Pulp Fiction hidden details: brands, the briefcase and the timeline
Pulp Fiction hidden details reward anyone who has seen Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film more than once. The story is told out of order, the brands on screen are invented and reused across Tarantino's work, and one of the most recognisable looks in the film came from a shopping mistake.
Here are the details, connections and production facts that viewers often miss.
Many of them link Pulp Fiction to Tarantino's other films, which is part of why fans treat his work as one shared world.
The real order of events
The film is told in seven sequences that jump around in time. Put in chronological order, they run 4, 2, 6, 1, 7, 3, 5. The opening diner robbery and the closing diner scene are the same moment seen from two sides, which is why Vincent can die in the middle of the film and still walk out at the end.
Pulp Fiction hidden details: invented brands
Big Kahuna Burger, the Hawaiian chain whose burger Jules praises before a killing, is invented. A Big Kahuna cup also appears in Reservoir Dogs. Red Apple cigarettes are another made-up brand that keeps turning up in later Tarantino films.
- Big Kahuna Burger: seen in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
- Red Apple cigarettes: recur across Tarantino's later films.
- Jack Rabbit Slim's: a fictional 1950s-themed restaurant.
Jack Rabbit Slim's was the biggest expense
The restaurant where Vincent and Mia dance was built in a Culver City warehouse and was the single largest cost on the production, at around 150,000 dollars. Watch the waiter dressed as Buddy Holly: it is Steve Buscemi in a cameo. The total budget was about 8 million dollars, and Tarantino wanted the film to feel like an epic in everything except the price tag.
The production started with a budget of 8.5 million dollars and handed 500,000 back. Every penny shows in the restaurant: the car-shaped booths, the waiters dressed as 1950s stars and the dance floor where Vincent and Mia twist are all part of the set.
The briefcase and the Vega brothers
The film never reveals what is in the glowing briefcase, and that silence helped give it cult status as fans traded theories. Vincent Vega is meant to be the brother of Vic Vega, Mr Blonde from Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino later floated a Vega Brothers film with John Travolta and Michael Madsen that was never made.
Jules's wig and the Bible passage
Jules was meant to have an afro, but the wig bought for Samuel L. Jackson turned out to be a Jheri curl. Jackson persuaded Tarantino to keep it. The passage Jules recites before shootings is presented as Ezekiel 25:17, but it is a heavily embellished paraphrase rather than the actual verse.
Credits, cameos and awards
Tarantino plays Jimmie, whose house the bloody car is taken to. Roger Avary shared the story credit but gave up a co-writing credit so the film could be billed as written and directed by Tarantino. The title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime fiction of the mid-20th century. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1994, and Tarantino and Avary shared the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Questions people ask
What is in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction?
The film never says. The contents are deliberately left unknown.
What is the chronological order of Pulp Fiction?
The seven sequences run 4, 2, 6, 1, 7, 3, 5 in story order.
Is Vincent Vega related to Mr Blonde?
Yes. Vincent is the brother of Vic Vega, Mr Blonde from Reservoir Dogs.
Is Big Kahuna Burger real?
No. It is a fictional brand that also appears in Reservoir Dogs.