Stars:
John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda
Plummer, Maria De Mederos, Eric Stoltz, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Willis
Writer:
Quentin Tarantino
Story
By: Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
Director:
Quentin Tarantino
Feature
length: 154 minutes
Extras:
Subtitle Commentary, “Pulp Fiction: The Facts” Documentary, “The Charlie
Rose Show – Interview With Quentin Tarantino,” “Siskel & Ebert At The
Movies – The Tarantino Generation,” Production Design Featurette,
Behind-The-Scenes Montage, Interviews From The Independent Spirit Awards, Palme
d’Or Acceptance Speech, Reviews and Articles Analyzing The Film, Filmographies,
Theatrical Trailers From Around The World, TV Spots, Still Galleries, Soundtrack
Chapter Stops
DVD-ROM
Features: Enhanced Playback Mode, Synchronized Trivia Game, Screenplay Viewer,
Open Mic Commentary
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack and Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Soundtrack
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Two-Disc Gatefold Within A Glossy Cardboard Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 26
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1994/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Miramax Films
Home
Video Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
At
long last Region One DVD consumers will have a definitive version of Quentin
Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” in a beautiful glossy gatefold with two-discs
within a glossy cardboard slipcase much like Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s
“Vista Series” DVD-Video releases such as “Unbreakable.” By taking three
story paradigms inspired from classic crime and noir fiction and intercutting
them into three related stories presented out of linear time sequence, Tarantino
managed to produce a film that pleased both the art house and mainstream cinema
audiences with a film that was more ambitious than “Reservoir Dogs,” but
still very much a character driven epic of sorts that managed to hold on to the
stage play like quality people enjoyed in “Reservoir Dogs” while redefining
contemporary films for an entire generation.
The
buildup for “Pulp Fiction” was huge. I remember hearing rumors from friends
in my grad school classes months before the film opened and then afterwards I
remember sitting in my grad classes and an undergrad class I audited while I was
preparing my thesis because I was interested in the subject matter and all I
could hear in one form or another was either girls talking about “Pulp
Fiction” or guys talking about Tarantino and vice versa. The film was truly an
event picture that even after eight years has still not lost the spark of
artistry that has made the film as contemporary in 2002 as it was in 1994. Not
so much a time capsule as it is just a timeless anthology, “Pulp Fiction”
won numerous awards including an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay Written
Directly For The Screen shared by Quentin Tarantino and story partner at the
time, filmmaker Roger Avary.
Now
Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Miramax Home Entertainment is releasing
“Pulp Fiction: Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set” day and date with the DVD
Region One DVD debut of “Jackie Brown: Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set” on
Tuesday, August 20, 2002. In fact these next few weeks are going to be pretty
big for Tarantino fans with DVD players because following these two Miramax
releases will be Artisan Home Entertainment’s “Reservoir
Dogs: Ten Years: Special Edition DVD 2-Disc Set” and Warner Home Video’s
“True Romance: Special Edition
2-Disc
Set.”
As
I mentioned above the packaging of this new two-disc set of “Pulp Fiction”
is beautiful with the one sheet art within the slipcase and glossy photos inside
where the two discs sit. One has a photo of Travolta’s character on the top
surface while the other has Jackson’s. Within the packaging is a reproduction
of the “Jack Rabbit Slim’s” menu, a collectable booklet with cast
information, an article by Richard Corliss republished from “Time Magazine,”
Owen Glieberman’s “Entertainment Weekly” review republished, and a listing
of the disc contents, soundtrack, and scene selections. There are also mail in
rebate coupons for consumers to get $5 dollars back by mail who purchased the
original DVD release and $2 dollars for those who buy the “Pulp Fiction:
Collector’s Edition CD.” This $2 dollar refund is also available to
consumers who purchase the “Pulp Fiction: Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set”
on DVD, but never previously purchased the original release.
Disc
one presents “Pulp Fiction” with a brand new anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1)
aspect ratio transfer and the presentation looks terrific. Never has “Pulp
Fiction” looked this good on home video. There are no compression artifacts
and anomalies on this DVD transfer whatsoever. The colors are sold with deep
blacks and nice color contrasts. An excellent English DTS Digital Theatrical
Surround Soundtrack is provided that much like the DTS track on “Reservoir
Dogs” had people checking in on me and a few complaints because the sound just
rumbles with an amazing theatrical quality that I think even surpasses my
experience of seeing it at a local theater back when the film was first
theatrically released. An equally good, but less aggressive sounding English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is also provided along with English
Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and Spanish Language
Subtitles.
My
favorite feature of the entire set is not even advertised on the packaging or
within the insert. It is an optional subtitle commentary that gives various
anecdotes, facts, speculation, and behind-the-scenes information related to
Tarantino, his films, and those who have worked with him and so on. It runs for
nearly the entire feature film up until the credits role and greatly enhances
the viewing experience for DVD-Video users by making it more interactive. This
feature is actually enhanced for PC DVD-ROM Users with a synchronized trivia
game and enhanced playback track in addition to an open mic commentary that
allows the user to create their own commentary track on their computer for the
film plus a screenplay viewer to boot. There is a menu of audio clips from the
film’s eclectic soundtrack and a DVD-Video trailer for the “Jackie Brown:
Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set” and a soundtrack spot for the “Pulp
Fiction: Collector’s Edition” CD.
The
rest of the extra features are on disc two and these features begin with the
“Pulp Fiction: The Facts” Documentary, which has a running time of
approximately 30-minutes and features behind-the-scenes cast and filmmaker
interviews from the set in 1993 as well as interview clips that are as recent as
this year. I wish there were more new interviews instead of reviews taped nearly
ten years ago, but the documentary is quite interesting covering the making of
the film with a preface detailing Tarantino’s earlier efforts. This is
supported by a 10-minute reel of behind the scenes footage detailing the dance
sequence between Travolta and Thurman and the crash scene with Bruce Willis.
These behind-the-scenes montages can also be viewed as two separate shorts.
There are five deleted scenes previously available on the VHS and laserdisc with
Quentin Tarantino giving a brief introduction for each and explanation for each
scene and why it was cut. These scenes can be viewed individually or as one long
reel. There is a 6-minute featurette on the production design detailing the
touches that went into creating the stylized yet familiar hyper reality world of
“Pulp Fiction.”
Among
the more interesting inclusions within the set is the 16-minute “Siskel &
Ebert At The Movies” show detailing the “Tarantino Generation” and what is
perhaps the best extra feature on disc two, which is the complete 55-minute
interview with Quentin Tarantino from “The Charlie Rose Show.” This is
Tarantino at his best if only because he is extremely enthusiastic and
articulate and yet he is wheeled in somewhat since this was recorded for
broadcast on PBS thus he doesn’t utter a four-letter word with every other
sentence that I have seen him do in other interviews. Tarantino, Lawrence
Bender, and Samuel L. Jackson participate in somewhat impromptu interviews with
Michael Moore at the Independent Spirit Awards and Tarantino’s Palme d’Or
acceptance speech is also included here. Five trailers made up of the American.
U.K., French, German, and Japanese theatrical previews, 13 full-framed TV spots,
8 still galleries, including some great memorabilia images, and 8 reviews and 11
articles wrap up the extra features included in this set.
The
menus are fully animated and well rendered with full-motion scene selections and
animated transitions and all of the interactive menus on both discs are easy to
navigate. Put this in your shopping cart and buy it when “Pulp Fiction:
Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set makes its DVD debut day and date with “Jackie
Brown: Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set” sold separately from Miramax Home
Entertainment on Tuesday, August 20, 2002.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Read The Review Of "Jackie Brown: Collector's Edition 2-Disc Set"
Read The Review Of "Reservoir Dogs: Ten Years: Special Edition DVD 2-Disc Set"
Read The Review Of "True Romance: Unrated Director's Cut: Two-Disc Special Edition"