Quentin Tarantino: Definitive Guide To Homages, Influences And References

Pulp Fiction

6. The Vega Brothers

John Travolta's character Vincent Vega is supposed to be the brother of Vic Vega, the character played by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino once proposed the idea of a spin-off prequel titled Double V Vega based around Vincent's exploits in Amsterdam (as referenced in Pulp Fiction), then later about two other older Vega Brothers (still portrayed by Madsen & Travolta) to get over the fact the actors looked older. Eventually Tarantino deemed that both actors were too old to reprise their roles and the film was shelved.

5. Winocki

In Butch's flashback explaining the significance of his gold watch, Captain Koons (Christopher Walken) mentions that an air force gunner named Winocki in his story of how the watch came to Butch. Tarantino took both the name and the rank of Winocki from Howard Hawks' Air Force (1943). Interestingly, the character of Seymour Scagnetti was originally called Craig Koons - perhaps another, albeit abandoned familial link to another Tarantino universe character.

4. Butch's Weapons

The first weapon that Butch considers rescuing Marcellus with is a chainsaw, likely a reference to Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He also contemplates a claw hammer, which may be a nod the 1978 exploitation flick The Toolbox Murders. Tarantino teases what genre Butch will decide his next scene should exist in.