Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction

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Starlight99

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As a big fan of both of these movies, I enjoy watching them and coming up with theories as to exactly what each scene means. Before anyone asks, I have no clue what's in the briefcase. However, I do have a theory that might surprise fans of both movies: they occurred at the same time. Here's just some clues:

-When Vincent runs into Mia at the stadium where Butch's fight was held, she tells him that she never got a chance to thank him for "last night," alluding both to Vincent taking her out to dinner and Vincent reviving her after she overdosed. This means one day has passed since he took her out to dinner. Being that he left Marcellus' club, went directly to Lance's house, and then went directly to Mia's house, that means that only one day has passed since the first even in the story (which, chronologically, is Vincent and Jules in the car going to the apartment to get the briefcase).

-Pay close attention during the pawn shop scene in Pulp Fiction. When asking if his motorcycle will be alright outside, Zed mentions that it's Thursday. Being that the pawn shop scene happened the day after Butch's fight, that means that the fight was on a Wednesday and everything else was on a Tuesday.

-Judging by the timing of the actors that are in both films, you can see how both movies line up. The diamond heist in Reservoir Dogs happened on Tuesday, the same day Jules and Vincent went out to retrieve the briefcase. Being that Marcellus knew about the diamond heist (he's a criminal, he obviously knows what other criminals are up to), he knew that was the perfect day to get the briefcase. Think about it, despite three guys being killed in an apartment, a guy having his head shot off in a car on a busy street, an asshole screaming about two gangsters having a dead body in his house, said two gangsters cleaning the dead guy out of their car and screaming at the top of their lungs about it, the two blood-soaked gangsters standing buck-naked and getting a bath in the driveway, and two armed robbers holding up a diner (who were really cops on a dry run), not one officer showed up. Why? They were all getting in position for the diamond heist that Joe's gang was about to pull off. And instead of responding to the three dead guys in the apartment, the dead guy in the car, the asshole screaming about the dead guy, the two naked gangsters in the driveway, or the two cops pulling off a robbery to sharpen their undercover skills, they were busy setting up shop on a different crime. Then they were busy responding to the alarm that got tripped. Then they were responding to Mr. Blonde killing cops, customers, and employees. Then they were chasing the robbers up and down the street, suffering losses along the way. Then they eventually showed up at the warehouse, just in time for Mr. Pink to escape. He obviously couldn't just quit his dead-end job as a waitor at Jack Rabbit Slim's, so he wound up putting his Buddy Holly outfit on and waiting on Vincent and Mia, with the same underwhelming enthusiasm he always has. Mr. White, who played everyone for his own benefit, was killed after killing Mr. Orange. Mr. Orange was just doing his job, and he had one shitty day. From having his empty gun countered with a loaded one in the diner, to shooting and killing his partner (after his partner shot him), to eventually being killed by someone he'd tricked. The only one left is Mr. Brown, who is so desperate to please everyone that after he screamed Jules and Vincent off his step, he suited up and met up with Joe's men to pull off the diamond heist. Needless to say, there's a relationship between the two. Tension isn't really the right word, but you can tell there's an elephant in the room whenever those two are together. All Mr. White/Mr. Wolfe/Lawrence Dimick would need to do is say that Jimmy/Mr. Brown plays for more than one team and that would be it. It would snowball into an all-out war, and considering a yes-man is better than a cop, it was better for Mr. White to just keep his mouth shut and let the job roll.

Basically, the cops had their hands full on Tuesday, which allowed Marcellus to have free reign of the city. They still had lots of investigating and cleaning up to do, so even though Wednesday and Thursday were relatively uneventful compared to Tuesday, the cops still had too much work to do with the diamond heist to focus on anything else. That's my big theory, anything else just relates to one or two specific scenes. Any other theories would be much appreciated! :)
 
I really enjoyed both movies, cult classics and the concept they are a shared world works for me.

Regarding the suitcase I once had this discussion with someone about what was inside and he aggressively insisted it was “a black mans sole” which kinda made me shy off the movie for fear of being chastised about not knowing the nuances of the film LOL (I am older and angrier nowadays.)

Oh to clarify all soles are the same to me and all peeps are huggable (but especially the diapered ones.)
 
LOL Argent, I think everyone needs hugs too <3

I recently had another briefcase idea, though it kinda has some holes. According to John Travolta, the briefcase contained a lightbulb and a battery pack. Now we're not talking about THE BRIEFCASE, we're talking about the prop that they put under the cabinet, Travolta picked up, dialed 666, and opened up. He looked down on a light bulb. Now, what if Marcellus is really that goofy that this all happened over a light bulb? What if those kids in the apartment (who look like they can't be more than 21 and look like they pissed themselves 100 times over when Jules and Vincent walked in) just wanted to piss Marcellus off, stole a lightbulb from somewhere (maybe Vincent's car, you know, the one Butch keyed up?), and Marcellus sent them out there because, as a gangster, he takes shit from no one. When Vincent let out his shocked "Yeah, we're happy" and shut the case, maybe it wasn't "Wow, we found it," Maybe it was "Yep, there's the light bulb that Marcellus sent us out here for." Now, as I said, Pumpkin and Mr. Orange/Freddy Nuendyke are not just the same actor, they're the same character. So he'd know the tricks of the trade, Freddy got his partner (she's the redhead that got killed in Reservoir Dogs, and she was originally meant to be his partner at the LAPD) and went to do a dry run at a diner. Unfortunately, Jules and Vincent were second variables, so that's how it spiraled out of control. Had they not been cops (and not had empty guns), it would've gotten very bad, very fast. A small-time crook like "Pumpkin" would've shot Jules over finding a light bulb in a briefcase, but as a cop, Freddy knew that that wasn't a light bulb in that case, it was Marcellus' pride and dignity, and disturbing that light bulb would easily take Marcellus from working to avoid the cops to working to destroy the cops. Gangsters don't take an L, and if they do, you need to start running.

Just a thought...
 
The diamond theory is actually pretty popular, as is the idea that it's Marsellus's soul.

Apparently according to one of the co-writers, it started out as diamonds (not necessarily from the Reservoir Dogs robbery) but they figured that would be boring so they shoved an orange lamp in there instead. Tarantino has more or less admitted that it's a McGuffin, and there was no particular intended meaning.

I always liked the theory that it was the Oscar that Tarantino was hoping to win.
 
Huh...I never heard the Oscar theory before. As for the contents being a McGuffin, for all intents and purposes, that is what it is. As for the movie itself, the only people who are guaranteed to know are Quentin Tarantino, Lawrence Bender (Tarantino's long-time collaborator and producer), Roger Avery (who wrote part of Pulp Fiction and had roles on several other Tarantino films), and Robert Rodriguez, who Tarantino personally told in an interview years after the film's release. As for diamonds, I heard that the diamonds from the heist were in there, but not necessarily diamonds in general.
 
I have only seen bits and pieces of Reservior Dogs but I have seen the entirely of Pulp Fiction
 
TD712 said:
I have only seen bits and pieces of Reservior Dogs.....
The cats did it 😉
 
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