What are some very obscure, 90s-era Tarantino rip-offs

Submitted by GrudenGrinder t3_10mt5l4 in movies

One of my favorite genres is the lost 90s indie. I am confident there are tens, if not hundreds, of little-known, underseen Tarantino festival knock-offs. Not stuff like Suicide Kings, Boondock Saints, Go - which all fit the bill, but I'm looking for the very obscure. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd appreciate it!!

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Scassd t1_j651ox8 wrote

Killing Zoe written and directed by his partner Roger Avery.

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AdHistorical5703 t1_j67e8q8 wrote

This movie is great and less a rip off. It has a pretty unique visual style and characters. Violent and grimy. Plus blink and you'll miss it Ron Jermy getting blown away with a shot gun. The bender they go on before the bank heist is very well done.

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TreatmentBoundLess t1_j67v06l wrote

I wouldn’t call Killing Zoey a rip off. On the contrary, I thought it was great.

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The100thMonkeyIsMe t1_j64y4n0 wrote

Things to do in Denver when you're Dead (1995)

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j65o2pr wrote

To be fair, Scott Rosenberg wrote this well before Tarantino had made his first film.

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NoHandBananaNo t1_j66lon7 wrote

Yeah I never understand why people think this is Tarantinoesque.

I guess the story has its roots in the same tradition of stuff like Elmore Leonard, Robert Alter etc. But it has very different beats to a Tarantino.

"Does he make you thump?"

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chichris t1_j68inmp wrote

And he followed that up with Beautiful Girls which I think is vastly underrated. It’s a great script.

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SupermanRR1980 t1_j655h8l wrote

Go

Starting Sarah Polley, Taye Diggs, Timothy Olyphant, and a slew of others, was a very good Pulp Fiction style rip-off.

Definitely worth a watch if you enjoyed Pulp Fiction….

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Dinky_Nuts t1_j655wjq wrote

Very Bad Things maybe, but it doesn’t feel like a rip off it’s quite good and can definitely stand on its own

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NeitherAlexNorAlice t1_j64ysts wrote

Not exactly 90s but early 2000s, I've always said Big Trouble is the most Quentin Tarantino movie that isn't made by Quentin Tarantino.

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Scassd t1_j652zmu wrote

I love this movie! RIP Dennis Farina and Heavy D.

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voivod1989 t1_j65b01c wrote

Killing Zoe however I don’t consider it a rip off.

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j65pgoj wrote

A few of the movies listed here are not rip-offs, they just came after Pulp Fiction was a big hit so people assume they were.

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Vio_ t1_j651o93 wrote

There were so many bad Pulp Fiction rip off movies. 2 Days in the Valley, Reindeer Games, Get Shorty (not as bad), Suicide Kings

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j65ov86 wrote

Did you just say Get Shorty, an adaptation of a book by Tarantino's favorite author, was a rip-off of Tarantino's work? The truth is that Tarantino is influenced by Elmore Leonard. Not the other way around, lol.

This is like claiming that Sergio Leone's films are rip-offs of Tarantino's.

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Vio_ t1_j65tk97 wrote

No, I'm saying that it was made because of the success of Pulp Fiction. It's not that Leonard ripped off Tarantino, it's that the adaptation was greenlit because of the success of Pulp Ficiton.

I added a number of movies that were mostly bad, but specifically made sure to say that Get Shorty wasn't that bad.

I don't know what more I had to do to couch that.

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j662vjj wrote

Okay, I will agree that it's likely the film was greenlit for that reason but I've never seen anything to support this. It's debatable. However, Travolta was definitely cast only because of his success with Pulp Fiction.

And I've never seen anyone say Get Shorty was a bad movie. It's a great movie.

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amarodelaficioanado t1_j65u7ko wrote

Kalifornia {1993} with Brad Pitt, David duchovni and Juliette Lewis. Loved this movie!

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harmonica2 t1_j65p0gf wrote

I don't see what makes these movies Tarantino rip offs? So if a movie is a crime drama, with R rated level violence and profanity, that automatically means you are rippiing off Tarantino, because only Tarantino is allowed to tackle that kind of movie??

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Setanta777 t1_j673mdo wrote

Man, I don't know. I always considered Tarantino's signature style being that he makes over the top modern homages to defunct genres (noire, spaghetti westerns, ww2, Kung Fu, etc.), which is necessarily unoriginal. People are listing movies that came out the same year or before Pulp Fiction, so I'm pretty sure they're just crediting Tarantino for every over the top movie in the 90s.

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captain2toes t1_j676ot6 wrote

I didn’t realize noir, westerns, WWII, and martial arts were subject no longer tackled in any movie ever.

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Setanta777 t1_j67ig0b wrote

They're no longer common. I didn't say they never happen. At one time each of those were the most popular genres.

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captain2toes t1_j68eku5 wrote

You said defunct, a word which means no longer existing. So, yes, you did say they never happen.

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Milk_N_Honey_Badger t1_j68fhgb wrote

Yeah, agreed. Like by that logic, tarantino is a rip off of Scorsese and DePalma.

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voivod1989 t1_j65wkxn wrote

Bound is a great movie. Also not a rip off. Neo noir kinda.

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gorchthegentleman t1_j64z5ud wrote

How about Boogie Boy (1998). Or Truth or Conseqences, NM (1997)?

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parkinglotcrusader t1_j650444 wrote

Perdita Durango always felt influenced by Tarantino.

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SonnyBurnett189 t1_j658mgr wrote

They probably drew from the same influences, beat me to it though, this one’s one of my favorites, lol.

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FoxOntheRun99 t1_j6567s7 wrote

The Big Hit?

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voivod1989 t1_j65bavz wrote

Tarantino takes from obscure movies. For instance lady snowblood and the mercenary 1968. I highly recommend watching Italian westerns beyond Leone.

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mranimal2 t1_j66eoyo wrote

It came out in 2000 but Circus, a British film starring Famke Janssen, John Hannah, and Eddie Izzard

Tommy 'Tiny' Lister is also in it in a surprisingly sensitive role

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nkleszcz t1_j69in5e wrote

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

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Exciting-Pen-3981 t1_j69krpe wrote

I watched a movie called Full English Breakfast that is so bad its good. Its like an even cheaper knock off of Lock Stock. On the IMDB page one of the only reviews thinks it's a money laundering scheme

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Houli_B_Back t1_j653luj wrote

Normal Life

Love and a .45

U-Turn

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PeterMahogany t1_j65m9uj wrote

Love and a .45. The Albino Alligator, Killing Zoe.

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amarodelaficioanado t1_j65ulit wrote

Tarantino influenced 90s movies, the decade got more violence, noir and fun.

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ToastyCrumb t1_j65xbot wrote

I would suggest checking out the movies that *ahem* "heavily influenced" him, e.g.:

  • The Killer - John Woo
  • Clan of the White Lotus - Lo Lieh

etc.

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jorgepal02 t1_j66e9c7 wrote

2 Days in the Valley gave me Tarantino vibes.

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BusinessPurge t1_j66rapv wrote

Best Men, 1997, bank robbery comedy, violent ending!

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Exciting-Pen-3981 t1_j69khzg wrote

Does Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Count? At least a British version

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ReelBigPIG t1_j658cft wrote

Boogie Boy is a guilty pleasure of mine.

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[deleted] t1_j65ca62 wrote

Get Shorty

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j65pxfk wrote

Yeah, no. Elmore Leonard is one of Tarantino's influences, not the other way around.

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roomwitharoof t1_j69kljh wrote

Plus Tarantino advised Travolta to take the role. It's Sonnenfeld through and through.

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j6ay4gp wrote

I see people giving Tarantino credit for a lot of things he had nothing to do with. One person on Reddit claimed he was responsible for John Woo being hired in Hollywood.

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[deleted] t1_j65r1ez wrote

Do a two-second Google search. You’ll see this is considered a Pulp Fiction clone. It’s not really an obscure movie though.

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KindaAbstruse t1_j65ya1a wrote

He's just saying the author of the novel is a Tarantino influence and the source material for the movie preceded Pulp Fiction.

Elmore Leonard also wrote Rum Punch which was adapted as Jackie Brown.

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[deleted] t1_j65yilg wrote

That’s fair. I guess that might make “knock off” less hard to argue.

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j6626xn wrote

That doesn't actually help your argument. Personal opinions are not objective reality.

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[deleted] t1_j66aa15 wrote

My arguments are fine. You do you.

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astroturfskirt t1_j65h730 wrote

sushi girl - great cast & very QT-feelin’

edit- not 90s..but it may scratch that itch.

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pantsonheaditor t1_j698j34 wrote

frogs for snakes ?

Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane (1998)

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classy_shart t1_j64yeyl wrote

well i don’t know if it’s super obscure but there is plump fiction. it’s supposed to be on amazon prime.

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CornmealGravy t1_j64z3tu wrote

You may also want to look for the movies that Tarantino ripped off.

Edit: I didn’t mean that as a dig against Tarantino. I love the man’s work.

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Typical_Humanoid t1_j64zfgg wrote

Fair bit more of an overwhelming list, don't want to frighten away the poor lad/lass.

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CornmealGravy t1_j65rxh9 wrote

I tried hunting some down and it really opened my eyes to some great movies that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

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Telecat420 t1_j64zkne wrote

I don’t know that it would be considered Tarantino style but I always thought Dead Man starring Johnny Depp was a really good obscure indie film from the 90’s.

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_j65pney wrote

There is zero chance that Jim Jarmusch was ripping off, or even inspired in any way by Tarantino.

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