Like a sense of wonder in aSteven Spielbergmovie, or teenagers in aJohn Hughesflick, unbridled wildness is something expected in aQuentin Tarantinomovie.
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Gonzo sequences are a part of the Tarantino brand and style. But even if the wildness is a Tarantino staple, there are moments that stand out as exceptionally, unforgettably over-the-top.
Mia Wallace Drug Overdose –Pulp Fiction
Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman)has a serious, dangerous drug problem inPulp Fiction, judging by the amount and mix of drugs and alcohol she consumes during her relatively short screen time.
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It is still a surprise when she overdoses on heroin, and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) must inject adrenaline into Mia’s heart. It’s one of Tarantino’s most suspenseful and outrageous moments.
Ear Removal –Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogswas the audience’s first introduction to the filmmaking mind and world of Quentin Tarantino. It was an excellent first film, but one scene made some audience members uncomfortable, and that was when Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) pulled out a straight razor and cut a cop’s ear off.
The producers askedTarantinoto cut out the scene, saying that it would have broader audience appeal if the scene was cut out.Tarantinorefused to cut out the scene.Tarantinosaid that it wouldno longer beReservoir Dogswithout the ear slice scene.
Melanie Is Shot —Jackie Brown
Melanie (Bridget Fonda) was Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson)’s girlfriend in the movieJackie Brown. The scene when Louis (Robert DeNiro) shoots and kills her is wild because it is so sudden and seemingly comes out of nowhere.
Louis kills her because her criticism of him is getting on his nerves. Ordell takes the death of Melanie very hard, and later shoots and kills Louis.
Marvin Is Shot In The Face —Pulp Fiction
ThroughoutPulp Fiction,Vincent Vega (John Travolta) does careless things, and he makes mistakes with varying degrees of severity. But when he shoots Marvin (Phil LaMarr) in the face, it surprises the audience because it was so violent and unexpected.
The audience sees Vincent Vega’s carelessness throughout the movie, but it is still a jolt because he shoots Marvin in the face while having a theological discussion with Jules (Samuel L. Jackson). Jules discusses an encounter that he believes is God’s divine intervention. Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin in the face, and Marvin, who is sitting in the back seat, suffers an exploding head.
The Car Collision -Death Proof
The audience knows something isn’t right about braggart Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell). The audience is stunned when Stuntman Mike purposely drives a specially-designed death-proof car into a head-on collision.
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The collision kills a car full of women. The audience is also shocked when it is revealed how much of a wimp Stuntman Mike turns out to truly be.
Gold Watch Monologue –Pulp Fiction
The gold watch monologue is probably the most popular monologue in aQuentin Tarantino movie. Captain Koons (Christopher Walken) explains to Butch (Chandler Lindauer) about a gold watch that his great-grandfather purchased in Knoxville,Tennessee. Butch’s grandfather wore the watch every day that he was in the first World War. And then, the watch was given to his granddad, and he wore the watch during World War Two. His Grandad gave the watch to someone else, and told him to deliver the gold watch to his infant son before he died in the war. The infant son was Butch’s father, who wore the watch in the Vietnam War.
Unfortunately, he was captured and put in a Vietnamese prison camp and had to hide the watch “in his ass,” so they would not take it from him. He kept the watch up there for five years, and died of dysentery. But he gave the watch to Captain Koons before he died, who kept the watch in a similar place for two years, until finally delivering the watch to Butch.
The Finger Scene –Four Rooms
The finger scene surprises the audience because of its careful setup. Chester (Quentin Tarantino), Leo,Bruce Willis, Norman (Paul Calderon), and Angela (Jennifer Beals) are making a bet that if Norman can’t light a lighter ten times in a row, then the bellhop Ted (Tim Roth) must chop Norman’s finger off.
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The scene is built up like this will be a long, tense process. The process doesn’t take long at all. The process is so short that the audience is stunned.
Gimp Scene –Pulp Fiction
Butch (Bruce Willis) runs away from Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) after hitting him with a car. Butch runs into a pawnshop. Unfortunately, a couple of violent rednecks run the pawnshop— namely Maynard (Duane Whitaker) and Zed (Peter Greene).
The rednecks wake the Gimp (Stephen Hibbert), a leather-dressed and masked slave, so he can watch them rape Marcellus and Butch. Butch frees himself before he is raped and goes back to release Marcellus while they are raping him.
Grindhouse Trailers –Grindhouse
Grindhousewas a double feature,Planet TerrorandDeath Proof, made respectively byRobert Rodriguezand Tarantino. It was a celebration of the grindhouse era of B-movies. For an added touch, there were four fake trailers in the movie filmed by famous directors that looked like movies that would have come out during that era.
Machetebecame a real movie because of the popularity of the trailer. Wonder ifThanksgivingwill ever be made into a movie?
Flamethrower Home Defense –Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
The ending ofOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodwasn’t too much of a shock to audiences. Audiences didn’t know what to expect going into the movie, but perhaps had some idea granted whatTarantino did withInglourious Basterds.The ending ofOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodwasn’ttoomuch of a surprise, as it’s a twist on events that actually happened,but when Rick Dalton(Leonardo DiCaprio) uses the flamethrower,thatis a big surprise!
The flamethrower was seen earlier in the movie. Still, after so much has happened and the audience is brought to the movie’s end, they have forgotten about the flamethrower. It’s shocking, but not too far-out-of-left-field for the audience when Rick Dalton grabs the flamethrower and uses it. Talk about set-up and payoff.
