Looking into the films further to decide which will be going into the box set is a good idea. Starting chronologically I will research each film and see their general summary, read their synopsis and look into the characters and why they were picked for each role. As primary research I will also be watching each of the films that I will be re designing the covers for again, this is so that I will have a fresh outlook on the films. I have also been looking into the current box sets that are available for the Tarantino films, and they just offer Kill Bill Volume 1&2, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Jackie Brown. I think that I would include a lot more of his films than that, and redesign the covers to make them more of a limited edition collection, rather than just buying all the films in one pack.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Storyline.
Six criminals, who are strangers to each other, are hired by a crime boss, Joe Cabot, to carry out a diamond robbery. Right at the outset, they are given false names with the intention that they won't get too close and will concentrate on the job instead. They are completely sure that the robbery is going to be a success. But, when the police show up right at the time and the site of the robbery, panic spreads amongst the group members, and one of them is killed in the subsequent shootout, along with a few policemen and civilians. When the remaining people assemble at the premeditated rendezvous point (a warehouse), they begin to suspect that one of them is an undercover cop.
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Mr. Blonde's real name is Vic Vega. This is the same surname as Vince (John Travolta) from Quentin Tarantino's other film, Pulp Fiction (1994). Tarantino has revealed that Vic and Vince are brothers. He also intended to do a prequel to both films called "Double V Vega", which would star the Vega Brothers, but Madsen and Travolta eventually got too old to reprise their roles, and Tarantino has since abandoned it.
This is something I find fascinating about Tarantino, he thinks outside the box, outside the films. Allows them to have links to one another, which means that he can take them further. He is known to have said that he wouldn't make a pulp fiction 2 although may use some of the characters in a different film. This will link them back to the original film.
Filmed in 35 days.
Quentin Tarantino: [red apple] Tarantino avoids product-placement in his movies as much as possible. This is why anyone who smokes is smoking a pack of "Red Apples", a brand Tarantino made up. The exception in this movie is when Mr. White offers Mr. Pink a Chesterfield cigarette. (Additionally, any cereal in his films (Fruit Brute, Kabooom!, etc.) are all brands that died out in the 1970s and no longer exist.)
Tarantino hates product placement and will avoid it in anyway he can.
Current and Past Covers.
Storyline.
In Detroit, Clarence Worley goes to the movie theater alone on the day of his birthday to watch some movies. The gorgeous Alabama Whitman accidentally drops her popcorn on Clarence and they watch the movie together. Then they eat pieces of pie and they have one night stand, so Clarence eats more pie of another kind. In the morning, Alabama confesses that she is a call-girl hired to spend the night with him, but she has fallen in love with him. In the morning they get married and Clarence goes to the club where she worked to bring her some clothes. However, her pimp Drexl Spivey and his partner beat up Clarence and he reacts by killing them both. Clarence asks for Alabama's suitcase with her clothes and the other girls mistakenly give another one with cocaine. When Clarence discovers the mistake, he decides to travel with Alabama to the house of his friend, the aspiring actor Dick Ritchie, to sell the drug and travel to Mexico. He visits his father Clifford Worley and gives his address...
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Quentin Tarantino sold the script for $50,000 which was the minimum amount of money that can be paid for a script at the time (according to WGA rules).
Although Tarantino didn't direct this film he did write it, this is something I need to consider when choosing the films to go into the box set.
In the DVD commentary, Quentin Tarantino admits that this is the most autobiographical movie he has ever made.
Quentin Tarantino wrote the roles of Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman with Robert Carradine and Joan Cusack in mind.
The trivia section in the DVD special features reports that Writer Quentin Tarantino sold this script for about $10,000. With this money he purchased the red Chevy convertible that Vincent Vega drives in Pulp Fiction (1994)
This is another link between the films, which I find fascinating that most of the films, if not all of them link in one way or another.
Current and Past Covers.
Pulp Fiction.
Storyline.
Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega are two hitmen who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace. Wallace has also asked Vincent to take his wife Mia out a few days later when Wallace himself will be out of town. Butch Coolidge is an aging boxer who is paid by Wallace to lose his next fight. The lives of these seemingly unrelated people are woven together comprising of a series of funny, bizarre and uncalled-for incidents.
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Whenever Vincent Vega (John Travolta) goes to the toilet something bad happens.
Uma Thurman originally turned down the role of Mia Wallace. Quentin Tarantino was so desperate to have her as Mia, he ended up reading her the script over the phone, finally convincing her to take on the role.
This is how much Tarantino cares about his films, when he has an actor in mind, he will do anything to get them in his films, also he states that Uma Thurman is his muse. So when he knew that Mia Wallace was going to be Uma, he wasn't going to let it go.
Quentin Tarantino hesitated over the choice between the character he was going to play: Jimmie or Lance. He ended up choosing Jimmie's role because he wanted to be behind the camera in Mia's overdose scene.
The word "fuck" is used 265 times.
Current and Past Covers.
Natural Born Killers.
Storyline.
The misadventures of Mickey and Mallory: outcasts, lovers, and serial killers. They travel across Route 666 conducting psychadelic mass-slaughters not for money, not for revenge, just for kicks. Glorified by the media, the pair become legendary folk heroes; their story told by the single person they leave alive at the scene of each of their slaughters.
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Quentin Tarantino claimed to hate the final version of the film, up until meeting Johnny Cash in an elevator once. Cash told Tarantino that both he and his wife June were fans of his and that they especially liked Natural Born Killers.
Took only 56 days to shoot.
After Quentin Tarantino had written the script, he promised his friend Rand Vossler, a fellow clerk at Video Archives, the director's chair. The pair couldn't find funding, and eventually decided to shoot it guerrilla-style (i.e. without permits) on the streets of LA, on black & white 16 mm film stock. Shortly before production, Oliver Stone found the script and wanted to buy it. In exchange for giving up his directorial debut, Rand is credited as co-producer.
Current and Past Covers.
Four Rooms.
Storyline.
This movie features the collaborative directorial efforts of four new filmmakers, each of whom directs a segment of this comedy. It's New Year's Eve at the Mon Signor Hotel, a former grand old Hollywood hotel, now fallen upon hard times. Often using physical comedy and sight gags, this movie chronicles the slapstick misadventures of Ted, the Bellhop. He's on his first night on the job, when he's asked to help out a coven of witches in the Honeymoon Suite. Things only get worse when he delivers ice to the wrong room and ends up in a domestic argument at a really bad time. Next, he foolishly agrees to watch a gangster's kids for him while he's away. Finally, he finishes off the night refereeing a ghastly wager.
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The reason Bruce Willis is not credited is because he violated SAG rules for acting in this film for no money. He appeared for fun and as a favor to Quentin Tarantino, and acting for free violated SAG rules. SAG agreed not to sue Willis if his name was not included in the credits.
Quentin Tarantino's "A Band Apart" Production logo at the beginning of the film shows 'Tim Roth''s "Mr. Orange" unzipping (shedding) his character from Reservoir Dogs (1992) and becoming the bell hop character for Four Rooms.
Again even films which he has co-written he has made link to one another.
The fourth room, Quentin Tarantino's "Man From Hollywood" is based on a short story by Roald Dahl called "Man from the south."
Current and Past Covers.
From Dusk Till Dawn.
Storyline.
After a bank heist in Abilene with several casualties, the bank robber Seth Gecko and his psychopath and rapist brother Richard Gecko continue their crime spree in a convenience store in the middle of the desert while heading to Mexico with a hostage. They decide to stop for a while in a low-budget motel. Meanwhile the former minister Jacob Fuller is traveling on vacation with his son Scott and his daughter Kate in a RV. Jacob lost his faith after the death of his beloved wife in a car accident and quit his position of pastor of his community and stops for the night in the same motel Seth and Richard are lodged. When Seth sees the recreational vehicle, he abducts Jacob and his family to help his brother and him to cross the Mexico border, promising to release them on the next morning. They head to the truck drivers and bikers bar Titty Twister where Seth will meet with his partner Carlos in the dawn. When they are watching the dancer Santanico Pandemonium, Seth and Richard fight with...
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Trivia.
The first script that Quentin Tarantino was paid to write, for the mere sum of $1,500. Special effects technician Robert Kurtzman asked him to write a screenplay based on his story in return for providing the ear-slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Before George Clooney was cast, Tim Roth, John Travolta, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, and Christopher Walken were offered the role of Seth Gecko. All passed because of scheduling conflicts.
Quentin Tarantino was originally set to direct the movie, but decided not to direct so that he could focus more on the screenplay and his role as Richard Gecko.
Quentin Tarantino originally gave the script to makeup effects man Robert Kurtzman to direct. When he couldn't commit, Tarantino showed the script to Robert Rodriguez, who eagerly signed on.
Current and Past Covers.
Jackie Brown.
Storyline.
The middle age stewardess Jackie Brown smuggles money from Mexico to Los Angeles for the arms dealer Ordell Robbie. When she gets caught by the agents Ray Nicolette and Mark Dargus with ten thousand dollars and cocaine in her purse, they propose a deal to her to help them to arrest Ordell in exchange of her freedom. Meanwhile Ordell asks the fifty-six year-old Max Cherry, who runs a bail bond business, to release Jackie Brown with the intention of eliminating her. Jackie suspects of Ordell's intention and plots a complicate confidence game with Max to steal half a million dollar from Ordell.
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The "N" word is said 38 times throughout the film.
Pam Grier had tested for the part in Pulp Fiction (1994) that eventually went to Rosanna Arquette. Quentin Tarantino didn't forget her however, crafting the part of Jackie Brown specifically for the actress.
When Robert De Niro first got a hold of the script he wanted to play the role of Max Cherry. Quentin Tarantino wanted to work with De Niro but had his heart set on Robert Forster as Cherry, so he gave the role of Louis to De Niro.
Quentin Tarantino met Robert Forster in a restaurant and handed him the script, saying "You're going to do this, and that's all there is to it". Forster was naturally thrilled, having had a major career slump. This film saw him come back in a big way, even landing an Oscar nomination.
Current and Past Covers.
Kill Bill Volume 1.
Storyline.
The lead character, called 'The Bride,' was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, led by her lover 'Bill.' Upon realizing she was pregnant with Bill's child, 'The Bride' decided to escape her life as a killer. She fled to Texas, met a young man, who, on the day of their wedding rehearsal was gunned down by an angry and jealous Bill (with the assistance of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad). Four years later, 'The Bride' wakes from a coma, and discovers her baby is gone. She, then, decides to seek revenge upon the five people who destroyed her life and killed her baby. The saga of Kill Bill Volume I begins.
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When Chiaki Kuriyama (Gogo) was shooting the scene where she flings her ball and chain out, she accidentally hit Quentin Tarantino on the head while he stood by the camera. This became the first feature-length film directed by Quentin Tarantino to feature fewer than 100 uses of the word "fuck." It is used 17 times.
Quentin Tarantino owns the "Pussy Wagon" and drove as his everyday vehicle to promote the release of Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004). He licensed use of it for the Missy Elliott music video, "I'm Really Hot". It also appears in the video for "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé Knowles.
Uma Thurman was offered the script to Kill Bill, and her role as "The Bride", as a 30th Birthday present from Quentin Tarantino.
Current and Past Covers.
Kill Bill Volume 2.
Storyline.
The murderous Bride is back and she is still continuing her vengeance quest against her ex-boss, Bill, and taking aim at Bill's younger brother Budd and Elle Driver, the only survivors from the squad of assassins who betrayed her four years earlier. It's all leading up to the ultimate confrontation with Bill, the Bride's former master and the man who ordered her execution!
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Quentin Tarantino has the "Pussy Wagon" parked in the driveway of his home.
Although Quentin Tarantino is known for never using real brands for products like cereals and cigarettes, the brand of the bread he uses to make the sandwich during the "Emilio's killing story" scene, BIMBO, is a real and very popular brand of bread in Mexico.
Although "Kill Bill" was meant to play as one whole movie, "Vol. 2" is unofficially Quentin Tarantino's first sequel.
Unlike every other Quentin Tarantino film (including Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)), Vol. 2 doesn't end with "written and directed by". Instead, Tarantino shows his own credit at the end of the main credits, but before the crew credits for the various locations at which Kill Bill was filmed.
Current and Past Covers.
Death Proof.
Storyline.
In Austin, Texas, the girlfriends Julia, Arlene and Shanna meet in a bar to drink, smoke and make out with their boyfriends before traveling alone to Lake LBJ to spend the weekend together. They meet the former Hollywood stuntman Mike, who takes Pam out in his "death-proof" stunt car. Fourteen months later, Mike turns up in Lebanon, Tennessee and chase Abernathy, Zoë and Kim, but these girls are tough and decide to pay-back the attack.
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The only Quentin Tarantino movie that takes place completely in chronological order.
The original name for this film, which pops up for about a frame, is "Quentin Tarantino's Thunder Bolt".
Quentin Tarantino admitted later in an interview that he believed he "over-tweaked" Death Proof (2007), but was still very proud of it.
In the extended cut of the film, the word 'fuck' is used 148 times.
All of the posters for the film are inaccurate. The car is depicted without its rubber duck hood ornament.
The first Quentin Tarantino-directed film not to be produced by Lawrence Bender.
Current and Past Covers.
Inglorious Basterds.
Storyline.
In Nazi-occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.
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Quentin Tarantino worked on the script for almost a decade.
In a roundtable discussion with Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino, Tarantino said that Til Schweiger, being born and raised in Germany, had always refused to put on a Nazi uniform for a film role. The only reason he agreed to for this film was because he got to kill Nazis.
When asked about the misspelled title, director Quentin Tarantino gave the following answer: "Here's the thing. I'm never going to explain that. You do an artistic flourish like that, and to explain it would just take the piss out of it and invalidate the whole stroke in the first place."
Quentin Tarantino's highest-grossing film since Pulp Fiction (1994).
Current and Past Covers.
Django Unchained.
Storyline.
Former dentist, Dr. King Schultz, buys the freedom of a slave, Django, and trains him with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter. Instead, he is led to the site of Django's wife who is under the hands of Calvin Candie, a ruthless plantation owner.
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During the filming of one of the dinner scenes, Leonardo DiCaprio had to stop the scene because he was having "a difficult time" using so many racial slurs. Samuel L. Jackson then pulled him aside telling him, "Motherfucker, this is just another Tuesday for us."
At 1 hour, 6 minutes, and 17 seconds, Christoph Waltz's performance in this movie is the longest to ever win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Cuba Gooding Jr. lobbied for the role of Django but Quentin Tarantino would not consider him. According to Gooding, it is his biggest disappointment.
The film was shot in 130 days. This was Quentin Tarantino's longest shooting schedule for a single film.
The word "nigger" or some abbreviation of it is said over 110 times over the course of the movie.
Many of the actors are playing characters written with them in mind, including, among the more sizable roles, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson.
Current and Past Covers.
Whats Next...
Re-watch all of the films and pick out all the most memorable bits about them, this is so that I can work out what I think will be most appropriate for the covers of the DVDs. Looking through the trivia for each film I have found how many times the F*** word is used in each of the films. A piece of information graphics could look really effective using this information. Start looking into the other box sets and limited edition collections. Also look further into the designs of the discs themselves.
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