10 Movies Clearly Inspired by Pulp Fiction (2024)

Quentin Tarantino's influence on modern-day filmmaking is undeniable, but unlike most artists, his impact was felt almost immediately upon his emergence as a director, especially following Pulp Fiction. Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, and in the aftermath of the release of that movie, which Roger Ebert once prophetically said would be "the most influential film of the next five years," the market was flooded with a host of imitators.

In short, Pulp Fiction became a formula. Take one helping of eccentric (if not sympathetic) criminals, combine it with a cast of either rising stars or reclamation projects, a script that avoids chronological convention, a soundtrack composed of underappreciated hits, and, most importantly of all, copious amounts of dialogue sprinkled lovingly with numerous pop-culture references. Quentin Tarantino didn't invent any of these ideas; he simply synthesized them in such a way that inspired others to try themselves.

10 The Big Hit Was a Commercial Flop Compared to Pulp Fiction

Four years into the post-Pulp Fiction landscape, an action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg called The Big Hit saw the former pop idol, Marky Mark, taking on the Quentin Tarantino-approved archetype of a sympathetic hitman. More of a comedy than an action film (and certainly not dramatic), Hollywood pried away Hong Kong director Kirk Wong to take charge of this project, who was only a few years removed from helming the Jackie Chan action flick Crime Story.

Even with someone Quentin Tarantino would have championed behind the camera, The Big Hit was anything but. The only thing this film is particularly good at is going through the paces, utilizing its oddball cast that also boasts the likes of Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, and Bokeem Woodbine in relatively vapid chitchat that never rises to the levels of QT's worst dialogue, let alone his best.

9 The Boondock Saints Was a Brasher Pulp Fiction

Some consider Troy Duffy's The Boondock Saints to be scraping the bottom of the barrel regarding Pulp Fiction wannabes. Others (admittedly, primarily dorm-room bros) believe it to be the best. The truth is most likely somewhere in between. Still, there's no denying the popularity of this film, which centers around a pair of religious brothers who decide to take ridding the streets of Boston's criminal element into their own hands.

More than anything else, The Boondock Saints plucked Pulp Fiction's adoration for extended monologues and applied it to its characters. Unfortunately, these characters aren't that interesting, and this early on in their careers, stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus didn't have the necessary charisma to make the dialogue shine. Willem Dafaoe's eccentric and emotionally troubled FBI agent was a little more successful. At the end of the day, this film was guilty of the same sin Pulp Fiction's worst imitators were: being all style and no substance.

The Boondock Saints

R

Crime

Thriller

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See Also

10 Best Movies like Hit Man and Where to Watch Them OnlineBestes Filmjahr 1994? Kultstreifen wie «Pulp Fiction» werden nun 30GoStream Pulp Fiction Full Movie Online FreePulp writer J. Allan Dunn had his dark period in the Berkshires

Director

Troy Duffy

Release Date

January 21, 2000

Cast

Willem Dafoe , Sean Patrick Flanery , Norman Reedus

Writers

Troy Duffy

Runtime

108 minutes

Main Genre

Action

Producer

Chris Brinker, Robert N. Fried, Elie Samaha, Lloyd Segan

Production Company

Franchise Pictures, Brood Syndicate, Fried Films, The Lloyd Segan Company, Chris Brinker Productions, B.D.S. Productions Inc., CB Productions

8 Smokin' Aces Is Pulp Fiction, But With Sleight of Hand

A little over a decade after the release of Pulp Fiction came the action-packed crime thriller Smokin' Aces, which centers around Jeremy Piven's Buddy "Aces" Israel, a former mob boss who has now become the prime target of a converging collection of international assassins. Featuring an impressive cast, including Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman, Alicia Keys, and Ben Affleck, to name but a few, Smokin' Aces should have been playing with a full house but wound up folding at the box office when no one showed up.

Both Pulp Fiction and Smokin' Aces share a passion for exaggerated and stylized violence, sharp dialogue mixed in with irreverent humor, and a complicated narrative that requires its audience's full attention to follow along. The problem was that, by 2006, most audiences had grown tired of ten years' worth of pale Tarantino imitators. While Smokin' Aces isn't a particularly bad one of those, it became a victim of circ*mstance and barely registered an impact.

7 Bad Times at the El Royale Owes More To Pulp Fiction Than Just Its Title

Most Pulp Fiction clones emerged in the mid to late 90s, but that isn't to say that they aren't still being made. The most recent entry on this list is Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale, a film set in 1969 and full of some of Quentin Tarantino's favorite subject matter: a Manson-like murderous cult, licensed music from Deep Purple and the Isley Brothers, and an overall aesthetic that's very much a holdover from the flower power era.

That's far from where the similarities stop. Bad Times at the El Royale also boasts an eclectic cast of peculiar characters (most of whom are, yes, criminal types) whose seemingly random chance encounter at a hotel located along the California and Nevada border is slowly revealed to be anything but in a non-linear narrative that combines deadpan comedy with gratuitous violence. It's been a long time since someone tried to out-Tarantino Tarantino, and, for the most part, Bad Times at the El Royale pulls it off.

Bad Times at the El Royale

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6 Go Took Time to Catch Up with Pulp Fiction

Quite possibly the most blatant Pulp Fiction clone of the late '90s, Doug Liman's Go featured a three-story structure similar to Tarantino's masterpiece and assembled a star-studded ensemble cast to go along with it featuring the likes of Katie Holmes, Sarah Polley, Taye Diggs, Timothy Olyphant, and a super early performance from Melissa McCarthy. Easily one of the better QT imitators, Go took its audience on a whirlwind journey chockful of unexpected twists and turns as each of its three stories explores a different side to the same chain of events involving romance, drugs, and potential murder.

Thanks to screenwriter John August's deft handling of Go's series of interwoven stories and Doug Liman's kinetic energy behind the camera, this film is one of the closest any has ever come to replicating the feel of Pulp Fiction. The problem is that when Go was released, no one went to watch it. Since then, time has been kind, and modern-day audiences don't simply associate it with being a Pulp Fiction clone. Instead, they consider Go a cult classic all on its own.

5 The Way of the Gun Is More Than a Poor Man's Pulp Fiction

Christopher McQuarrie's directorial debut, The Way of the Gun, features two buddy criminals at the heart of its story who bring Pulp Fiction's Jules and Vincent to mind. However, the film's pointed dialogue and elaborate action sequences help it stand on its own two feet. This intense examination of two utterly unlikeable low-life criminals, played by Ryan Phillippe and Benicio del Toro, who kidnap the pregnant surrogate of a money launderer, is a meditation on violence and betrayal.

Much like every Pulp Fiction knockoff worth its merit, the characters in The Way of the Gun continue to pile up one after another until there are so many to keep track of that the only way to do so is to have them start knocking one another off. All of which builds to an epic blood-soaked finale that's more Peckinpah than Tarantino (although the latter would undoubtedly approve).

4 Get Shorty Is Pulp Fiction's Slightly Younger Cousin

More than anything else, Get Shorty benefited from the release of Pulp Fiction, which reinvigorated John Travolta's career only months before this Elmore Leonard adaptation arrived in theaters. Of course, Elmore Leonard is one of Quentin Tarantino's biggest and most widely acknowledged influences, so there's more than a passing similarity in casting between these two feature films.

While Get Shorty's Miami loan shark Chili Palmer might not entirely be as memorable as Pulp Fiction's Vincent Vega, both men find themselves as low-level criminal lackeys longing for more, who might find what they're looking for in a blossoming romance. For Chili Palmer, that woman is actress Karen Flores, played by Rene Russo, who teams up with Palmer to con her ex-husband, film producer Martin Weir, played by Danny DeVito. Pulp Fiction's influence on this film might have been tangential, but both films are expertly crafted and provide a welcome companion piece to one another.

Get Shorty

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3 Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels Provides a European Approach to Pulp Fiction's Formula

Another one of the most enjoyable Pulp Fiction clones released after that cinematic giant was Guy Ritchie's breakthrough film, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. This film checks off many of the boxes that Fiction once did but combines its American passion for pop culture with a British sensibility for gritty crime pictures like The Long Good Friday.

Featuring a cast of memorable characters worthy of being in a Tarantino picture, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels concerns lifelong friends Eddie, Tom, Soap, and Bacon. These men are far from being criminal masterminds, and their illicit activity frequently gets them into trouble with the local authorities, eventually landing them in hot water with the local cannabis kingpin named Dog. The film's success can largely be attributed to Ritchie's kinetic style and casting choices, which launched the careers of Vinnie Jones and Jason Flemyng and the soon-to-be action superstar Jason Statham.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

R

Comedy

Crime

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Eddy persuades his three pals to pool money for a vital poker game against a powerful local mobster, Hatchet Harry. Eddy loses, after which Harry gives him a week to pay back 500,000 pounds.

Director

Guy Ritchie

Release Date

August 28, 1998

Cast

Jason Flemyng , Dexter Fletcher , Nick Moran , sting , Jason Statham , Vinnie Jones

Writers

Guy Ritchie

Runtime

1 hour 47 minutes

Main Genre

Action

Production Company

Summit Entertainment, The Steve Tisch Company, SKA Films, HandMade Films, Polygram Filmed Entertainment

2 Grosse Point Blank Was Nearly as Entertaining as Pulp Fiction

The script for the hilarious and irreverent Grosse Point Blank might have been completed before Pulp Fiction was released, but the film that eventually hit theaters bore the unmistakable signs of Tarantino's influence for the better. Featuring a reflective contract killer played by John Cusack, who returns to his hometown to attend his high school reunion, this film is the most fun you'll have with any movie on this list.

Before Pulp Fiction, a black comedy featuring a hired killer and a ton of licensed Violent Femmes on the soundtrack (not to mention a score composed by Joe Strummer of The Clash) would have been practically unthinkable, and it certainly would have had no right to be as good as this. Under George Armitage's watchful eye, John Cusack and Minnie Driver generate some fantastic chemistry, which is why Grosse Point Blank is so jampacked with energy that it never ceases to be entertaining.

1 Out of Sight Might be the Only Pulp Fiction Clone Nearly as Good as the Original

Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight might share Pulp Fiction's gleeful enjoyment of the criminal element and novel narrative devices, but that's not all. It combines those elements with actors who appeared in Tarantino's infamous film, including Ving Rhames, Paul Calderon, and Samuel L. Jackson, to reinvent the crime caper picture in a post-Pulp Fiction world. Despite its similarities, Out of Sight feels anything but derivative.

Out of Sight's success is two-pronged. On one hand, the chemistry between its two leads, George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, is simply off the charts. On the other, it's impossible to imagine anyone outside of Steven Soderbergh creating a film as expertly (and uniquely) crafted and darkly funny as this one. Between its non-linear plot and frequent use of freeze frames, Out of Sight owes much to Pulp Fiction, but it's the rare kind of homage whose popularity has also increased the original's notoriety.

Out of Sight (1998)

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