FAQ for
Pulp Fiction (1994) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Pulp Fiction can be found here.

No. Pulp Fiction was co-written by director Quentin Tarantino and Canadian-born screenwriter, Roger Avary.

The chronological order would be: (1) Vincent & Jules (scene following opening credits), (2) The Bonnie Situation, (3) The Diner Part 1 (opening scene), (4) The Diner Part 2 (end scene), (5) Vincent Vega & Marcellus Wallace's Wife, (6) Captain Koons' speech to Butch (considering it was Butch's dream right before his fight) and (7) The Gold Watch.

According to Quentin Tarantino, "It's whatever the viewer wants it to be." The popular term for a plot device in which the details are unknown, e.g., what's in the suitcase, what's the secret formula for, why the birds suddenly started to attack humans, etc., is called a "McGuffin." Some viewers have suggested that the briefcase contains: Marsellus Wallace's soul, the ear from Reservoir Dogs, OJ's other glove, Michael Jackson's other glove, the Oscar that Tarantino hopes to win, Rudolph's nose, Judy Davis' head from Barton Fink, laundered money, stolen diamonds from Reservoir Dogs, Captain Blackbeard's treasure, Book of Mormon golden plates, heroin, the Holy Grail, gold bullion, a 25 Watt transparent amber light bulb, flashlights, Marsellus's dirty laundry....

The Mac-10 is NOT Vincent's gun. It is Marsellus' gun. The two of them meet each other at Butch's apartment in the morning, make themselves comfortable, and wait for Butch. After a while, they decide to drink some coffee to wake up. Marsellus goes out to get coffee and some breakfast food, and Vincent goes to the toilet. They (Vincent actually) were just unlucky, and Butch showed up at the most inappropriate time. After Butch kills Vincent, he meets Marsellus returning to the house, carrying two cups of coffee & perhaps some food. According to the text commentary on the Collector's Edition DVD, Marsellus was going out to get them some breakfast.

Tarantino has explained that this is not an error, rather, he did this on purpose. When we first examine the scene, we are seeing Ringo and Yolanda's conversation from their perspective. Obviously, because this is their conversation, what we hear first is probably what was actually said. However, at the end of the film, what is said is different because we are no longer viewing the situation from Ringo and Yolanda's perspective, but rather everyone else in the diner, most specifically Jules. This is why it is not the same.

It really is a question of honour, in this case. Butch puts himself in Marsellus' position and decides that he would hate to be left in such a way - he cannot just leave somebody there, no matter who it is. Butch does the "right thing" to put it simply - he realises that Maynard and Zed cannot get away with what they are doing to anybody. Butch may have also considered saving Marsellus an act of redemption. By saving his skin, he may have hoped that Marsellus would forgive him and let him go. This becomes the case, whether that was Butch's intention or not. Also, consider the weapon Butch chooses: a samurai sword. The samurai are long-associated with honour towards their masters. If you want to simplify the overarching theme of the film, you could say it's about honor among thieves.

The book is the first Modesty Blaise novel, which tracks the adventures of female spy Modesty Blaise. Though not of general reference to anything in the movie, it could be noted that Modesty is of some comparable significance to Mia's earlier mentions of "Fox Force Five," a show about a group of female spies. The edition Vincent reads has a mock-up cover that Tarantino had his prop department make, based upon the cover of an early edition of the novel.

Mia is a cocaine user, and when she sees the heroin in Vincent's coat pocket, she just assumes that it is cocaine--it's a white powder in a plastic baggie, and it looks just like coke. The problem is that, when Vincent goes to Lance's house to score heroin, Lance informs him he is out of balloons and asks if a baggie would be all right. (Heroin is usually stashed by dealers in balloons, not baggies, to avoid situations like this most likely! Mia might have known the difference IF Lance had been able to use a balloon.) The heroin he purchases is also described by Lance as being extremely potent. Additionally, heroin is a depressant, whereas cocaine is a stimulant; Mia obviously realizes her mistake right after she snorts it (it was probably very painful in addition to it's narcotic effect), but there's nothing she can do at that point. Fortunately, Vincent gets her to Lance's house in time to save her with the adrenaline shot.

Vince was having a very bad morning: first he was almost killed by a man who was shooting at him, then he accidentally shot a co-worker in the face, had to "take shit" from The Wolf, Jules and Jimmy; he had to help Jules clean up all the brains, blood and skull from the co-worker he shot; he had to strip down naked and get hosed down with freezing cold water in order to get the blood off of him; he had to wear dorky clothes given to him by Jimmy, and finally he was caught in the middle of a Mexican stand-off at the diner when he and Jules went to breakfast. To top it all off, his best friend and partner (Jules) had just decided to quit the business they were in. This all happened within the course of a couple of hours.

So Vince finally shows up at his destination, then gets teased by Paul the bartender about his taking Mia out to dinner, when Butch came up to the bar. Vince probably knew or assumed why Butch was at the bar. Marsellus was paying him to take a dive. Vincent may not respect people who are willing to betray their principles for money. So when Butch asked if he was looking at something, Vince took the opportunity to insult him.

Vincent called Butch "Palooka," a reference to a cartoon character named Joe Palooka, who was portrayed in a long-running comic series as a heavyweight boxing champion. In Vincent's eyes, "Palooka" would be a derogatory term for boxers in general, implying he looked down on Butch for his profession. It's also a fairly popular euphemism from the 1950s to refer to anyone who appears oafish or dumb. Butch is obviously NOT either but it was a convenient insult for Vincent to use.

That's "The Gimp," an extreme sexual submissive who is apparently kept prisoner in Maynard and Zed's basement. The character was Roger Avary's idea, who got it from the movie "Deliverance." Unfortunately, nothing is specified about the character's origin or the circumstances of his time in the basement, except that he has no apparent desire to be freed. Another character named "Russell" was once inhabiting another room in the basement. The screenplay implies that Russell was a previous prisoner whom Maynard and Zed eventually killed. The text commentary on the Pulp Fiction Special Edition DVD is similarly vague. It only refers to the Gimp a few times, and calls Butch the "victim of violence" and the Gimp the "perpetrator of violence."

One theory is that it was covering the hole where the "devil's helpers," Brett and gang, stole Marsellus's soul, a longstanding interpretation of the film that has made it's rounds among fans since the film was released. However, there is a more mundane explanation. Ving Rhames just happened to have a real-life cut. There is a large scar visible on the back of Ving Rhames' head in all of his later films exactly where the band-aid was. It was possible that he recently had surgery in that area, and instead of covering it with make-up or showing it to the viewing audience (thus confusing them, as it wouldn't have been in the script and therefore never explained), they decided to just cover it with a band-aid. Another theory is that Ving Rhames may have cut himself severely when he was shaving his head.

Yes, and in several ways. Firstly, Vincent from Pulp Fiction and Vic "Mr. Blonde" Vega from Reservoir Dogs are brothers. For a time Quentin Tarantino wanted to do a film with them as main characters. He has since dropped the project. Also, Jimmie from Pulp Fiction and Larry "Mr. White" Dimmick are supposed to be related in some fashion, as well. Steven Buscemi is seen as a waiter, when in Reservoir Dogs, his character makes a passing reference that he worked minimal wage and that he refuses to tip waiters. The fictional restaurant Big Kahuna Burger is featured in both films. Originally the contents of the briefcase were to be the diamonds from Reservoir Dogs, but Tarantino found that to be too lackluster. In a deleted scene from Reservoir Dogs, Mr. Pink, Mr. White and Nice-Guy Eddie are speaking about taking Mr. Orange to a nurse named Bonnie. In Pulp Fiction, Jimmie Dimmick's wife was a nurse named Bonnie. Nice-Guy Eddie also refers to Bonnie as "The Bonnie Situation," which is a chapter title from Pulp Fiction.

In both films, someone says, "Garcon means boy." The suit that Jackie wears in the film is identical to Mia's in Pulp Fiction. Jackie drives the same model Honda that Butch drove when going to retrieve his watch.

No. This cannot be The Bride's sword, as hers was custom made by Hattori Hanzo in Volume 1. If it was anyone's sword, it would belong to Budd, Bill's brother. Budd tells Bill early in Volume 2 that he pawned a sword that Bill gave to him as a gift. This would lead fans to believe that the sword that Butch used in the store was Budd's. However, when Elle and The Bride later battle in Budd's trailer, The Bride sees Budd's sword hidden in a golf bag, which she uses in the fight against Elle. So, simply put, the sword is neither The Bride's nor Budd's. It is simply a sword that just so happened to be at the pawn shop..

No. At the beginning when Vince and Jules were talking about "hash bars," Vince was talking about his trip to Amsterdam, not anywhere in Los Angeles. When Mia asked Vince to "roll one of those for me," it's simply because Vince rolls his own cigarettes. Vincent confirms that it's only tobacco.

It's never explicitly stated, but it is strongly implied that she was: 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.