Pulp Fiction appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The Dolby Vision presentation offered a thing of beauty.
Sharpness seemed solid. Nary of sliver of softness interfered with this tight, well-defined presentation.
Jagged edges and moiré effects created no concerns, and edge haloes failed to manifest. Grain felt light but natural, and no print flaws materialized.
Colors looked positive, as Pulp showed vivid hues that displayed no problems even in the toughest situations. For example, the initial shot of Butch in the bar bathed him in red light, but those elements stayed tight and distinct. HDR added range to the tones as well.
Black levels came across as deep and dark, while shadow detail was appropriately heavy without any excessive opacity. HDR contributed added impact to whites and contrast. This turned into a stellar image.
The film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack showed a pretty restricted soundfield, where music demonstrated positive stereo imaging, and various environmental effects also blended together nicely. The track came to life reasonably well during some of the more active sequences, but general ambience dominated it.
The mix didn’t do much with the surrounds, though, as the track usually boasted atmospheric material in the back channels. Nonetheless, I couldn't really quibble with the activity level of the mix.
While Pulp could have used a little more life, this is such a dialogue-intensive picture that I understand Tarantino's desire to keep the focus firmly up front.
In regard to audio quality, Pulp sounded quite good with one exception: dialogue. Largely due to not-so-hot recording on the set, lines occasionally seemed thin and brittle. They were always intelligible, though, and they usually seemed fine.
Music worked well, as the track displayed solid highs and deep bass. A bit of distortion could be heard during some songs, but those problems appeared inherent to the original recording, and the issue only occurred during the oldest songs.
Gunfire also could seem slightly distorted, but not badly, and effects generally appeared relatively realistic and packed a good bass punch. This was a “B” soundtrack.
How did this 4K UHD compare with the Blu-ray release? Both came with identical 5.1 audio.
In terms of the 4K’s Dolby Vision presentation, it offered substantial improvements in delineation, colors, and blacks. It also lost some noise reduction and edge haloes. While the Blu-ray was more than acceptable, it can’t compete with this stellar 4K.
As we head to extras, the 4K offers an Enhanced Trivia Track, which provides a good text commentary to accompany the movie. It covers a wide variety of topics, as we get notes about film techniques that appear during Pulp, changes made from the original script, Tarantino’s influences and the way he connects characters and situations among his flicks, information about the actors, and quite a lot of other details.
Occasionally, somewhat long gaps appear in the track, but usually the comments fly at a fairly rapid pace. It definitely offers a lot of useful information about Pulp.
Not the Usual Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat runs 43 minutes, one second and offers notes from actors John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, and Rosanna Arquette.
We hear how the actors came onto the project and their work with Tarantino, thoughts about the script, rehearsals and aspects of the shoot, characters and performances, reactions to the movie and its legacy.
“Chat” digs into the actors’ perspectives in a full and involving way that makes this a strong program. It throws out a little fluff when the actors blow smoke toward Tarantino, but they deliver more than enough quality info to make this one worthwhile.
We get a critical appraisal in the 20-minute, 37-second Here Are Some Facts on the Fiction. It features Elvis Mitchell, Scott Foundas, Stephanie Zacharek, Tim Lucas, and Andy Klein.
They discuss their initial screenings of Pulp and immediate reactions to it as well as interpretation of the film and its techniques. We get a decent array of insights here, though I find Zacherek’s most interesting just because she doesn’t much like the movie; it’s intriguing to get a dissenting opinion.
All the same extras show up on the included Blu-ray copy along with additional materials. Soundtrack Chapters lists 13 of the different songs heard in the movie and allows you to jump directly to them. This does nothing for me, but it doesn’t hurt to have it.
Next we find a documentary called Pulp Fiction: The Facts. The 30-minute, 31-second program provides notes from writer/director Quentin Tarantino, filmmaker/Tarantino friend Scott Spiegel, effects technician Greg Nicotero, producer Lawrence Bender, editor Sally Menke, and actors Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, John Travolta, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Amanda Plummer and Uma Thurman.
The lack of a greater preponderance of modern interviews seems a little disappointing, but “Facts” offers a reasonably good look at the flick nonetheless. I can’t say it fully covers the production of the film, as it concentrates on Tarantino’s road to Pulp as well as comments about the way in which the story’s told, reactions to it, and other elements.
The actors discuss how they came to work on the flick and their collaboration with Tarantino. Overall, the documentary gives us a decent discussion of the film but it doesn’t offer a great examination.
Next we get five deleted scenes. All except the final one come with introductions from Tarantino and the whole package lasts 24 minutes, 39 seconds.
These segments are all essentially longer versions of existing scenes and are definitely interesting. Tarantino probably should have kept some of them.
Within the Behind the Scenes Montages area, we find more footage. One focuses on the shoot at “Jack Rabbit Slim’s” and lasts four minutes, 44 seconds.
The other examines “Butch Hits Marsellus” and runs six minutes, two seconds. Neither seems particularly special, but they still provide fun looks at the set, especially when Bruce Willis jokingly states that Pulp will kill his career.
In addition, Willis proves prophetic when he claims that someone will make a hugely successful film shot on video within five years. 1999’s Blair Witch Project came out just in time to live up to Willis’ prediction.
After this we discover a Production Design Featurette that lasts six minutes, 22 seconds. We hear from production designer David Wasco and set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco and also see many stills and sketches that relate to the material. They discuss their influences and what they wanted to do with the locations in this short but informative program.
An excerpt from Siskel and Ebert At the Movies, The Tarantino Generation lasts 16 minutes as the critics talk about the aftermath caused by Pulp. They reflect upon their reactions to the flick and go over other attitudes toward it.
We also see a segment in which Samuel L. Jackson responds to criticisms of the flick during an interview with Siskel. Overall, this piece offers an interesting glimpse of the then-current thoughts about the film.
A segment from the Independent Spirit Awards shows an 11-minute, 29-second chat mainly between Tarantino and filmmaker/TV personality Michael Moore. This segment provides a nicely amusing and informal discussion of Pulp as the awards ceremony progresses.
Samuel L. Jackson also stops by after he wins a prize, a piece that seems especially amusing since Jackson calls Moore “Roger”. The last few minutes feature an interview between Moore and producer Lawrence Bender, who remains a dull subject.
Next we see Tarantino’s acceptance speech when Pulp won the Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or. The five-minute, 20-second clip shows the ceremony. Nothing he says seems terribly fascinating, but we do hear a heckler in the crowd and see Tarantino’s reaction to that person.
After this we get a complete episode of The Charlie Rose Show that ran in 1994. The 55-minute, 27-second program includes an interview between Rose and Tarantino.
Although it accompanied the release of Pulp, it provides very little info about that film. Instead, we hear more about Tarantino’s path to the director’s chair, his career, his influences and thoughts about other directors, his filmmaking philosophies, and a number of other topics.
Some may feel frustrated that the show so rarely focuses on Tarantino’s flicks, but I think it gives us a fairly compelling and insightful discussion.
With that we head to the “Marketing Gallery”. It includes five trailers for the film, each from a different country: US, Japan, UK, Germany and France.
The Japanese clip is the only one that differs significantly from the others, as it sticks with the same basic formula but offers some different scenes and shows some more graphic violence and language. (The narrator also refers to "Ving Ramos" and "Yuma Thurman", which is entertaining.)
The other four adhere to the same framework but make some minor alterations.
After this we get a whopping 13 TV spots and a nice collection of Still Galleries. The latter splits into different domains: “Pulp Fiction Posters” (48 screens, many of which depict close-ups from the various ads), “Behind-the-Scenes Photos” (170 mostly black and white shots of Tarantino and the cast, plus some color images from Jack Rabbit Slim’s), “Special Photo Shoots” (42 publicity shots), “Academy Award Campaign and the Trade Ads” (48), “Location Scouting and Set Construction” (27), “Production Design and Logos” (14), and “Props and Memorabilia” (71). It’s a solid set of stills that includes a great deal of worthwhile material.
More stillframe stuff shows up in the Reviews and Articles section. This features eight reviews of the flick and 12 articles.
There’s a lot of good reading here, though I would have liked some dissenting viewpoints. The participants all seem very pro-Pulp, so the attitudes don’t differ enormously.
Under Also from Lionsgate, we find ads for Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown.
I've seen Pulp Fiction about ten times now, and it has yet to lose any of its luster or appeal; the movie seems destined to stand as one of the best films of the 1990s, and probably of all-time. The 4K UHD delivers exceptional picture and generally good audio along with a strong roster of supplements. This easily becomes the best version of the film ever to hit the market.
To rate this film visit the original review of PULP FICTION
