Pulp Fiction
Just because you are a character doesn't mean you have character.
Hitmen, a boxer and a briefcase collide across a looping Los Angeles crime story told out of order.
- Director
- Quentin Tarantino
- Signature
- Drama · Darkness · Violence
- Worldwide
- $214M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How Pulp Fiction actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Perfect if you enjoyed
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
Hitmen, a boxer and a briefcase collide across a looping Los Angeles crime story told out of order.
Nutevio Editorial Analysis
Why Pulp Fiction works
Tarantino's second film rearranges three crime stories into a loop, and in doing so proved that structure alone could feel transgressive. The famous non-linearity is not a trick: it lets a man die in the middle of the film and still deliver its final line.
The dialogue is the action. Foot massages, Big Kahuna burgers, the metric system — every conversation is a negotiation of status conducted while the audience waits for the violence it knows is coming.
Andrzej Sekuła's photography is flat, bright and deliberately unglamorous, which makes the pop-culture surfaces feel lived in rather than curated. The needle drops function as scene partners.
Its influence was so total that it became a liability: a decade of imitators borrowed the chapter titles and the banter without the discipline underneath. The original still moves with total confidence.
By The Nutevio Editors
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
Checking regional listings…
Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
Pulp Fiction appears in 4 Nutevio collections. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Top 250 Movies of All Time Ranked #6
Ranked #6 because it changed what a mainstream screenplay was allowed to look like.
Crime cinema rebuilt out of conversation.
- Crime Movies Ranked #6
Ranked #6 because rated 9.2 by the Nutevio editors — one of the strongest crime titles in the catalogue.
Hitmen, a boxer and a briefcase collide across a looping Los Angeles crime story told out of order.
- Top 100 Crime Movies Ranked #7
Ranked #7 because it made dialogue the primary suspense mechanism.
Crime as conversation.
- Drama Movies Ranked #9
Ranked #9 because rated 9.2 by the Nutevio editors — one of the strongest drama titles in the catalogue.
Hitmen, a boxer and a briefcase collide across a looping Los Angeles crime story told out of order.
The record
Awards
23 wins · 45 nominations
A Palme d'Or and an Original Screenplay Oscar that reset American independent film.
Academy Awards
1 win · 7 nominations
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Actor
Golden Globes
1 win · 6 nominations
- WinnerGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
BAFTA Awards
2 wins · 8 nominations
- WinnerBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
- WinnerBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Cannes Film Festival
1 win
- WinnerPalme d'Or
Screen Actors Guild Awards
No wins yet · 3 nominations
- WinnerScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
- WinnerScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
- WinnerScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Directors Guild of America Awards
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerDirectors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film
Independent Spirit Awards
3 wins · 4 nominations
- WinnerIndependent Spirit Award for Best Director
- WinnerIndependent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
- WinnerIndependent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
1 win
- WinnerDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor
1 win · 1 nomination
- WinnerDavid di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year
1 win
- WinnerLondon Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
1 win
- WinnerLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director
1 win
- WinnerLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
1 win
- WinnerLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence
1 win · 1 nomination
- WinnerMTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence
MTV Movie Award for Best Movie
1 win · 1 nomination
- WinnerMTV Movie Award for Best Movie
National Board of Review Award for Best Director
1 win
- WinnerNational Board of Review Award for Best Director
National Board of Review Award for Best Film
1 win
- WinnerNational Board of Review Award for Best Film
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
1 win
- WinnerNational Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director
1 win · 1 nomination
- WinnerNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film
1 win · 1 nomination
- WinnerNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay
1 win · 1 nomination
- WinnerNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director
1 win
- WinnerNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Foreign Film
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerAustralian Film Institute Award for Best Foreign Film
César Award for Best Foreign Film
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerCésar Award for Best Foreign Film
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerDavid di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress
Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerJapan Academy Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film
MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerMTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance
MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerMTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance
MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerMTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
The numbers
Box Office & Release
Pulp Fiction returned 26.7× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $8M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $214M
- Release date
- Oct 14, 1994
- Runtime
- 2h 34m
- MPAA rating
- R
- Language
- English, Spanish
- Country
- United States of America
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
Watch
Official Trailer
How it was made
Behind The Scenes
Production facts, technique and the decisions that shaped what ended up on screen.
Written in Amsterdam
Tarantino drafted the screenplay while living in Amsterdam, which is why Vincent's European anecdotes are so specific.
The dance was rehearsed for days
Travolta and Thurman worked out the Jack Rabbit Slim's twist as a tribute to several 1960s dance sequences at once.
A $8 million budget
The film cost roughly $8m and grossed over $200m, effectively creating the modern indie-to-blockbuster pipeline.
In their words
Iconic Quotes
“They call it a Royale with cheese.”
“English, motherf—er, do you speak it?”
“Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.”
