25 Things You Didn’t Know About Pulp Fiction

21. The Syringe Shot Was Filmed In Reverse

One of the film's most iconic, distinctive and cringe-worthy scenes sees Vincent plunging an adrenaline syringe into Mia Wallace's (Uma Thurman) chest in order to save her from a drug overdose.

The scene is noted for its intensity and realism, and Tarantino achieved this by actually shooting the syringe shot in reverse.

Rather than have John Travolta pretend to slam it into Uma Thurman's chest and stop short of the mark, he had Travolta quickly retract the syringe backwards from Thurman's chest.

With the footage reversed, this created a violent urgency to the stabbing without risking Thurman being injured, and though the shot appears for scarcely a second in the final cut, it's undeniably effective.

Prior to this, Tarantino had actually bought a fake chest and planned to drive the syringe into that, but found a far more tactile solution which allowed Thurman to appear in the frame with the needle slamming down.