One of the best films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (13 December 2000)

I remember when I first went to see this film. I had seen "Reservoir Dogs" fairly recently, and was expecting the same type of criminals, the same twisted but very funny dialogue and the same kind of realistic and disturbing violence. And boy, did I get it.
It doesn't get much better than this. In it's genre (gangster-comedy-parody-action-whatever), it is the undisputed number one, its greatness not remotely threatened by anything. I can't even remotely discern what will top this.
The characters are stunning, and the actors play them so well it was hard to imagine Travolta as anything else for a while (especially since he has yet to make a single decent film after this one). The cast list is impressive, and it is great to see Tarantino crediting their fantastic acting skills by giving each and every one a pivotal role in the plot (Christopher Walken, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette and so on). The dialogue is the best I have ever heard. The funny, weird and obtuse topics of discussion are handled with excellent care, making what seems like a really dumb discussion very realistic. Not to mention hilarious. Quotes from this film still haunts every day of my life. I have a friend who can't stop saying "I'm ON the mother*****r" whenever he's set to do something. "Hezekiel 25:17" is forever burned into my memory. The music is excellent. Tarantino continues to give the music a prominent role by using radios, stereos and the famous dance sequence - the music is constantly on somewhere in the background, in the story, in the plot.
As far as the story goes, it couldn't be much better. It's fairly simple, but the timeline is sewn together in a very special and extravagant way (one that made my father totally hate this film), giving the viewer something to think about until the question is resolved. Excellent and, I imagine, something difficult to pull off so well. The sad part is that I don't think Tarantino will ever top this himself. I know it's a bad thing to say and think, but I just can't imagine anything in this genre that will come close to puzzling a story, a dialogue and characters together like this film does. Reaches a honorable number 5 on my cross-genre scale of the best movies ever made.