Review of Pulp Fiction: Special Collector`s Edition

Introduction

Pulp Fiction really doesn`t need any introduction does it? Unless you lived on another planet during the 1990s you will have heard of this film, you`ll probably have seen it a few times, and you`ll certainly have heard people quoting it all the time.

They`ll quote it when eating - "Mmhmm, this is a tasty burger". They`ll quote it when someone tells them that they are going to the toilet - "That`s a little more information than I needed right now". And so on, and so on. As well as winning the Palme D`Or at Cannes, this film has invaded a lot of minds.

So I`m not going to drone on and on about how good this film is, its strengths and weaknesses or anything else. I`m just going to tell you about this DVD.

Video

A very good anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer is on offer here. It`s another of those films where if you`ve only seen it on VHS or TV in pan`n`scan, you`ve missed a lot.

The transfer is not totally perfect, but it does look very good and it`s the best that you`re going to see it looking for now. There are a few artefacts on show, but you`ll probably be so engrossed in the film that they`ll pass you by. This is definitely the best looking version on DVD (far better than some of the pitiful non-anamorphic transfers available).

Audio

A choice of audio here. I chose the DD5.1 track which is excellent. There`s lots of music, which all sounds great. There`s some gunfire, which gives some bass and some surround action. And there`s plenty more besides - a very good film noise wise. Play loud when the neighbours are out.

You can also select a ProLogic soundtrack, an isolated music soundtrack, and an "MPEG Audio" track, which neither my player or amp could decode, hence silence.

Features

This is where the disc scores points, although it could have scored more.

First, deleted scenes, introduced by Tarantino. These are very interesting, and Tarantino has quite a bit to say about each of them, even giving you some advice on film-making. A very worthy addition.

There`s also a trailer and a very brief featurette, which isn`t really worth bothering with. There are also some very brief interview segments (some repeats from the featurette too). Worth watching once.

There are also trailers for Jackie Brown & True Romance, plus a few pages of Pulp Trivia, which is quite interesting, although huge fans will probably know most of it.

The main thing lacking is a commentary track. There are also no subtitles, which is a great shame for those who need them.

Conclusion

This is the best version of Pulp Fiction currently available. It`s not perfect, more extras are required. But it is uncut, it is anamorphic, it does have a good soundtrack, and it does have some extras.

If you want to own the film on DVD now, this is the one to go for. But if you can be patient a Criterion edition is rumoured to be in the making. That will probably be the Ultimate Pulp Fiction DVD. For now, this region 4 disc is the winner.

The film is brilliant, the disc is good and you can probably get hold of it for about 14 pounds delivered from Australia. What are you waiting for?