Pulp Fiction star Phil LaMarr unveils new details about his character’s death and what was cut and kept in the final version. Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 crime drama explores the intersecting lives of various figures within the criminal underworld of Los Angeles. In the movie’s “The Bonnie Situation” storyline, John Travolta’s Vincent and Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules are in the car with LaMarr’s Marvin after an interrogation. However, an incident on the roadbed causes Vincent to accidentally kill Marvin, causing the vehicle to be covered in blood.

With Pulp Fiction celebrating its 30th anniversary, LaMarr opened up to Variety about how certain choices were made to ensure that the final cut would be released. Revealing that his character Marvin would have had a more drawn-out demise originally, it was argued that this fate would turn viewers on Vincent.

Originally, Marvin was supposed to get shot twice: once in the throat, and then they go, “Damn, we’ve got to put him out of his misery,” and then Vincent kills the kid. But John said, “If I kill this guy on purpose, the audience is going to hate me.” And so they changed it to just the one accidental shot.

Furthermore, Marvin’s death was intended to divert attention from censors and rating boards, who may take more issue with other controversial scenes such as the Gimp basement sequence.

The other choice was that they built a bust of me that was rigged to shoot tons of brain and blood onto the back window, though Quentin never planned for that to be in the final cut. He said, “we’re going to show this young Black kid getting his brains blown out for the ratings people to give them some things that you can take out, so you can leave in some other things.” So if they hadn’t blown out my brains, they would’ve had to cut out the Gimp.

What We Know About Pulp Fiction’s Deleted Scenes
Many Moments Were Cut Down For The Movie’s Runtime

Pulp Fiction has no shortage of violent and shocking sequences that solidify the movie’s legacy and Tarantino’s status as a filmmaker. While the feature faced its fair share of detractors who quickly decried its violence and supposed glorification of crime, others praised it for shattering the norms of what Hollywood was offering.

Related Pulp Fiction Ending Explained (In Detail) Pulp Fiction may be considered Quentin Tarantino’s best film, but its non-linear story makes its ending a little more complicated to puzzle out.

However, despite its violent content, many of Pulp Fiction’s previously revealed cut scenesdid not focus on any violent acts. Instead, the 24 minutes of deleted scenes largely consisted of extended conversations and monologues that were removed to aid the movie’s runtime. As such, it is apparent that most of the movie’s intended violent content made it into the movie’s final cut.

Our Thoughts On Pulp Fiction’s Cut Bloody Death
Marvin’s Death Could Have Made Vincent Hard To Follow

It’s understandable why Marvin’s death may have been too much for the final cut of Pulp Fiction. Audiences were shocked by the death of the Pulp Fiction character, with Vincent and Jules’ (Samuel L. Jackson) reaction adding a layer of dark humor to the moment. Drawing it out any longer and having the alternate Vincent scene would have made him appear more callous and cold, as opposed to how the final cut portrays the event as an unfortunate but gruesome accident brought on by his lack of proper gun discipline and a poorly maintained road.

As such, LaMarr’s recollection is an interesting insight into what was too much for a stark, already boundary-crossing feature.

As such, while the Gimp scene still stands out as one of Tarantino’s most infamous moments in his filmography long after Pulp Fiction was released, it is understandable why censors would choose the bloody prolonged death of Marvin for removal over the uncomfortable moment. As such, LaMarr’s recollection is an interesting insight into what was too much for a stark, already boundary-crossing feature.

Source: Variety

Quentin Tarantino’s classic tale of violence and redemption follows the intertwining tales of three protagonists: hitman Vincent Vega, prizefighter Butch Coolidge, and Vincent’s business partner Jules Winnfield.Release Date October 14, 1994 Studio(s) A Band Apart , Jersey Films Distributor(s) Miramax Films Runtime 154 minutes Budget $8–8.5 million Expand