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 picture that reshuffled American independent cinema and made nonlinear crime storytelling commercially viable. Built on interlocking vignettes and a soundtrack as iconic as its dialogue, it turned character actors into icons and proved dialogue driven tension could rival action set pieces. It won the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Original Screenplay, cementing its place as a defining work of 1990s filmmaking and a touchstone for an entire generation of directors who followed.
This cell preserves Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, the two hitmen whose banter and philosophy carry much of the film's structure and reputation. Collectors seek these characters because they anchor the movie's identity, from diner conversations to job related sequences, representing the blend of menace and humor that defines Tarantino's writing. A 35mm cell like this one is a physical fragment of the release print itself, a tangible artifact from actual theatrical distribution rather than a reproduction, valued by collectors precisely because it isolates a moment featuring these two figures together on the same strip of film.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Pulp Fiction (1994)
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge
Edge print
Edge code reads 'KV 18 5335 44335 + 32 *' as seen mirrored along the lower edge
Base & colour
Base shows a slight warm-green tint typical of processed colour print stock; dye image appears intact with no obvious fading or red shift
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the figures and setting are consistent with Pulp Fiction (1994)
Era check
The combination of dual bilateral variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and the warm-green polyester base stock is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print of Pulp Fiction (1994)
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 000063002
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
