Though no one knew at the time, the release of Quentin Tarantino’s first film Reservoir Dogs, which is generally lauded as one of the best independent films ever made, was a seed that would spread its roots into many other genres. Bringing seemingly disparate narratives into a sublimely interconnected climax is something Tarantino has an undeniable knack for pulling off.
Every Tarantino character has a rich backstory that’s only ever hinted at in the films, and amidst the gore and violence that capture people’s attention, coded messages are waiting to be found by those observant enough to spot them. There are hidden messages and easter eggs in all of Tarantino’s films, and catching them only adds to your appreciation of Tarantino’s genius. If you’re curious to see how many of them you’ve managed to pick up over the years, read on to find out.
True Friendship
The movie Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, which came out in theaters in 2019, takes us for a ride through the unraveling career of actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his friendship with Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his long-time stuntman.
Dalton was questioned early in the movie about what Booth meant to him. This query was finally answered at the end of the movie when Dalton calls Booth a “good friend,” to which the latter replies, “I try.” This scene mirrored the one at the beginning of the film, perfectly wrapping up their journey.
There’s a Right and Wrong Way of Counting
When Lt. Archie Hicox uses his index finger when counting in the infamous bar scene in Inglourious Basterds, he exposes himself as a fake German officer. Why? If he was German, he would have started the count with his thumb first.
This contradicting way of counting was shown again three years later in the movie Django Unchained, when Dr. Schultz, a German dentist, ironically counts with his finger in the English way, instead of using his thumb as the first digit.
A Glimpse Into the Future
Uma Thurman played the character of Mia in Pulp Fiction way back in 1994. In the scene below, she’s relating how she starred in the pilot episode for an action show called Fox Force Five. She shares the details of the show with Vince (John Travolta) over a $5 milkshake.
Though no one knew it at the time, what Mia did was give us a glimpse into the characters that would show up ten years later in Kill Bill. There was no way of uncovering this easter egg at the time. It’s only in retrospect that fans were able to pick it up.
Symbolism in Inglourious Basterds
If you’ve watched many of Quentin Tarantino’s films, examining each closely, there can be no other conclusion than there’s always more than meets the eye. Each film is always part of a bigger whole, as reflected in the codes and symbols.
A perfect example can be found in the scene in Inglourious Basterds where a leaf falls and sticks on officer Wicki’s chest, symbolizing the Star of David worn by the Jews during the Nazi occupation. Nothing happens by accident in a Tarantino film.
Tarantino’s Favorite Actors
Quentin Tarantino is known for re-hiring actors he’s already worked with successfully. He likes to keep a good working relationship with them, even calling Uma Thurman his muse. This kind of loyalty allows him to build a working atmosphere that’s based on trust.
Both volumes of Kill Bill star Michael Madsen, who was also in Reservoir Dogs which was released in 1992. Tarantino also tends to give old props a cameo in his new films, like this fuel container Madsen used in Reservoir Dogs which reappeared in Kill Bill more than a decade later.
Great Teamwork
Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega, the central characters in the film Pulp Fiction, move throughout the film with ease. Of course, that doesn’t mean they were given easy tasks by Marsellus Wallace. They simply know how to complement each other’s styles.
Thanks to their long working relationship, Vega knows Jules Winnfield is about to neutralize a target when he starts reciting Ezekiel 25:17. With no order given, and no eye contact made, Vincent cocks his gun the moment Jules begins the quote, exemplifying their unspoken understanding.
Tarantino’s Favorite Director
When the main character of Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Rick Dalton, decides to make a Spaghetti Western movie to save his floundering acting career, he travels to Italy to work with film director Antonio Margheriti. This is genuinely the name of one of Tarantino’s favorite directors.
The name was also mentioned a decade before in the movie Inglourious Basterds, where the violent, head-smashing Sgt. Donny Donowitz aliased himself as Antonio Margheriti. Donowitz was played by Eli Roth who also looks up to director Margheriti as a favorite.
MacGuffin Briefcase
A MacGuffin is an object in a film that sets the action in motion. In Pulp Fiction, it was the briefcase Jules and Vincent were supposed to retrieve. Tarantino says the contents of the briefcase are open for interpretation, and the film gives few clues. Many theorize it could be connected to the Reservoir Dogs diamonds.
Some have a more supernatural take, suggesting it may be the lost soul of boss Marsellus Wallace who’d exchanged it for his wealth and power. Wallace is shown with a band-aid on the back of his head in one scene, which is where the idea came from. However, actor Ving Rhames says he just cut himself shaving.
Magnum Opus
The next hidden message shouldn’t be read by those who haven’t yet watched Inglourious Basterds. For the rest of us, close to the end of the film, there’s a scene in which Lt. Aldo Rayne has just killed a German driver and pinned Hans Landa on the ground. He takes out his dagger and etches the swastika on Landa’s forehead.
With Landa screaming beneath him, Lt. Aldo Raine declares it might just be his masterpiece, and both soldiers grin while the movie credits roll with Tarantino’s name hitting the screen just after the line is uttered. This is perhaps a reference to the director feeling that the film may be his masterpiece.
Anomalous Role
Like the vast majority of Germans, actor and filmmaker Til Schweiger, who was born in West Germany, is ashamed of his country’s dark past. Adolf Hitler is not someone they place on a pedestal. In fact, Schweiger has consistently rejected any role that would have required him to wear a Nazi uniform.
The only time he agreed to do this was in the movie Inglourious Basterds where he starred as Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, who turned against his countrymen and went on a Nazi killing spree.
Heated Fight Scene
As a young assassin cutely dressed as a schoolgirl in Kill Bill: Volume 1, Japanese actress Chiaki Kuriyama became fully engrossed in her role as an antagonist when she fought against The Bride, to the fascination of everyone else on the set.
She became so immersed in the fight scene that she flung her meteor hammer a little too aggressively, nearly wiping out the recording crew, including Quentin Tarantino himself. After recovering from the shock, Tarantino was so impressed he commended and egged her on.
Comical Omission
Tarantino’s creative work is known for its flippant humor, like in a Pulp Fiction scene where Bunny and Pumpkin execute the coffee shop manager before he can finish completing his title. All he manages to say is “I’m just a coffee shop…” in an effort to beg for his life.
The audience had mostly forgotten about this scene by the time the film’s closing credits came up, but Tarantino had not. He lists the actor merely as “Coffee Shop” rather than “Coffee Shop Manager.” It’s the details like this that make Tarantino such a gem.
Paradoxical Bill
Tarantino movies are filled with eccentric personalities who add flavor to the filmmaker’s themes and creative work. Even the Kill Bill antagonist (Bill), played by David Caradine, throws in some droll humor of his own.
The head honcho of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, Bill’s alias is the Snake Charmer. He leads a group of killers named after murderous ophidians and drives a De Tomaso Mangusta sports car. Mangusta means “mongoose” in Italian – a creature known for its speed and snake-killing ability.
Stuck in the Middle with You
Quentin Tarantino decided to invest in a soundtrack that he felt would elevate Reservoir Dogs, and he had one particular scene and one particular song in mind. He knew he had to have that song, even if it meant spending a massive chunk of the project’s small budget on music.
The investment paid off when “Stuck in the Middle With You” got stuck in people’s minds after the infamous scene in which Mr. Blonde tortures a chair-bound cop. The jovial country-rock tune creates an uncomfortable juxtaposition that’s impossible to forget.
Subtle Distinction
Six men in black suits walk out of a diner wearing the same outfit, right down to their dark Rayban sunglasses. The leader and his son are dressed casually, but only one detail is different about the costumes of the six identically dressed men.
One of them is wearing Clubmasters instead of Wayfarers. It’s a clever element of foreshadowing employed by Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs – a sign that one of them is a rat. The glasses give away which one is an undercover agent planted to arrest the crime boss.
Uncanny Hunter
In Tarantino’s fictional universe filled with hitmen, blood-thirsty murderers, and thieves, Col. Hans Landa (of Inglourious Basterds) is a cool cat in a dark alley. He doesn’t kill out of rage or revenge, and yet has earned the nickname The Jew Hunter.
Unwilling to be caught in an ideological whirlpool, he tracks Jews with absolute mental clarity, cold in his pursuit, and sometimes, alarmingly friendly. This is what you see in the photo above, He is pretending to be polite while really checking the pulse of the girl to see if she might be hiding something.
Pop Culture References
Ever since Quentin Tarantino’s first movie came out, the director has been amassing an ever-growing fanbase. He’s often been referenced in films, cited in essays, and studied for his unique directing style.
In a Captain Marvel scene, Talos sips his milkshake from a strikingly similar cup to the one Jules had in Pulp Fiction. Mr. Blondie had a similar milkshake moment using the same patterned cup in Reservoir Dogs back in 1992. Coincidence of homage?
Personalized Opening Credits
Quentin Tarantino’s body of work is rich in character and full of originality and uniqueness. This is what people love most about it. These traits are almost as important as the storylines in his films, and the man is happy to comply, being comfortable in his own skin.
In the opening credits of Inglourious Basterds, no fancy typography is used. Instead, the film’s title appears in Tarantino’s own handwriting. This is the very title he wrote on his first hand-scrawled script.
Nonlinear Stories
To the uninitiated, Quentin Tarantino’s movies may seem a mess. The middle portion of a narrative could be introduced at the opening, and the rest may flow unpredictably according to the director’s whims. The genius of his seemingly unsystematic storytelling first was made clear in Pulp Fiction, and it was an immediate success.
Tarantino’s method grips the audience from the outset, and the suspense is unrelenting. The intensity of it means you’re always on the back foot, which is why so many people miss the subtle hidden messages he places in his films.
An Intertwined Universe
Each movie that Quentin Tarantino shows to the world is a new beam of light tracing out what used to be shadowy space in his ever-growing fictional universe. Just as our own world is interconnected, so too are the people, experiences, cultures, and events in Tarantino’s world.
It may not seem that way at first, but events and people in Tarantino’s universe are subliminally linked. For example, Pulp Fiction’s Vince Vega is related to Victor Vega (aka Mr. Blonde) in Reservoir Dogs. In The Hateful Eight, English Pete Hicox is a descendent of Archie Hicox from Inglorious Basterds.
Role Swap
Mr. Pink refuses to tip the waiter out of societal pressure and practice, and this principled behavior activates a fresh argument at the diner in Tarantino’s first movie Reservoir Dogs. It’s an iconic scene that has been applied with irony, which is typical of the renowned director.
Two years later, Steve Buscemi, who played the character of Mr. Pink, starred as a waiter in Pulp Fiction. It’s a swapping of roles as if to say that he is now at the receiving end of his past actions, meeting his karma.
Carry-on Baggage
Tarantino’s parallel reality is not so dissimilar to our world. The same scientific principles and forces apply, there are no aliens around trying to seduce humans, but there is love, hate, greed, and all that jazz.
Every once in a while, the audience is taken by surprise. In his violent world, sheaths are a common design feature in aircraft. Assassins can just board with their weapons like The Bride does with her sword as she heads off to Japan.
Withheld Identity
Uma Thurman starred as The Bride in Kill Bill: Volume 1, and her real name is never revealed. Interestingly enough, it is implied that everyone in the movie knows who she is, what she hunts for, and why, even if her reasons have not yet been cinematically revealed.
It’s Tarantino’s way of gripping the fans’ attention to her mystery. Her name had actually been cleverly revealed before Kill Bill: Volume 2. The revelation was easy to miss as you had to be quick to spot the section of her boarding pass with her name written on it.
Presage to Death
Easter eggs are strewn throughout Tarantino films, and many of them are spoilers, cleverly employed, and likely to be missed by the audience at first viewing. Foreshadowing can be as simple as Dr. Schultz’ moving important documents to a back pocket he’s never known to use.
This move from the Django Unchained character implied his knowledge of his impending death. He made the subtle move to protect the papers that confirmed Broomhilda’s freedom so that his ultimate sacrifice wouldn’t be for nothing.
Tipping Policy
As we learned earlier, Mr. Pink (of Reservoir Dogs) refuses to tip. He says he despises tipping policies and insists can’t be forced on people. Though he gives a monologue on hating the practice, his real reasons are open for interpretation.
Though Mr. Pink says he hates tipping on principle, his later dialogue implies that he may be open to giving a tip, but it has to be earned through prompt and proper service.
Little Treat
You won’t want to blink an eye once a Tarantino film starts rolling for fear of missing a gem. The easter egg can reveal relics from old films, connections between characters, or clues as to how the current movie is going to end. It could be anything. Sometimes, it’s little more than a hidden joke.
As the movie progresses, it pays to look out for objects, hidden messages, and greetings like the one in the picture above that could be embedded in the background. This is one of many reasons why his films are so captivating.
Time to Make a Choice
People sometimes look for signs upon reaching certain crossroads in life. The decision-making process feels easier if it feels like you’re being guided. This can be the same for characters in Tarantino’s universe. In Butch Coolidge’s case, it’s not just a vague hint but a clear instruction.
He could either leave for Tennessee as the presence of the Tennessee license plate suggests, or he could help Wallace by killing Zed. Butch could take either of these as a sign, but the brightest one is the broken Killian’s Red sign that spells out “Kill Ed.” When matched with the Z from a keychain he holds, the choice to Kill Zed becomes clear.
Foreshadowing with Bottles
Any object in a scene directed by Quentin Tarantino may hold a certain clue as to how the story will unfold. The catch is that these hidden messages can often only be understood upon review. In Reservoir Dogs, for example, the bottles in the background of this scene are separated according to color.
The orange row signifies which side Mr. Orange is on as opposed to the pink and white ones. This is in reference to his position as an undercover cop trying to entrap the mob boss and his network.
The Time Element
The fantasy world can be unbound from the fundamental elements of nature if the creator wills it. For a short moment, Quentin Tarantino toys with time in Kill Bill: Volume 1, creating some magic in a fight scene between O-Ren Ishii and The Bride.
O-Ren Ishii warns her nemesis that she may not last five minutes if they clash, and as they battle, a real-time countdown synchronizes with reality. For 4 minutes and 59 seconds, our world is perfectly synched with Tarantino’s magical universe.
A slip-up in this Driving Scene
Considering how meticulous Tarantino is, it could be that this “mistake” was actually placed there on purpose. From his choice of actors to tiny details like the way a character counts on his hands, few things are accidental in Tarantino’s world.
When Brad Pitt, who plays Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is driving around LA, it can be noticed that the speedometer is sitting on zero. This betrays that Pitt was not driving at all in reality and simply posing behind the wheel. However, we have a feeling there’s a hidden message here we’re just not seeing. What do you think?
Lost in Thought
In Reservoir Dogs, the scene in the restaurant took longer than usual to finish shooting. For some reason, actor Lawrence Tierney, who starred as the big boss Joe Cabot, kept messing up his lines. After several takes, the other actors had started messing up too.
Gliding along with the presence of the other actors, tired of the repetition, Chris Penn slowly let his mind drift. He plays the role of Nice Guy Eddie, who was a little startled when everyone started to get up from their seats. That moment wasn’t acting – it was genuine! Funnily enough, it worked perfectly in the final cut.
Significant Numbers
Inglourious Basterds character Sgt. Donny Donowitz, who is played by Eli Roth, is perhaps the most feared Nazi slayer in the group. He is brutal with his baseball bat. Donowitz takes his time as he exits the tunnel in this scene, tapping the wall 28 times before emerging from the darkness.
This number is interpreted by the Gematria method as “strength” in Hebrew, derived by the substitution of numbers with their corresponding Hebrew alphabet. After gathering his strength, Donowitz kills the captured German soldier.
Choice of Shakes According to Color
In a fifties-themed diner, Mia and Vincent go in for a meal attended by a Buddy Holly look-alike played by Steve Buscemi. Vince orders a steak and says he wants it to be served rare.
Having told Buddy the waiter that she wants a burger (served bloody) and a $5 shake, it was the waiter’s turn to ask which shake she wanted. He offers a choice between “Martin and Lewis or Amos and Andy.” The flavors of the shakes can be determined by the skin color of these comedic duos.
Free Suits
Unlike many inexperienced directors trying to make a name for themselves, Quentin Tarantino didn’t have a problem starting his first movie because he was full of so many ideas. What he lacked was the funding needed to achieve his vision.
Luckily, he was able to save some money after a designer sent some black suits to the set as a donation, mainly for being an avid fan of crime stories. Before this, the Reservoir Dogs actors had to bring in their own clothes for costumes.
Pussy Wagon
In Kill Bill: Volume 1, The Bride kills Buck after she realizes he raped her while she was in a coma. She steals his ride, a Chevrolet Silverado Buck dubbed the Pussy Wagon. This gaudy vehicle actually belongs to Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino says he has finally decided to stop taking this bright yellow monstrosity on outings because whenever he was spotted driving it, people would recognize him and pull up close to see if they could have a chat.
Unmasked Chicanery
In a tavern with a group of German soldiers, Archie Hicox’s British accent attracts unwanted attention after he berates Pvt. Wilhelm who has had more than enough to drink and was becoming too rowdy. This isn’t the only mistake made by the characters in the scene.
Hicox also signaled for drinks in the British way rather than the German way, which Bridget von Hammersmark, a double agent, quickly recognized. Disguised as a German officer, Hicox should have signaled using his index and middle finger, with an extended thumb.
Poetic Justice
There’s a reason Donny Donowitz’ came to be known as The Bear Jew. Back in his hometown of Boston, he asked his Jewish friends and neighbors to write on his bat the names of their friends and family members who were murdered, missing, or held against their will due to the Nazi rule.
When asked what he intended to do with his toy, he passionately told Mrs. Himmelstein that he was going to bash the Nazis with it. He felt they deserved this for their brutality against the Jews.
Jules and Vincent in the Jam
Quentin Tarantino rode his success from Reservoir Dogs into the development of Pulp Fiction. Film critics adored this film the moment it was released in 1994. It even earned Tarantino an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Like his first crime film, there are now many references to it in pop culture, essays, and other movies.
Though there are endless examples, we’ve taken this one from Pump up the Jam where Sam and Elmer Fudd are dressed up just like Jules and Vincent. They are even armed with handguns, recreating the vibe of Pulp Fiction which had been released two years prior.
Madsen and His Cadillac
Tarantino loves to use vintage cars in his films. This adds to the nostalgic feel of his movies, especially when coupled with his old-school soundtracks. The Cadillac DeVille used in Reservoir Dogs is one of those iconic vehicles, and it’s owned by Michael Madsen who starred as Mr. Blonde.
Madsen had a cameo role as Sheriff Hackett in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and his Cadillac joined him, albeit with some slight aesthetic modifications.
Blind Retribution
In contrast to his other students, Elle had a falling out with Pai Mei after she called the Kung-Fu master an old fool. This prompted Pai Mei to pluck her eye out, and in retaliation, she poisoned his food.
Pai Mei earned his secondary revenge through Beatrix Kiddo, who was also his student, and whom he claimed ownership over after their first fight. She uses the right arm virtuously owned by Pai Mei to extract Elle’s eye after the latter’s defeat.