Movie From IMDB

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