Quentin Tarantino is one of the finest directors of our time, and he has given us some truly incredible films throughout his decades-spanning career. His first two - Pulp Fiction - are particularly famous and acclaimed. Both are excellent movies in their own right, but both are very different.
Reservoir Dogs is more of a straightforward heist thriller (with some Tarantino-isms thrown in for good measure), whereas Pulp Fiction is more unique. But which movie is better? It's hard to say because both are very different, but they each have their merits.
Pulp Fiction: The Cast
The cast of Reservoir Dogs is great, but there's no denying that the cast of Pulp Fiction is infinitely superior. Many of the movie's characters are now cultural icons, especially John Travolta's Vincent Vega, Samuel L. Jackson's Jules Winnfield, and Uma Thurman's Mia Wallace.
Rounding out the brilliant cast are the likes of Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth (both Reservoir Dogs carryovers), Amanda Plummer, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, and Ving Rhames. There's simply no going wrong with a cast like that.
Reservoir Dogs: More Down To Earth Story
The personality of Pulp Fiction's stories are right there in the title. These are pulpy, somewhat outlandish tales about glowing briefcases, adrenaline shots to the heart, cleaning a car of blood and brains, hiding watches in butts, and saving gangsters from violent fetishists.
On the other hand, Reservoir Dogs is a far more down to Earth story about a group of professional thieves and their disastrous getaway, and it may prove more satiating for those looking for a well-told, straightforward crime story.
Pulp Fiction: The Music
Reservoir Dogs has some good music ("Stuck In the Middle With You", anyone?), but the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction is simply out of this world good. Tarantino is obviously a brilliant director, but he and his music supervisors have a fantastic ear for music and its place within certain scenes and situations.
The soundtrack contains artists like Kool & the Gang, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, and Chuck Berry, and it carries an undeniable element of "cool." There's a reason the soundtrack album has gone three times platinum in the United States alone.
Reservoir Dogs: Grittier
To go along with its more down to Earth crime tale, Reservoir Dogs is also a far "grittier" movie. Pulp Fiction certainly contains its violent and serious elements, but for the most part, it's meant to be a fun experience. Reservoir Dogs is far from fun.
One character spends the entire movie crying and lying in a massive puddle of his own blood, characters beat and kill each other without much thought, authority figures and pregnant women are killed, and one cop with a kid at home is horrifically tortured, shot, and killed without care. It's a nasty movie filled with nasty characters.
Pulp Fiction: Its Structure
Tarantino experimented with structure throughout Reservoir Dogs, but he truly nailed it with Pulp Fiction. Part of what makes Pulp Fiction so endlessly enjoyable is its unique structure and impeccable pacing.
Much can be written about how the structure is utilized, its thematic relevance to the story, and what it means for the characters and their personal journeys (it says a lot that the movie ends with the dialogue between Jules and Pumpkin). The editing is simply flawless.
Reservoir Dogs: The Ending Is More Exciting
Pulp Fiction contains a thematically rich ending, but not a particularly engaging one. At least not from a story perspective. For those looking for a more conventional ending, then Reservoir Dogs certainly delivers.
The ending to this movie is simply sensational and almost mind-numbingly violent. A bunch of characters kill each other in a Mexican standoff, Pink makes his escape and is quickly apprehended by the police, and the movie itself ends with White going down in a hail of bullets after killing Orange. Now that is exciting stuff.
Pulp Fiction: The Sense Of Fun
It's impossible to answer which movie is better, as both movies are so stylistically and thematically different. But Pulp Fiction is a fun movie, and each viewing is sure to entertain the viewer in numerous different ways.
The banter between actors is razor-sharp and hilarious, the structure rewards repeat viewings, the story provides excitement and humor in equal fashion, and of course, there's the entire Jack Rabbit Slims sequence. There's just so much to enjoy throughout Pulp Fiction that it's almost unbelievable.
Reservoir Dogs: More Contained, Like A Play
Of course, maybe certain viewers don't want an expansive, tonally-wild 154-minute movie. In that case, Pulp Fiction is not for them.
Reservoir Dogs comes it at a tight 99 minutes, and most of the movie takes place within the confines of one particular building. In this way, the movie is much more contained, like a play. It works better for those looking for a more "theatrical" experience, rather than a "cinematic" one.
Pulp Fiction: The Writing
Quentin Tarantino is a masterful writer, and his work throughout Pulp Fiction is nothing short of incredible. The way he structures the movie, deftly balances tones, paces the story, creates characters, and above all, writes dialogue, is all impeccable, and he's proved himself as one of the most talented writers in the business.
Tarantino has since received four Oscar nominations for his writing and has won twice - the first of which was for Pulp Fiction. Screenwriting doesn't get much tighter, or better, than this.
Reservoir Dogs: The Opening Sequence
Reservoir Dogs doesn't just have a more exciting ending - it arguably has a better opening sequence, as well. The Pumpkin and Honey Bunny opening is obviously iconic, but it has nothing on the tip discussion in Reservoir Dogs.
Tarantino somehow manages to make a discussion around tipping entertaining and engaging, and this scene - despite having nothing to do with the plot - became the movie's signature scene. The segway into the slow-motion walk, "Little Green Bag," and then the sudden cut to Orange bleeding in the back of the car rounds out the utter perfection that is this movie's opening sequence.
