It was Reservoir Dogs that launched Quentin Tarantino's filmmaking career, but Pulp Fiction is what made him popular and established him as an internationally recognized auteur of cinema.
After a first watch, film critic Roger Ebert said Pulp Fiction was either his best or the worst movie of the year. It was his best, as he later stated.
Beside winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Pulp Fiction had a strong showing at the box office in 1994, grossing over $213 million on a $8 million budget.
What The Heck Is Pulp Fiction About
You've already seen the movie, if you're here. But here's what Pulp Fiction is about, for those who want to read this article first:
The structure of the plot is more important than the plot itself. There are three different but interlinked stories. Three main protagonists: Butch (Bruce Willis), Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson). And we, as viewers, crisscrossing from one story to another.
At the end, the stories meet. But the end isn't the end. It's just the beginning of what lies ahead of the protagonists….
That's enough. I'd hang myself twice before spilling out any further secret from the movie.
What's So Good About Pulp Fiction
If you were a teen of the 1990s, not having had a Pulp Fiction poster hung on your bedroom would've made you an outcast to your friends. Why do people love Pulp Fiction so much? Literally everything from bloody violence and pop-music references to "I'm an American, our names don't mean s*it."
The 70's songs are brilliant scene-setters. The dialogs are essentially poetic, but realistic. The story structure is non-linear — a trait Christopher Nolan's Memento was later influenced from — and Samuel L. Jackson's presence on screen is what makes Pulp Fiction so great. All of these would, later, become Tarantino's hallmarks.
Many critics didn't like this graphic violence in the movie of course, but it had a tremendous impact on the audience, whether they acknowledge it or not.
Pulp Fiction is also one of those movies that people are still quoting in day-to-day conversations even after three decades of its release.
Which brings me to today…
Here, I've rounded up the best Pulp Fiction quotes. These quotes are directly lifted from the movie, and not from Screen Rant or IMDb. (Just in case you doubt.)
The 25 Best Pulp Fiction Quotes
I've a personal reason for writing this article — I never miss a chance to give a Pulp Fiction reference whilst commenting on reddit.
A reddit user referencing "Pulp Fiction" in their comment. |
That said, here are the best quotes from Pulp Fiction:
1. "You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?" — Vincent
Jules : They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
Vincent : No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the f**k a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules : What'd they call it?
Vincent: Royale with Cheese.
2. "That's an interesting point, but let's get into character." — Jules
3. " Well, if you like hamburgers give 'em a try sometime. Me, I can't usually eat 'em 'cause my girlfriend's a vegetarian. Which more or less makes me a vegetarian, but I sure love the taste of a good burger." — Jules
4. "English motherf**ker can you speak it?" — Jules
5. "There's a passage I got memorized — seems appropriate for this situation: Ezekiel 25:17." — Jules
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
6. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. I'm curious, why would you get a stud in your tongue?" — Vincent
7. "Did you just order a five-dollar shake?" — Vincent
8. "You're quite the silver tongue devil, aren't you?" — Mia
9. "Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bulls*it in order to be comfortable […] That's when you know you found somebody special. When you can just s*it the f**k up for a minute, and comfortably share silence." — Mia
10. "One drink and leave. Don't be rude, but drink your drink quickly, say goodbye, walk out the door, get in your car, and go down the road." — Vincent
11. "Three tomatoes are walking down the street, a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato. The baby tomato is lagging behind the poppa and momma tomato. The poppa tomato gets mad, goes over to the momma tomato and stamps on him — and says: catch up." — Mia
12. "What does what feel like? Killing a man. Beating another man to death with your bare hands." — Esmarelda (The taxi driver)
13. "I'm an American, our names don't mean s*it." — Butch
14. "I don't give a damn what men find attractive. It's unfortunate what we find pleasing to the touch and pleasing to the eye is seldom the same." — Fabienne
15. "Don't feel bad, sugar pop. Nothing you could ever do would make me permanently angry at you." — Butch
16. "Nobody kills anybody in my place of business except me or Zed." — Maynard
17. "I'm gonna get Medieval on your ass." — Marsellus
18. "One thing I ask — two things I ask: don't tell nobody about this. This s*it's between me and you and the soon-to-be-livin'-the-rest-of-his-short-ass-life-in-agonizing-pain, Mr. R*pist here. It ain't nobody else's business. Two: leave town. Tonight. Right now. And when you're gone, stay gone. You've lost your Los Angeles privileges. Deal?" — Marsellus
19. "That was... divine intervention. You know what divine intervention is?" — Jules
20. "Don't f**kin' Jimmie me, man, I can't be Jimmied. There's nothin' you can say that's gonna make me forget I love my wife. Now she's workin' the graveyard shift at the hospital. She'll be comin' home in less than an hour and a half. Make your phone calls, talk to your people, than get the f**k out of my house." — Jimmie
21. "A please would be nice." — Vincent
22. "Fine job, gentlemen. We may get out of this yet." – The Wolf
Jimmie : I can't believe that's the same car.
The Wolf : Well, let's not start s*ckin' each other's d*cks quite yet. Phase one is complete, clean the car, which moves us right along to phase two, clean you two.
23. "I'm cool, Mr. Wolf. My gun just went off, I dunno how." — Vincent
24. "I don't eat filthy animals." — Jules
25. "I don't mean to shatter your ego, but this ain't the first time I've had gun pointed at me." — Jules
My Favorite Pulp Fiction Quote
Like I said earlier, I frequently quote this movie in my day-to-day conversation. The above Pulp Fiction quotes are some of the best, but here's my personal favorite: "I'm gonna get Medieval on your ass." This line is delivered by Marsellus.
The Bottom Line
That said, I hope you enjoyed reading this best Pulp Fiction quote. Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments. ♦️
Mine is : "Mhm this IS a tasty burger" or "NO YOLANDA YOLANDA HE AIN'T GONNA DO A GODDAMN MUTHAFUCKIN THING VINCE SHUT THE FUCK UP"
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice username, Jimmie 🙂
DeleteI'm partial to the foot massage dialogue LOL
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with it though. I give my mother foot massage.
Deletenothing can beat »I'm about to go medieval on his ass«
ReplyDeleteYup, agreed.
Delete" I'm an American, our names don't mean shit" will forever resonate with me the most
ReplyDeleteYou missed this one : "Bitch be cool! Say it Ringo you tell that bitch to be cool, say it, bitch be cool!"
ReplyDeleteI say this ALL the time! Best most versatile line ever put to film.
Yes. I should've mentioned this.
DeleteGreat list but you forgot to include this line - "I'm pretty fuckin' far from okay".
ReplyDeleteNo doubt. I'm certain he was nowhere close to OK
DeleteAwesome, Arpan
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteAt least once or twice a month, I’ll look in a bathroom mirror and think: ”I said goddamn! God damn.”*(https://media.tenor.com/XwbSY0BtGI8AAAAC/god-damn-damn.gif)
ReplyDeleteI love every single second of this movie. And you've squeezed out of it definitely the best!
ReplyDeleteWow I’m a huge, huge fan of Pulp Fiction.
ReplyDeleteYour post made me watch the movie after a really reaaally long time...and boy, it was a fun watch.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right–back in the day (I'm 46) we used to have Mr. Jackson's poster on our bedroom lol.