And now, thanks to the fine folks over at Paramount, we finally get the 4K transfer of  Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, a masterwork of filmmaking.

The consensus from critics is that it’s a masterpiece. Audiences seem divided on the three part story. Dialogue heavy, an ensemble cast, sprinkled with random and intense violence Pulp Fiction brought the Tarantino name to the masses and some weren’t ready for that at all. It brought John Travolta back from the dead, and made a Hollywood star out of Samuel L. Jackson. With an incredibly addictive soundtrack, and oddball but memorable instances, Pulp Fiction surprised audiences by providing a complex narrative that to some appeared to be directionless.

Filmed in three separate parts, the story focuses on a group of people who at some point all interact in some form. The central characters are Vincent Vega (Travolta), Jules Winnfield (Jackson), Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), and Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis). Three separate narratives (seven including preludes) involving these characters - “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife,” “The Gold Watch,” and “The Bonnie Situation.” The preludes help divide up the film to make it segue from scene to scene more smoothly. According to the man himself, Tarantino wanted to create a trilogy in a manner that was all connected. Instead of doing a Lord of the Rings like trilogy, full of false endings and grand special effects, he opted for a more subtle approach by connecting each character through other pivotal ones. This particular character - Marsellus Wallace - is portrayed acutely by Ving Rhames, in a role that really brought him to the forefront when it came to brute badasses.

I could literally spend all day talking about Pulp Fiction. It’s Tarantino’s first masterpiece and one of the greatest films, not just of the 90s, but of all time because of how smoothly Tarantino writes and directs the film. Every piece of dialogue seems specifically articulated by him, and no scene is deemed unnecessary. It was with Pulp Fiction that Tarantino was able to perfectly hone his skills and make a name for himself.

The characters in the film are unique because there is no inherently good person in the film, but Tarantino takes extra special care of each one and devotes time to help you understand them as a human, not just as a gun for hire, a snobbish wife, or an over the top boxer. Each one is devoted ample time for exploration and dissection, something a lot of filmmakers could learn from. On the one hand you have Vincent Vega, a ruthless hitman at the start of the film, but once he takes Mia Wallace out on a date you find this man has a legitimate conscience and is empathetic. Fast forward to “The Bonnie SItuation” and you find Vega a pig in some respects, disrespectful even. It’s a conflicting portrayal of each character. At first you think Butch Coolidge may be the only true hero in the film, but his actions at the start of “The Gold Watch” lead you to believe he’s just like everyone else.

It’s a healthy balance of good vs. evil, but with a major gray area in between, thus showing that no one is definitely good or bad, and that most are gray. Whether this is true or not is left to be seen, but here Tarantino portrays it to be. I’ve not seen many films that can consistently keep my attention at the length this runs at. Of the three stories I find “The Gold Watch” to be my favorite. Bruce Willis’ timing and cool demeanor is reassuring, and the climax of the segment is unforgettable due to the graphic nature. Butch is the closest thing to a hero in the film, and I think this is a shade because he really isn’t. But Tarantino cast a man who has been closely associated with the “anti-hero” for years in Bruce Willis, that it seems natural to warm up to him as opposed to Travolta’s Vega who begins the film by killing a bunch of guys in a room.

In my opinion Pulp Fiction was robbed of all of the Oscars it was nominated for back in 1994. It’s a film masterpiece and it helped usher in the independent film era that has now boasted some of the greatest displays of acting and writing in film today. It was a shame that such a wonderful film, such a challenging film, was not given the respect it continues to earn.

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD

Home Video Distributor: Paramount
Available on Blu-ray - December 6, 2022
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Korean
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 2.0; Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Discs: 4K Ultra HD;  Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

An inside look at a memorable community of criminals. Prizefighter Butch Coolidge has decided to stop payment on a deal he's made with the devil. Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are a couple of young lovers and small time thieves who decide they need a change of venue. Meanwhile, two career criminals, Vincent Vega and Jules, go about their daily business of shooting up other crooks who are late on payments to their boss. While one is asked to babysit their boss' dangerously pretty young wife, the other suddenly realizes that he must give up his life of crime.  Paramount has released the long-anticipated UHD for Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. New specifications include 2160p/Dolby Vision video. The UHD disc carries over the legacy 5.1 lossless soundtrack as well as all of the legacy extras from the 2011 Blu-ray.

Video:

Paramount releases Pulp Fiction to the UHD format with a 2160p/Dolby Vision presentation. The new 4K transfer and color grading is an uptick in quality the film deserves.  There isn’t much information at all in regards to the source of this new 2160p master, so I’m going to assume it’s a higher res print from that source. The good news is, it looks beautiful! Contrast is rich and striking. The blacks are immersive and rich with no signs of crush or artifacts. Film grain is intact (or very impressively applied). Highlights and the whites of the snow blaze off the screen. The HDR10 application is judicious and effective, with a teeny tiny caveat: the skin tones, though effectively warm, can sometimes dip too far into browns in certain scenes. It’s a great and mostly consistent presentation and the best the film has ever looked on home media.

Audio:

Rather than re-encode for Dolby Atmos, Paramount has left well enough alone and simply ported over the Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

Critics and audiences worldwide hailed PULP FICTION as the star-studded picture that redefined cinema in the 20th Century! Writer/director Quentin Tarantino delivers an unforgettable cast of characters, including a pair of low-rent hit men (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), their boss's sexy wife (Uma Thurman), and a desperate prizefighter (Bruce Willis), in a wildly entertaining and exhilarating motion picture adventure that both thrills and amuses!  Everything from the 2011 blu-ray release is here!

• Not the Usual Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat
• Here are Some Facts on the Fiction
• Enhanced Trivia Track (English Only)
• Pulp Fiction: The Facts – Documentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Behind the Scenes Montages
• Production Design Featurette
• Siskel & Ebert At the Movies: The Tarantino Generation
• Independent Spirit Awards
• Cannes Film Festival – Palme D'Or Acceptance Speech
• Charlie Rose Show
• Marketing Gallery
• Still Gallery
• Enhanced Trivia Track

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: R for strong graphic violence and drug use, pervasive strong language and some sexuality.
Runtime: 154 mins
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: John Travolta; Uma Thurman; Samuel L. Jackson
Genre: Crime | Drama
Tagline: You won't know the facts until you've seen the fiction.
Memorable Movie Quote: "You want it? You want it? Eat it! Eat it till ya choke, you sick, twisted fuck!"
Theatrical Distributor: But Marcellus Wallace don't like to be fucked by anybody except Mrs. Wallace.
Official Site:
Release Date: October 14, 1994
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: December 6, 2022.
Synopsis: Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions. In this ultra-hip, multi-strand crime movie, their storyline is interwoven with those of their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) ; his actress wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) ; struggling boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) ; master fixer Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) and a nervous pair of armed robbers, "Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and "Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer).