Jackie Brown vs Pulp Fiction

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Let's try to be broad-minded about this
So me and becca (igor) are arguing as i type about which movie people/critics think is Tarantino's best film Jackie Brown or Pulp Fiction, which do you guys think is the better film?



ROFLMFAO!

Ok let me put it to you like this. Lets say Jackie Brown was released before Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction still would have been Tarantinos breakthrough film. JB was Tarantinos weakest effort, and though had good dialogue it wasnt enough. Just one of the stories in PF is better than JB entire. Even "The Bonnie Incident".



I hear more praise for Reservoir Dogs than Jackie Brown, but Pulp Fiction is his best film.
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Originally Posted by rice
So me and becca (igor) are arguing as i type about which movie people/critics think is Tarantino's best film Jackie Brown or Pulp Fiction, which do you guys think is the better film?
I don't think there's any question that as far as reviews, influence, major award nominations & wins, heck even in terms of box office returns the answer is easily Pulp Fiction. Not even close.

But are you really just asking each member to weigh in with which movie we like better?


Also as a follow up, are you drunk right now?
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Let's try to be broad-minded about this
Yeah the argument kept getting super specific to the point where she was saying mofos like Jackie Brown better so i was asking which one members liked more



According to THIS existing poll with over forty votes, it is Pulp Fiction in a landside, with Reservoir Dogs in second. But that poll was created before Grindhouse, and if you want to wait a bit you could create a new poll after Basterds is released and get an updated opinion.

Though I don't expect the end result to be any different.


As for me personally, I think I'll still give a slight edge to Jackie Brown. But obviously I'm in the minority.




Thatd be an interesting poll, and Im pretty sure Jackie Brown would be last. Even QTs small effort in Four Rooms....well...idk its close but I guess JB had more entertainment value than the Four Room short.



"A film is a putrified fountain of thought"
I know pulp fiction is more highly regarded but my stubborness and tendency to overstate has led to this... but lately i've heard an unusually high number of critics talking about how Jackie Brown is Tarantino's best work and i swear i remember a conversation on here about how it was!



Thanks for the link, I should've known this poll already existed on this site seeing as how long it's been around for. And it's even a little more of a landslide now for Pulp Fiction thanks to me, not to take away anything from Jackie Brown, a film that I'm also a fan of.



Everything Tarantino has made since Jackie Brown has - in my opinion - been pretty weak. Kill Bill, Death Proof cannot compare at all to the sheer brilliance of his first three films. Ever since that point Tarantino seems to be resting on his sucess a little, he knows people rave about his ability to write dialogue, so now he seems to be trying to out do himself ever more which has in turn lead to some of the most clunky dialogue I've heard in a long while. Yes, he's broadened his horizons and experimented with varying degrees of success (I have not seen Inglorious Basterds yet). But I still think it's his first three were when he was at his best. It's not like he's dead he could out do himself so who know.

But to the films, there is only one winner here and it's the obvious choice, Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction was where everything came together and was just perfect for mainstream success (although in my opinion Reservoir Dogs is still his best film), script, cast, soundtrack all gold. But I do not find Jackie Brown an unworthy apponent for Pulp Fiction because after all it is - in my opinion again - a really entertaining movie with elements of Tarantino's magic all over it. The cast is superb, the soundtrack is magnificent as always and the script whilst not as great as the one for PF is still extremely good. It might let itself down a little bit because it's really covering a similar territory to that of Pulp Fiction and no one wants to see the same thing over. But when you look at it as a stand alone peice of cinema it really is a good movie.

That's why I get a little disheartened when I'm still hearing and reading that people call it Tarantino's weakest effort it was his weakest effort when he had only made 3 films, because when you compare it to what has come since, it's ten times better.



I am still yet to see Jackie Brown but I can't see it being better than Pulp Fiction
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As for me personally, I think I'll still give a slight edge to Jackie Brown. But obviously I'm in the minority.
Please explain? How do feel Jackie Brown is a better work than Pulp Fiction? That was difficult to type you really have me astonished. Im not trying to start something Im really trying to find an edge comparing the two in all depts.

Spoilers, but if you havent seen Pulp Fiction do so or a mod will ban you.

Dialogue - Pulp Fiction. Seriously we still quote this film in our everyday life. just a couple of examples Ving Rhames talking to Willis in the bar had more tension than anything I saw in Brown. It had possibly one of Chris Walkens best ever talking scenes, and thats saying something.

Action - Pulp Fiction. Umas overdose was rockin, going back for the gold watch, the diner, and Im having a hard time recalling an action scene in Brown.

Acting - Pulp Fiction. Ving Rhames, and Samuel L Jackson became stars. Travoltas career was completely revitalized like nothing Ive seen before or since. Ok Holden what gives?



Acting - Pulp Fiction. Ving Rhames and Samuel L. Jackson became stars. [Travolta's] career was completely revitalized like nothing [I've] seen before or since. Ok Holden, what gives?
First of all to the last point there: I don't see what a movie did or didn't do for somebody's acting career has to do with its quality or my enjoyment of it. It's a nice footnote, especially if you're in one of their wills, but gets no extra points for career building from me when trying to determine which I think is the better movie. I have already conceded that coming from a critical consensus or pop cultural impact point of view there's no contest: of course Pulp Fiction was the bigger, more impressive, more impactful movie, on both the business and the audience at large. But I thought it was clear I was talking about my personal preference and not framing a supposed "battle" between the two movies in such a way.

Action - Pulp Fiction. [Uma's] overdose was [rockin'], going back for the gold watch, the diner, and [I'm] having a hard time recalling an action scene in Brown.
Well, OK, I suppose if you're grading on "action" alone, Pulp wins. But again, you're stacking the deck. By design Jackie Brown doesn't have the same kind of "action". So what? That, in and of itself, makes neither film better or worse, simply different. There is no requirement for amount of action in a quality film. Not for me, anyway. You may well be a different breed of cat. But that's simply a taste thing.


Dialogue - Pulp Fiction. Seriously, we still quote this film in our everyday life. Just a couple of examples: Ving Rhames talking to Willis in the bar had more tension than anything I saw in Brown. It had possibly one of Chris [Walken's] best ever talking scenes, and [that's] saying something.
What you mean "we", White Man? The only line I find myself using regularly is "Move outta the sticks, Fellas", which I just used in a post earlier today. But other than that...not me. I quote more from "The Simp[sons" in an hour than I do from Pulp Fiction in a year. But again, this is just a taste thing. I'm simply pointing out that if "you" quote from it in your everyday life, don't generalize that. And again, it's not really proof of a film's overall quality. Plan 9 from Outer Space is imminently quotable, and that thing's a hunk of crap. But if your criteria for judging a film's greatness is simply quotability, then Pulp probably wins handily over Jackie Brown, sure. But it still finishes far behind Casablanca, Caddyshack and ten dozen other movies. Again I must ask, so what?


Please explain? How do [you] feel Jackie Brown is a better work than Pulp Fiction? That was difficult to type, you really have me astonished. [I’m] not trying to start something, [I’m] really trying to find an edge comparing the two in all [departments].
Oy. I’ve already taken more time in responding to this than I planned on, but essentially my biggest consistent gripe with Pulp Fiction is its numerous references to other films that came before it. For me, personally, I found it done to the point of distraction. His film geek homages are so thick and call such attention to themselves that they become an annoying gimmick to me after a while, which takes me right out of the story. Pulp Fiction’s relentless "look how cool I am" tributes just grate on my nerves. Despite the nod to The Graduate that opens Jackie Brown, I found his Pulp Fiction follow up to be much less annoying in this way, more mature, restrained, and original, while still working in the same basic genre of a crime picture. Tarantino has some real strengths as a filmmaker, primarily his dialogue is often stylized fun (at least in his early films) and he has a eye for editing and casting. I enjoy most of his films, even though I wouldn’t grade them anywhere nearly as high as most seem to here in internet land. For me when he gets so wrapped up in replicating exact moments from other movies, he looses me much more than he engages me.

Some of us discussed Tarantino and Pulp Fiction's cinematic liftings in THIS THREAD, if you care to read through it.

This is how I would grade and rank his directed feature films thus far…

Jackie Brown, B
Pulp Fiction, B-
Reservoir Dogs, C+
Kill Bill, C
Death Proof, D

So there, now you can see where I’m coming from. I don’t think Quentin has a "masterpiece" yet, but the film of his I think is the best would have to be Jackie Brown.


But, you know....to each their own.



Not going through reading all the other posts but i prefer Jackie Brown out of Tarantino's work. I'm a sucker for blaxploitation so that puts it up in my book and also get sick of QT slapping his ego over films. Not saying it's a better film but do think it's pretty solid and high in it's own merits but that's looking at it from an auteur perspective. Film to film, Pulp Fiction has more merit to it.
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