Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, From Dusk Till Dawn. What do these three titles mean to you? If they don’t mean anything at all, then that means you have some movies to catch up on. These three movies some of the greatest films from one of the greatest directors of all time: Quentin Tarantino. This unique director is well-known for his strange plots and iconic cast members, but there’s more to Tarantino than meets the eye. Keep reading to discover some of the hidden Easter eggs that Tarantino hides throughout many of his films.In the movie Reservoir Dogs, Mr. Pink, who was played by Steve Buscemi, complains about tipping waitresses during the breakfast scene. In a strange twist of fate, Buscemi played a grumpy waiter dressed like Buddy Holly at Jack Rabbit Slims in the movie Pulp Fiction. Karma sure does come around, doesn’t it?
After Jamie Foxx gets into a fight in the 2012 movie Django Unchained, he sits at the bar and strikes up a conversation with an Italian Mandingo owner. Little did most audience members know, the man he was sitting next to knew Django all too well. The actor Franco Nero was actually the person who played in Sergio Corbucci’s Django movie from the ’60s!
While on her “non-date” with Vince Vega, Mia Wallace begins to talk about a pilot show she did called Fox Force 5. As she begins to tell Vince about the show, you realize that she’s describing the plot of Kill Bill, which she also played the main role in. In case you haven’t noticed, Tarantino enjoys keeping the same actors around in his films.
When Butch uses a sword to overthrow Zed in Pulp Fiction, he quotes one of the greatest western actors of all time. He said: “You want that gun, don’t you, Zed? Go ahead and pick it up. I want you to pick it up,” which is almost an exact quote from John Wayne’s character Sheriff John T. Chance in the 1959 movie, Rio Bravo. It’s really not surprising to find out that Quentin Tarantino is a fan of John Wayne.
You can see actor Russ Tamblyn make a cameo in the movie Django, where he was given the title “The Son of a Gunfighter.” The title was a Tarantino shout-out to one of Tablyn’s greatest roles in the movie of the same name. You may have noticed that Easter egg, but did you happen to notice the woman peering through the window while Django rides out of town? No? Well, that woman was actually Tamblyn’s real-life daughter, Amber Tamblyn, who was listed in the credits as the “Daughter of a Son of a Gunfighter.”
If you’ve ever seen Kill Bill you know how memorable Uma Thurman’s yellow jumpsuit is. But did you know that the jumpsuit is actually meant to pay homage to a well-known martial artist? Quentin Tarantino took his inspiration from the outfit Bruce Lee wore in the movie Game of Death.
One of Samuel L. Jackson’s most infamous roles was when he played Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction. Within 20 minutes of watching the movie, viewers got to see a riveting, yet intimidating, speech given by Samuel L. Jackson. When his character Nick Fury died in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the quote “The path of the righteous man: Ezekiel 25:17” was written on the tombstone that’s shown towards the end of the film. If you know Pulp Fiction, then you know that the quote comes directly from his speech in Pulp Fiction.
In the movie Reservoir Dogs, a woman is dragged out of her car by Mr. Pink, who wants to steal her car. This particular woman, actress Linda Kaye, seems to have some pretty bad luck because she was accidentally shot and killed by Marsellus in Pulp Fiction two years later.
Two of the most iconic characters in all of Tarantino’s movie are Vince Vega from Pulp Fiction and Vic Vega from Reservoir Dogs. What most people don’t realize, though, is that Vince and Vin are actually brothers in the films. We’re still waiting for a movie featuring the two, but we’ll most likely never get it.
If you’ve ever seen Kill Bill then you should most certainly remember the Pussy Wagon. This iconic car actually belongs to none other than Quentin Tarantino, but he has been known to loan it out from time to time. For example, Tarantino loaned it to the production teams for Missy Elliot’s song, “I’m Really Hot,” and Lady Gaga’s number one hit, “Telephone.”
If you’ve seen Reservoir Dogs then you already know that Mr. Orange was the undercover cop the whole time, but did you know his real identity was foreshadowed throughout the movie? For example, in the scene where Nice Guy Eddie is talking about the sudden appearance of several cops, an orange balloon can be seen trailing behind the car. Also, in the scene where Mr. White and Mr. Pink are arguing about who the rat was, there was a line of orange, pink, and white bottles sitting on top of the counter behind them.
You may recognize Big Kahuna Burger from Tarantino’s movie Pulp Fiction, but did you know it was used in more than one movie? In fact, Big Kahuna Burger was used in several different movies, including Four Rooms, Deathproof, From Dusk Till Dawn, Reservoir Dogs, and Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D. There’s a BBQ restaurant in Austin, Texas called Big Kahuna Burger that might be worth checking out.
It’s always good to stick to what you know, and no one knows that better than Quentin Tarantino. Sheriff Earl McGraw can be seen in the movies From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill, and Death Proof as well as the movie Planet Terror. If it works, work it.
Captain Koons can be seen in the movie Pulp Fiction, but his ancestors actually have a VERY small role in another movie. When the camera zooms in on the wanted poster for Smitty Bacall and his gang, you can see the name Crazy Craig Koons at the bottom of the page, who is a long-distance relative of Captain Koons.
In Quentin Tarantino’s movie Kill Bill, O-Ren Ishii states that The Bride “may not last five minutes” in a fight with her. Once the fight begins and the background music takes over, it takes The Bride exactly 4 minutes and 59 seconds to defeat O-Ren Ishii. Talk about waiting until the last second.
Quentin Tarantino has shown more than once that he is a huge fan of Shaft. In fact, in the movie, Django, Broomhilda and Django Von Shaft are actually the great-great-great-grandparents of the infamous Shaft we all know and love.
Tarantino isn’t the only person who gives shout-outs to their favorites. The creators of Grand Theft Auto V are apparently huge fans of Tarantino. While playing the game, you can tell that the first safe house you come to seems to look a whole lot like Melanie’s apartment in Jackie Brown.
Tarantino continuously proves that he’s a huge western-movie lover, and that much can be seen in the movie Django Unchained. He’s also a fan of Dukes of Hazzard. During the saloon scene, audience members can see US Marshall Gill Tatom. But what most don’t realize at first is that the Marshall is actually Tom Wopat who played Luke Duke from the hit TV show, Dukes of Hazzard.
When most people watch Kill Bill they can’t take their eyes off of the action long enough to catch the little Easter eggs included. When The Bride is about to fight O-Ren Ishii you can see a close-up of the bottom of her shoes, which say “F*** You.” That would make a pretty hilarious imprint on someone’s face, that’s for sure.
Quentin Tarantino hand picks every single person that has a role in the production of his movies, including those that are behind the scenes. Quite frequently, Tarantino will give a shout-out in his movies to those that are behind the camera. In the movie Kill Bill Vol. 2, as Bill interrogates The Bride, he refers to her as a “natural born killer” and “renegade killer bee.” What most people don’t realize is that both of those names are a shout-out to RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan, who were responsible for writing the music for the movie.
In Tarantino’s movie, Jackie Brown, you can see Max Cherry reading a well-known book. What most fail to realize is that the book Max was reading was called Rum Punch, which is actually the book that Jackie Brown was based on!
Quentin Tarantino is from the state of Tennessee and he’s proud of it. It’s mentioned in a lot of his movies. For example, in the movie Pulp Fiction, Butch is trying to get back to his home state, which is Tennessee. And in the movie, Inglorious Bastards, Aldo Raine mentions that he’s from Maynardville, Tennessee. Tarantino also like to use props in his movies from Tennessee, such as the Oak Ridge Coffee can that Budd uses as a spitoon in the movie, Kill Bill Vol. 2. Lebanon, Tennessee is the setting for the movie, Death Proof.
In the movie Pulp Fiction, the advertisement for Butch’s fight can be seen on the venue marquee. While one of the fights reads “Cooldige vs. Wilson,” the other fight reads “Vossler vs. Martinez.” What most don’t realize is that Vossler and Martinez were the names of two friends that worked at a movie store with Tarantino in Manhattan Beach, California!
It’s obvious that Tarantino likes linking many of his movies together in very small ways. This can be seen in the movies Inglorious Bastards and True Romance, in which Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz from Inglorious Bastards plays the son of Lee Donowitz in True Romance. The relationship is never spoken about, so only true Tarantino fans would be able to pick up on the relation.