Ving Rhames playing Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction, U.S., 1994
In the generation since Superfly and Sweet Sweetback, the Afro gangster rose in the movie hierarchy. By the time of Quentin Tarantino's breakthrough crime epic, he has become a Mob boss with gravitas, dispensing a lot of hurt — and taking quite a bit too. At first, Marsellus is the bete noir who sends one of his lieutenants (John Travolta) on the delicate errand of giving his young wife (Uma Thurman) a fun night out. He's front and center in the second episode, when he orders the death of a boxer (Bruce Willis), then is ravaged by a pair of deranged hillbillies. Willis saves the big man's life, then asks him if he's OK. Marsellus' immortal reply: "Naw, man. I'm pretty f---in' far from OK." His other great line, to the surviving sodomist: "I'm-a get medieval on your ass"