4K Blu-Ray Review: Pulp Fiction

The Film

Pulp Fiction was such a cultural icon and pop culture phenomenon that it's easy to forget what a good movie it actually is. Beyond the references, the superficial readings, and decades of imitators, Tarantino's sophomore feature is a smart and effective deconstruction of the genre tropes that it celebrates.

Told in nonlinear format through several pulp novella styled stories, Pulp Fiction takes place over a couple of days in Los Angeles, where the ability and inability to change leads violent gangsters, losers, and lost causes in search of a better life into a tailspin. Some realize the error of their ways through biblical interventions, others pointedly refuse to change, which leads them into worse scenarios than they started in.

All throughout, Tarantino commands the audience's attention with remarkable skill, especially considering this is only his second feature. While he's proven himself even more eloquent and sharper as a director, it's wild how timeless Pulp Fiction feels, even as its a very much a product of its time in the process.

The cast, to this day, is staggering: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, and a cameo by Steve Buscemi, just to name a few. If you could bottle the 90s into a single film, it would probably be this one.

In a fascinating twist, what keeps it from being Tarantino's best, for me, is how oversaturated it became. For a time, you couldn't walk into a dorm room without spotting a Pulp Fiction poster. The DVD was everywhere. It was referenced, re-referenced, and parodied to hell and back. During all that, it lost some of its glamour. Tarantino's next project, Jackie Brown, was far more low-key, and was immediately met with a deafening scoff. Yet it's a more mature and interesting film.

His later films, like Hateful Eight and Django, are more poetic and epic in scope. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is funnier and the characters are better. Yet that doesn't make Pulp Fiction a bad film. Any director would kill to have something of that magnitude in their filmography. For others, it would be the best thing they ever make. For Tarantino, it was a warmup.

Video

Shot on 35mm film, Pulp Fiction already looked pretty darn good on Blu-Ray, and now looks exquisite on 4K. It's got a bit of softness that 90s films tend to have, and I'm glad the studio has resisted the urge to increase sharpness artificially. Instead, this looks natural and warm in the best kind of way.

Blacks are also superb, thanks to the Dolby Vision and HDR10 support. Look at the sequences in Marsellus' lair and superbly the shadows fold around Bruce Willis. Or, alternatively, his midnight escape in a taxi after a fateful boxing match. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff.

My favorite part, though, is the Jackrabbit Slim's sequence, where the vivid blues, reds, and whites of the artificial 50s pop like crazy, and the dance off between Thurman and Travolta looks as if it was shot yesterday and not 30 years ago.

In short, this is a wonderful restoration and a fantastic glow up from an already decent enough Blu-Ray. A must for films fans.

Audio

The audio track is the same as on the Blu-Ray, which, if you're familiar with it, was already a demo-worthy track on its own. There was no need to go and fix what wasn't broken, and Pulp Fiction still sounds incredible.

From the opening surf-rock tunes to the cannon blasts of gunfire midway through, Pulp Fiction has a fantastic soundscape that is replicated through all channels gorgeously. You can hear the immersive soundscape best in the Jackrabbit Slim's sequence, but don't forget to pay attention to how great the atmospheric effects are in the opening and closing diner sequences.

There's great depth to everything, and it's hard to replicate that on a home system. Yet, once again, Pulp Fiction proves itself different from all the rest.

Extras

Sadly, this 30th anniversary package is completely void of all extras in the Nordic region. America and the UK get the old-school legacy features on a secondary Blu-Ray, but we're short-changed with a single UHD disc that doesn't even have trailers. It's, once again, a travesty.

Overall

Pulp Fiction is as great as ever, and the technical presentation is faultless. If you don't already own a copy, there's no excuse not to get this 4K release, which is now the best possible way to view Tarantino's most famous film.

But if you're interested in the extra material, you might want to get the Blu-Ray anyway, as at least the Nordic base release is severely lacking in that department. It doesn't show in price, either, as this is still a premium label on that front.

Maybe we'll get luckier with the 35th anniversary.