Quentin Tarantino’s Best Movie Is Taking Over Streaming
Absolutely the best.
As an auteur writer and director, Quentin Tarantino tends to be a cut above the rest. Known for his slick style, memorable dialogue, and use of music to enhance the movie-going experience, Tarantino is responsible for some of the most talked about films of the past thirty years. Beginning with his feature-length directorial debut of Reservoir Dogs in 1992, Tarantino made a name for himself alongside some of the great directors in cinematic history, including contemporaries Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Robert Rodriguez. Now, it appears that Quentin Tarantino’s best movie to date is climbing the charts of the streaming wars by overtaking HBO this week.
According to FlixPatrol, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is securing its spot on HBO’s Top 10 this week, positioning itself at number eight and possibly rising. Pulp Fiction debuted in 1994 to rave reviews from critics, and audiences flocked to movie theaters to witness a new subgenre of crime drama. Written by Tarantino and then-writing partner Roger Avary, the film starred an A-list ensemble cast that included John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Amanda Plummer, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stoltz, Ving Rhames, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Willis. The movie is viewed by many as a career resurrection of sorts for Travolta, who earned praise for his lead performance as Vincent Vega.
Pulp Fiction tells multiple stories from varying points of view, seen through the eyes of the lead characters. It is noted for its overextended monologues, pop culture treasure troves, and nonlinear narrative storytelling. Many of the sequences are presented out of order chronologically, a touchstone of independent filmmaking that made its way into mainstream cinema. Pulp Fiction’s critical and financial success seemed to define Tarantino’s directorial style while fostering Miramax’s stake as a powerhouse of up-and-coming writers/directors, including Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez.
Set against a budget of around $8 million, Pulp Fiction became Quentin Tarantino’s most successful film at that time when it grossed over $213 million at the box office. The film is noted for its graphic depiction of violence, humor, and quotable dialogue, presented mainly by Travolta and Jackson in roles that have seemingly defined their careers. Pulp Fiction was nominated for numerous awards, propelled by its Palme d’Or win at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival that ultimately led the film to be nominated for seven awards at the 67th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Travolta, Jackson, and Thurman were all nominated in acting categories, but Tarantino and Avary triumphed when they took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
The reaction from critics and audiences matched the awards season buzz that Pulp Fiction received close to thirty years ago and has seemingly not been lost with time. Rotten Tomatoes ranks the film with 92% on its Tomatometer, marking it as Certified Fresh among the 110 reviews critics submitted to the site. The Audience Score is very similar, with an even higher ranking of 96% among over 250,000 ratings from users, making Pulp Fiction the highest-rated Tarantino movie on Rotten Tomatoes. Similarly, Metacritic lists the flick with a 94 on its Metascore based on 94 critic reviews, as well as a 9.0 User Score from over 3,200 user ratings on the site. These high scores typically indicate universal acclaim from critics and audiences, and Metacritic has marked Pulp Fiction as a “must-see.”
The cultural impact of Pulp Fiction is still felt to this day, as Quentin Tarantino has gone on to become a high-caliber director in the film community. According to The Washington Post, the Library of Congress selected the movie for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2013 due to Pulp Fiction’s worth as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Many films have attempted to borrow Pulp Fiction’s style and soundtrack by incorporating elements from the movie in their own, most recently with Brad Pitt’s Tokyo-set Bullet Train, which features an all-star cast that mixes humor and ultra-violence. It can be a winning combination for some filmmakers if done correctly. Tarantino has made a masterful career from demented storytelling and apparent artistic abilities in movies like Jackie Brown, Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Yet, Pulp Fiction remains his best film to date by many industry standards.
