Pulp Fiction vs. Raiders of the Lost Ark

81 comments

57 comments

Pulp Fiction is NOT better than Raiders. Not even close.

This is really hard to compare these two movies. I think both of them are good in some way.

Pulp Fiction is a very clever film, but it's overrated. Certainly not better than Raiders.

Yes it is!!!

Raiders will still be great in 20 years. I don't know if the same could be said about Pulp Fiction. Raiders, hands down.

Tough. Pulp edges it for going so far out on a limb - Tarantino's a master in his own way, and Pulp's his masterpiece. That said, Raiders is as much fun as it's possible to have in a cinema. Really tough choice.

What does Marcellus Wallace look like?

Pulp Fiction is a true classic and it's in my top 20 but Raiders of the Lost Arc deserves a higher place up that chart for me. Classic Spielberg eats original Tarantino any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Hell, I wonder if Quentin himself would vote his film over that if he met this same match-up.

i've seen a lot of movies, both foreign and american, old and new, indie and big budget, but pulp fiction is my most favorite movie of all time. i love raider of the lost arc. it was something i loved watching over and over as a kid, but pulp fiction beats all in my book.

Raiders is a classic action/adventure film and the definition of the genre. Pulp Fiction is a ripoff of bad movies with lousy dialogue that sounds like written dialogue, not like how anyone "real" actually talks. Raiders all the way.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is given a great film, but it's not necessarily at the top of it's genre which is action adventure/ serials. I think that distinction would belong to Star Wars in that sense. Pulp Fiction on the other hand is a masterwork. It is more revolutionary than Raiders in term of what it did during the 90's. I don't think Spielberg can hold claim to influencing as many young filmmakers to want to get up and make movies with Raiders, as Tarantino can with Pulp Fiction. At least not with Raiders alone, his whole body of work perhaps, but never with Raiders. Also in terms of a pop culture you don't hear that many references to Raiders alone as a movie as you do Pulp Fiction, you hear references to the Indiana Jones series in general and it's always varied about which one is being discussed mind you but never Raiders alone, not in the way Pulp Fiction is discussed. Pulp Fiction has been analyzed more often and it deserves to be, it's a deeper minded film. Not to take anything away from Raiders which is supposed to be nothing more than a pure action spectacle. Pulp Fiction took three simple cliches and instead of what Raiders did with it's cliche, which was to revisit it in much the same fashion as it had been seen before, chose to rework it into something new. Where before had we ever really seen a movie that showed hit men could have such informed and intriguing discussions about the world and life? Or that one might being looking for signs of God's hands in his work? I love Raiders but it is only a great example of it's own genre, not an all time great film, not like Pulp Fiction, not by a long shot.

Don't let nostalgia blind you - Pulp Fiction is clearly the better movie.

Pulp Fiction wins, because it's plainly awesome. And seeing as I have to break the draw on this discussion, I pick Tarantino. I know Indiana Jones is awesome too, but Pulp Fiction is almost perfect.

Basing this one strictly on pure entertainment value, I've got to go with Raiders. It's simply a more enjoyable movie.

Pulp Fiction - but Raiders comes very close. Good match up!

They are both different types of films and it is not really right to compare then. However, if pressed, I have to say Pulp Fiction.

Wow, very very tough call. I'm giving it to Raiders. Barely. I'll probably change my mind tomorrow.

Pulp-Fiction because of its revolutionary plot structure.

Raiders. All the way.

Two totally different kinds of movies. Each have their own merit. Don't want to choose one, but if i must, it would be Pulp Fiction. Raiders has been replicated numerous times to some success ie: The Mummy and National Treasure. I still haven't seen anyone even attemp to replicate Pulp Fiction (aside from Tarantino himself who has failed miserably).

Two of my top 5 films! I have to give it to Raiders for the sheer thrill I felt when I first saw it. I stayed in the theater and watched it again. I've never done that. I changed my major to Archaeology in college after seeing it. The re-watchability factor is seriously high with both movies, but Raiders wins out. My gut tells me Raiders. I'm going with my gut.

Big fan of nonlinear editing. Gots to go with Pulp.

Love both films. They are equally homages to earlier genres, but Raiders is the superior film.

pulp fiction definitely. Indiana Jones series only shows the holding power of Lucas/Spielberg. Pulp is one of the greatest indie films ever made and made two careers. Raiders is only one film in a series, Pulp fiction is a classic.

Pulp Fiction pretty easily for me. Raiders is a great action film but Pulp Fiction is cinema at its best i.e. art.

Okay, I know full well I am in the minority, but I HATE "Raiders". In fact I hate all Spielberg except "Jaws"--is there something worse than "overrated"? Just for the record, Lucas also bites. VIVA PULP FICTION!

the end of raiders is waaaaay too cheesy to be a "film classic" like people say it is. pulp FTW

Well, one of these is a film that defined a genre and completely reinvented the way that people viewed it. It's been parodied, copied and redone many times since, but never bettered. The other is Pulp Fiction.

i love pulp fiction, but its gotta be raiders.

Ahh! Both great movies! But it goes to Raiders for me. I've read a lot of about how genre-defining Pulp Fiction was (and don't get me wrong, it WAS genre-defining), but anyone who thinks Raiders was less influential has never been to see a summer movie. With Star Wars, the Indiana Jones series forever determined the summer blockbuster forever, setting the bar for what America LOVES to go see over and over. I think Pulp Fiction did influence a whole generation, but it's our generation, the one that writes comments on the Internet. :-) But in terms of a movie that America as a whole loves across all age groups, it's Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Raiders is one of the all time great movies. I'm surprised so many people are voting Pulp Fiction as a better film. Although I enjoyed both, Raiders has lasting power

Pulp Fiction will strike down upon the with great vengance and furious anger!

Raiders is timeless. I can watch it over and over again. And in think that goes for a lot of other people.

As great as Raiders is, you can't comparae it with the brilliant writing and the dark dark comedy that exists within Pulp Fiction. Granted this is a very hard choice

This is a hard match up for me because I love Raiders and all the Indiana Jones movies but I have to vote for Pulp Fiction because it had a bigger effect on me when I saw it. If I had been 14 when Raiders came out like I was when Pulp Fiction came out this might have been the other way around. Tough Call two of my favorite films.

I'll have to go with Pulp Fiction--Raiders is a great movie, but it goes to pure preferance for me, and I'm more of a fan of pulpy crime stories then pulpy adventure stories.

There is no such things as "original Tarantino" since his whole career has been based around "borrowing" ideas from other filmmakers and their respective works. This is not to say that he doesn't do it successfully because most of the time he has put out very solid work. Raiders, on the other hand, might be the greatest motion picture ever created. Every single aspect of Raiders from the story, characters, cinematography, acting, editing, etc. is damn near perfect. There are few pieces of work put out by anyone that was so successful on all levels as Raiders. Raiders by a longshot!

Pulp fiction for being more compeling

Ouch!!!! How can i choose one of these ?

Pulp Fiction is lightyears ahead of every spielburg film.

These are both of my favorite movies, Ill say it like this Raiders of The Lost Ark is deifantly a all around classic, one of Speilberg's best ever. But i have to go with Pulp Fiction, Pulp Fiction change the way movies were after it was released. Tarantino brought classic quotable dialouge, a one of a kind story, and a cast that shined in every scene. So Pulp Fiction is better overall, amazing movie

I've always hated Pulp Fiction, so Raiders wins by default

Raiders is a great action flick, but Pulp Fiction exemplifies what Tarantino does best, which is (unfortunately for Spielberg) a mastery of brilliant interactions and dialog with purposeful cinematography.

Comparing these movies is sort of silly. One is one of the best examples of classic screenwriting EVER while the other works precisely to defy every notion of a classic screenplay. Pretentious comment aside, Pulp Fiction is a bit more to my taste.

i agree their a completely different genre say what you want pulp fiction is a great movie raiders is too but i like pulp fiction's genre better than raiders of lost arc's

I love both of these movies, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to side with Pulp Fiction. I love that movie. Samuel L. Jackson has all those total B.A. dialog moments and such, and the Bruce Willis storyline, minus the hillbilly part, is also pretty cool. I can't be hatin' on Indy, though; he's awesome. I just like Pulp Fiction more.

The impact of Raiders is frequently overlooked as its action rhythms were somewhat over shadowed by Star Wars. But Spielberg does a lot here to start the quipping, flawed, dauntless hero with a wry sense of his own ridiculousness. That said, Tarantino's opus has up-ended the film landscape and made room for a kind of film making that wouldn't be possible on the popular level with out it (intersecting story lines, the uber hip soliloquy, ultra violence, camp profanity), not always to the good. While grand, the film-repository-as-film Pulp Fiction punctures the 4th wall a little too often with its look-at-me attempts to quote every film you've ever seen (or every film Quintin has seen) and loses its intimacy a little because of it. Raiders pulls you into its own world and never lets you go. A narrow nod to Raders.

pulp fiction, hands down. for me a masterpiece in every way.

Raiders is as good an entertaining movie as they come, but Pulp Fiction is a masterpiece

So, to me, the question here is one of fulfillment in rewatchability. I adore Raiders, but it's an adventure film. There's a mission. You journey along with Indy to the end of it, melty faces and all. There's a lot more going on in Pulp Fiction, so many more characters and storylines to follow and consider. To me, Raiders is something you experience linearly, whereas Pulp has the wiggle room for a viewer to bring something of her own to the movie. That nudges it ahead in my list.

Really tough one; I've forgotten just how amazing "Raiders" is. "Pulp Fiction just edges it out; it's probably due to how it just managed to turn films head-over-heels story-wise, not to mention how every performance is uniformly excellent. Spielberg deserves praise, definitely, but Tarantino's execution with this film was simply mind-blowing for me.

Like everyone else, I love both of these films, so it's still a win/win in my book whichever one you take. Personally, Raiders stands out as a great, maybe even the greatest, action movie. But that's all it is: an action movie. Pulp Fiction made me fall in love with film; from the crackling dialogue to the soundtrack to the dark humor to the maniacal twists in the plot to the elliptical, disorienting but truly inspired mashed-up timeline, Pulp Fiction emanates pure sex and cool like no other movie on the planet. I mean, seriously, what scene in Raiders would you put up against Samuel L. with a loaded 9mm spouting like a mad prophet "AND YOU WILL KNOW MY NAME IS THE LORD WHEN I LAY MY VENGEANCE UPON THEE!"

ear
ear

Pulp Fiction is a modern masterpiece. Raiders is great for what it is buy it has been eclipsed.

ear
ear

But it has been eclipsed....

Pulp Fiction wins on message: "Man-rape is unacceptable."

A tough call, but Pulp Fiction wins this one. You can't beat Fiction's clever, narrative-inverting, stroke of genius script by Tarantino.

Both were decent fun, but not much more. I'll take the one that's more memorable, that being Pulp Fiction. And when I say memorable, I mean just about everything Jules says.

Two all-timers! Raiders loses to no one... it's simply the perfect film.

I am personally not a big Quentin Tarantino fan but I thought that Pulp Fiction was entertaining and a little confusing. But for me Raiders takes the cake because I like all the Indie films but Raiders and Ark are my fave.

Tarantino has more ingenuity in his little finger than Spielberg has in his entire formulaic body of work.

Tarantino is good at taking other people's ideas and mixing them up into a movie. When Tarantino first started making films, the Internet did not exist. People couldn't track down all of his cinematic influences as easily to see how much he took from other films. Now it's easy to see find out much he borrowed. I've heard Tarantino compared to a DJ. That is, he samples lots of other movies and makes his own "song" out of them. But that doesn't make him a visionary, exactly. Even the famous Ezekiel speech in Pulp Fiction is taken from a Sonny Chiba flick. Raiders borrowed from other films, too, or at least genres of films. But it's not quite as blatant. In a way, the preference for one of the other is generational. I was young enough when I saw both films to be influenced by them. Raiders is the movie I saw first, though, and the film that inspired my interest all movies after it. Pulp Fiction doesn't create that same spark. Also, I watched Pulp Fiction to the point of not wanting to watch it any more. That never happened with Raiders, and I've seen it way more times.

Or, I should say, that the Internet as we know it now didn't exist. Here's that Chiba clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LYT4JC2dd4, if you haven't seen it.

pulp fiction is a lot of fun and i love it, but Raiders. definatly Raiders.

Pulp Fiction wins for sure. Pulp Fiction is very hard to beat.

Love them both but I'll have to choose Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's simple entertainment, something we need a lot more of.

Gotta go with Pulp Fiction because of its references, dialogue, and its characters.

Raiders is a great movie, but I find it a tad overrated. Pulp Fiction is one of the most nonlinear storylines I have ever seen, and it features sharp dialogue, great acting, exciting action, and unbearable tension. Pulp takes the cake for me.

I love Raiders...but Pulp Fiction is the finest acted movie of the 20th century

Raiders is the more enjoyable flick for me. Pulp is fantastic but doesn't carry nearly the weight with me as with most on here...

Raiders of the Lost Ark for me. Im going with it for now, lets just see if I still will after my next viewing of Pulp Fiction.

Raiders of the Lost Ark for me.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a more entertaining and action packed film. I gotta give it to Pulp though, the dialogue is amazing. But Raiders wins this for me.

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Less than 20 years later, and Pulp Fiction already seems dated and doesn't hold up anywhere near as well as Raiders.

Pulp Fiction. Its flawless writing and acting show that you don't always need balls-to-the-wall action to draw it along its storyline, or maybe I'm just saying that because it's the greatest film I've seen...oh well. Raiders is good but it ain't no Royale with Cheese!

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of those rare gems that get better with each viewing.

Pulp Fiction is as overrated as the Kill Bill series. Raiders wins over audiences without relying on "shock-value" and excessive violence to trick audiences into believing they are watching something artistic and meaningful. Also Raiders is freakin' awesome!

Raiders is magic.

Tough one but I feel like Pulp Fiction hasn't aged as well as Raiders

raiders is a great film, but pulp fiction is art.

Raiders....and it's not even close for me. I didn't enjoy PF as much as other people but it was still good.

Pulp Fiction. Raiders is good, but I've never been much of an Indy fan (Raiders was the last of the existing Indy films that I got round to seeing). It's certainly the best of the franchise, which I'm sure was much more appreciated for what it was back in the day, but nowadays I suspect that a lot of the love for Indiana Jones comes from the Nostalgia rather than the level of filmmaking. I say this as someone who prefers Spielberg a great deal over Tarantino as directors, but Pulp Fiction is not only Tarantino's best film, it's definitely one of the best films of the 90s. PF wins.

You know, I can take a bit of bullshit, but at the end of the day I appreciate something in spite of its BS. Pulp Fiction is 100% bullshit. Andy Warhol, "chameleonic", smoke & mirrors, blargh. I'm not big on Raiders, but it's a lot more honest (yeah this is always gonna come off as vague and unquantifiable, oh well).

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the winner for me, no contest. Pulp Fiction don't have the same entertainment value as Raiders.

I love Raiders. It took me a while to appreciate it as much as Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, but now I do. It's my number 2 on my list, but I like to think it's my number 1b, with The Empire Strikes Back being my number 1a. Raiders, by far.

Changing over to Pulp Fiction. At least for now.

C mon guys pulp fiction has a great scenario , actors , action , humour , characters and style ...

What the freep? Raiders is the better film and even Tarantino might say so. Well, given his ego probably not but still, Raiders is why they invented the cinema.

I'm not so sure entertainment is the highest principle in cinema. There's a reason we don't just eat and sleep and TV our lives away, and I think that carries over to smaller things.

The Fiction.

Pulp Fiction! A grander achievement in cinema I believe.

Indiana Jones will live forever.

Pulp Fiction for me just

This is crazy. Raiders is not only perfection within its own action/adventure genre, but it is also wrapped in nostalgia with some of the most iconic films in history, and it's more accessible to the general audience. On the other hand, Pulp Fiction is a great example of a film with very unique editing, very good script, and story structure also with lots of iconic moments, but I saw it much later in my life, so... ugh. Pulp Fiction introduced me to higher filmmaking, but I'm gonna go with Raiders because it has a slight nostalgic edge.

Pulp Fiction is too good for a film, even Raiders!

Didn't like Raiders because it was just constant action. I felt that Pulp Fiction didn't mean much either but it is definitely a better written film and executed very well

Since I'm the only person in the planet that doesn't like Pulp Fiction, I'm going with Raiders

Both are fantastic and awesome and I hate to pick one. Going with Pulp Fiction.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is an excellent movie, but Pulp Fiction is, in my mind, an American masterpiece and one of the best films I've ever seen.

Pulp Fiction IS better than Raiders.

Pulp Fiction wins by far!

How the hell have I not commented on this matchup? Anyways, both are in my top 10 and Raiders has nostalgia going for it, but Pulp is my número uno.

I've seen Raiders so many times, and I haven't given Pulp that much viewing but I still have to say that I think it's the better film. This is a bizarre comparison though, it's difficult to compare these two polar opposites.

The only facts I can believe are the ones that state readers is better. Votes for pulp fiction is fiction.... What's with that Pulp Fiction reference in Space Jam? Pulp Fiction is good though.

Easily Raiders.

Pulp Fiction is more intelligent and effective than Raiders, in my opinion.

When a film is as quotable, enjoyable, hilarious, memorable and as endlessly re-watchable as Pulp Fiction, no other film stands a chance. Never before have I enjoyed a film as much as Pulp Fiction. As someone growing up in today's world, I can tell you that it stills stands up as close to a perfect film as can be (at least for me). It's everything I look for in a film. Admittedly it's been a little while since I last saw Raiders, but even if I revisit it, I know it won't offer more than Pulp.

I've re-watched Pulp Fiction for two times now, after my first viewing of it, where I didn't think it deserved the hype. The second time, I really liked it. The third time, which was a couple of days ago, I loved it! Probably because I watched it with my friends, which was great. Pulp Fiction wins.

Raiders.

Ho man, this is as heavyweight as it gets. Raiders for the win.

Pulp Fiction for me

By far the Pulp

I'm gonna say... Raiders

HAVEN,T SEEN IT

Obviously Pulp Fiction, PF is a masterpiece while Raiders is good very funny and entertaining but not competent

Easy, Pulp Fiction

Holy crap, battle of the epic guns! Raiders wins!

Raiders of the Lost is my top five.

Edge: Speilberg for one of the greatest action movies of all time

I vote for Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction is a masterpiece. It's hard to believe that Forrest Gump won best picture over the film that put independent films on the map. Raiders of the Lost Ark is an enjoyable film, but not as good as Pulp Fiction.

Jules and Vincent over Indy.

Raiders for more action

I love pulp fiction but spielberg's films will never seem dated. Raiders wins this one

John Travolta and Sam Jackson.

Raiders all the way

Raiders

Pulp Fiction without hesitation. Raiders is great and perhaps more entertaining, but PF is the better film.

lud
lud

Pulp Fiction of course....

C'mon FlickChart. Pulp Fiction is meaningless, incoherent and uneventful. Raiders is the quintessential adventure movie and for good reason!

Pulp Fiction

I love Pulp Fiction but i enjoyed Raiders Of The Lost Ark a lot more.

No Contest. Pulp Fiction>Raiders of the Lost Ark

Pulp Fiction is dearer to me, for its independence, great Samuel Jackson speeches, the needle in the heart, things in Raiders is too movie coincidental stuff, always coming out of a tough jam, Tarantino lets you feel the scenario better, more attitude, groovier film.

Cxfatesniper8ck is a cheating bastard with multiple comments so I'm balancing out in kind. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Cxfatesniper8ck is cheating with multip- Yeah this is getting reptitive

How about a joke?

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

Taran

Taran-who?

That's what Speilberg asks cause "Raiders of the Lost Ark" focused action-adventure narrative crushes the talky "Pulp Fiction"

Pulp Fiction is absolutely the best classic in history of any of Quentin beats anything over the unpleasant Indiana Jones flick..

Pulp Fiction is absolutely the best classic in history of any of Quentin beats anything over the unpleasant Indiana Jones flick..

Most definitely Pulp Fiction has greater motivation common here.

Pulp Fiction is better in every way

Raiders is indeed better in every way. Maybe the perfect movie.

Intend going with pulp fiction because it has better modern physical.

This might be the toughest choice I've had to make on this site so far. Two masterpieces of two different genres. I'd say Pulp has the better cast/acting. (Ford is great but you can't beat Travalta, Jackson, Thurman, and Willis) Raiders obviously has the better soundtrack though. As for plot/story, I give a slight edge to Pulp, since it is so unpredictable. So my vote goes to Pulp Fiction, but Raiders is still awesome.

Butch kills Indiana Jones without pity with that sword ...

Pulp Fiction gathers the best true ways that carry indeed profession ways.

My #1 vs #7. Even though raiders is flawless and a masterpiece but still I'll choose pulp fiction because of its screenplay and uma thurman

Just joining in on the conversation - my vote goes towards Pulp Fiction.

Raiders is a lot of fun, but Pulp is jusr as fun and more creative and original which gives it the win.

Pulp Fiction absolutely stomps here..

Raiders stomps the overrated Pulp Fiction

Raiders is typically the most overrated film of all, QT collection films are far way decent than anything Indiana Jones..

Neither of these films are overrated. I'll go Raiders just because I've seen it more times, but Pulp Fiction is still an expertly-crafted film.

Pulp Fiction is a masterpiece, but Raiders is simply one of the best movies ever made

Pulp Fiction deserves the nominal greatest of emotion films ever there is constantly raiders is beyond simply overrated

Pulp Fiction is a movie that's almost beyond critique because of how different it is from the almost meaningless dialogue to the incredibly disjointed and near-nonsensical plot to the characters to the over-the-top violence, Pulp Fiction is insanity piling on itself over and over again. It's a movie that should have crashed and burned, yet ends up being the best of its year and one of the finest movies ever crafted. Raiders of the Lost Ark is incredible, but Pulp Fiction is basically perfect

Love raiders but pulp fiction is just on another level

Everything I was going to write about Raiders can be said about Pulp Fiction as well, but my gut says Indy

Pulp Fiction >>>>> Raiders