Quentin Tarantino's ninth film, Once Upon A Time In…
Hollywood, is packed with small details and references to real-life events.
But you don't need to be a Los Angeles native or a true crime buff to get all the nods.
We'll point out all the small details in Once Upon a Time that you missed.
Obviously, if you haven't seen the film yet, here's your spoiler warning.
If you caught a hint of deja vu during the scenes in which Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth
are filming Bounty Law and being interviewed about it, that wasn't a coincidence.
In the tradition of classic western films and television shows reusing the same set
to save money, the set where Bounty Law takes place mirrors a town we saw in Django Unchained.
Specifically, it's the place where bounty hunter Dr. Schultz first meets Django while
in pursuit of his own bounty.
The only question remaining is whether a character inspired by Dr. Schulz ever appeared in an
episode of Bounty Law in the Tarantino-verse.
Timothy Olyphant might be tired of acting as the fastest gunslinger in the west, but
one of this movie's small details makes it clear that Tarantino isn't sick of seeing
him do it.
In 2004, Olyphant starred in Deadwood as Seth Bullock, a man whose quickdraw is one of the
fastest around.
After that, he appeared in 2011's Justified, a modern-day adaptation of Elmore Leonard's
Fire in the Hole, which saw him playing the part of a dedicated lawman with a ludicrously
fast draw.
In Once Upon a Time in…
Hollywood's depiction of the real life TV western called Lancer, Olyphant plays actor
James Stacy, who on that show played Johnny Madrid Lancer: a man who's extremely quick
with a gun.
It's a nice wink to some of Olyphant's past roles, but it's also just perfect casting.
There's a reason audiences have been willing to accept Olyphant as a cowboy, whether in
modern-day or period pieces, for nearly 20 years it just works.
What're you packing?"
"You'll pay to find that out."
"Oooh, you got ice-cold water running through your veins."
Zoë Bell has worked with Quentin Tarantino for a long time.
Their first collaboration was during 2003's Kill Bill Vol. 1, when Bell worked as Uma
Thurman's stunt double.
From there, Bell continued to work with the director, doing stunts in Inglourious Basterds
and Death Proof.
Soon, she also started performing in more visible roles, appearing as herself in Death
Proof, along with bit roles in Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight.
In Once Upon a Time in…
Hollywood, Bell got a promotion to stunt coordinator, giving her responsibility for all the action
that audiences see onscreen.
In a fittingly meta-textual small detail, Bell appears in the film as well, playing
Janet, the wife to Kurt Russell's stunt coordinator Randy.
Bell's actual job on-set was making sure that stunts were performed safely without excess
cost to the production, so it's perfect that her role as Janet involves furiously interrupting
Cliff and Bruce Lee's backstage brawl.
In the world of Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood, Rick Dalton's had quite a career.
While he missed out on nabbing Steve McQueen's role in The Great Escape, he might have gotten
the juicer role in 14 Fists of McClusky.
After all, the latter film seems to be inspired by the, quote "real events" of Inglourious
Basterds.
In the clip we see, Rick plays a soldier who blasts away at the Nazi high command with
a flamethrower in an obvious parody of Tarantino's World War II flick.
The screen credit is more than just a wink to one of Tarantino's other films it's also
an early hint that Once Upon a Time in…
Hollywood isn't going to be a basic retelling of Sharon Tate's murder that some feared it
would be when the film was first announced.
Inglourious Basterds famously ends with Hitler burning to death in a theater alongside most
of the Nazi high command in a gleeful skew of actual historical events.
By reminding eagle-eyed viewers of that film's climax early in his new film, Tarantino is
able to foreshadow Sharon Tate surviving the Manson family.
In the tried and true tradition of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and nearly every superhero
movie released in the last 15 years, Once Upon a Time in…
Hollywood actually has a post-credits sequence: Rick Dalton filming a commercial for Red Apple
cigarettes, noting that they're not only the best around, but have been the best since
the mid-1800s.
Of course, it's all publicity for the camera, since Rick actually hates the brand, but the
character would be alone in that opinion in the Tarantino universe.
Red Apple cigarettes have shown up in a bunch of Tarantino's movies both Mia Wallace and
Pumpkin smoke the brand in Pulp Fiction, the Bride walks by a billboard advertising them
in Kill Bill, and Bob from the Hateful Eight prefers the brand as well.
"Bob enjoyed a Manzana Roja."
Red Apple isn't the only Tarantino-exclusive brand that makes its way into the world of
Once Upon a Time in…
Hollywood Big Kahuna Burger, the fast food franchise that's most well-known to most moviegoers
as the last meal for poor Brad in Pulp Fiction, appears on a billboard during one of the film's
many driving scenes.
Maybe they should have had Jules do an advertisement for them instead.
"This is a tasty burger."
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