National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2013
“By turns utterly derivative and audaciously original, Quentin Tarantino's mordantly wicked Möbius strip of a movie influenced a generation of filmmakers and stands as a milestone in the evolution of independent cinema in the United States, making it one of the few films on the National Film Registry as notable for its lasting impact on the film industry as its considerable artistic merits.”
Independent Spirit Awards — 3 wins, 4 nominationsLos Angeles Film Critics Association — 3 winsNational Board of Review — 3 winsBritish Academy Film Awards — 2 wins, 8 nominationsAll 23 wins · 45 nominations on record
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Director
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Male Lead
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Director
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Film
National Board of Review: Best Director
National Board of Review: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review: Best Film
British Academy Film Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
British Academy Film Awards: Best Original Screenplay
Academy Awards: Best Writing, Original Screenplay
Golden Globe Awards: Best Screenplay
David di Donatello: Best Foreign Actor
Cannes Film Festival: Palme d'Or
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Director
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Screenplay
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Director
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Film
MTV Movie Award: Best Dance Sequence
MTV Movie Award: Best Movie
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award: Best Film
London Film Critics Circle Award: Actor of the Year
Scholarship
Named in the title of 25 peer-reviewed works
Examples
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pulp Fiction arrived in 1994 through Miramax, riding the independent film boom of the era while still reaching wide audiences through a major distribution push. Quentin Tarantino's nonlinear crime saga, with its mix of pop culture dialogue, dark humor, and interlocking stories, reshaped what mainstream cinema could look like. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, cementing its place as a touchstone of 1990s filmmaking and a career-defining moment for both Tarantino and star John Travolta.
This cell centers on Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace, the pairing at the heart of the film's most quoted stretch of story. Vincent, the hitman with a taste for pop culture trivia and heroin, is tasked with entertaining his boss's wife for an evening, and their scenes together carry the film's signature tension between menace and charm. Collectors seek these two names together because their sequence, from dinner date to dance floor, is the section most associated with the movie's identity. A 35mm cell like this preserves a fragment of that pairing, a physical remnant of a scene built entirely around their shared screen time.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pulp Fiction (1994).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern consistent with a Dolby Stereo optical release print.
Edge print
Edge text reads 'AGFA GEVAE' or similar Agfa stock designation along the top edge; numeric key codes are partially visible but not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base shows a slight warm-amber tint typical of processed colour print stock; dye image appears intact with strong colour saturation and no visible fading.
Projection history
Light vertical scratches are visible running through the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the content is consistent with a theatrical release print of Pulp Fiction (1994).
Era check
The Agfa colour print stock, dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, and warm base tint are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062985
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
