Explosive original crime drama

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2010)

Two hit men are caught up in a life of religion and TV whilst their big time boss Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) has trouble with his trusted boxer.
Almost 16 years old and Quentin Tarantino's hard hitting crime drama is still a fresh reminder of how to tackle a hard hitting crime picture.
Technical ingenuity has moved on obviously since the nineties, only looking at other crime pictures such as Sin City shows how green screen and star power can produce results and yet here, a quickly shot low budget cult production has grossed millions and still tops numerous polls and it is down to its script and director and great collaboration of actors for doing so.
Tarantino, better known then for his scripting for films such as True Romance and Natural Born Killers then, exploded into the film industry with this picture that glorifies violence, promotes hard drug use and defies bible connotations, and all the while being somehow light hearted and consistently original.
The opening contemplation of restaurant robbery is certainly an idea never covered in any film I've ever seen and after a memorable credit sequence with fast rhythm we see the two main stars chatting on their way to a confrontation. John Travolta and Samuel Jackson make a true great pair of hit men who are simply chilling and talking about burgers and TV pilot shows and the eventual emergence of what they are about to do evaporates on the screen. Jackson's bible speech and his converse with the group of guys is brilliant scene stealing bravery and power.
When the cannons of the gun are unloaded the film literally explodes in an array of flinching violence and directional mastery from Tarantino and when we remerge at this story later on from the film, the subject of violence gets a thorough working.
When studying media a few years ago this was often a big reference to the emergence of on screen violence. Looking at it now 16 years from release it is perhaps soft-core contrasted to many modern horror flicks and the odd crime film with Tarantino developing into more apparent bloodshed, especially in Kill Bill. But whilst we have uncomfortable drug overdoses and brutal target practice the film does not sidetrack its way from delivering a story with real life purpose and intelligence.
With a good soundtrack and useful collaboration of artistic shots, especially Travolta after shooting up in the car, this has Tarantino on artistic but down to earth.
The little things make the big memory. The scene in the restaurant when Travolta and Thurman are conversing about comfortable silences and milkshakes, the hidden agenda of store workers in Willis' story, and that initial story of restaurant robbery all collate in a way that is energetic, funny and powerful meaning. Whilst many say Tarantino continues to improve, I maintain this is his most original and quotable film that will simply never age and be continued to be enjoyed for many years.