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, a Quentin Tarantino script that reshuffled crime cinema's chronology and its record collection. Made for a modest sum and paid back many times over, it won the Palme d'Or, revived John Travolta's career, and helped define independent film's crossover into the mainstream. Its dialogue, structure, and soundtrack became reference points for a generation of filmmakers, and its ensemble cast turned into a touchstone for collectors of American cinema from the era.
This cell carries Mia Wallace, the role that gave Uma Thurman one of her most recognized screen turns and helped cement the film's reputation as a showcase for distinctive characters. Mia sits at the center of the picture's most quoted stretch, the dinner and dance sequence that shifts the film's rhythm into something stranger and more intimate. A cell bearing her name points to that pocket of the story, prized by collectors for the character's presence rather than any single line or scene beat.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pulp Fiction (1994).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running as a dual-bilateral (two-track) waveform strip beside the picture area on one edge, consistent with a Dolby Stereo optical print.
Edge print
Edge print reads mirrored; characters visible include 'AG', 'A', '4', '306', '3', '9' — consistent with Agfa stock key-number coding.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-amber tint; the dye image shows rich colour saturation with no obvious fading or red shift visible.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible on this strip.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Pulp Fiction (1994).
Era check
The Agfa stock edge coding, dual variable-area optical soundtrack, and positive colour print format 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 000062988
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
