In the past couple of months, I saw the movie Jackie Brown for the first time. Additionally, both Kill Bill movies were available on Amazon Prime, and I watched them for the first time in 15 or so years. It was long enough ago that I didn’t remember most of the plot. It’s weird to think of it this way, but technically those 3 movies represent one third of Tarantino’s directorial filmography. Quentin Tarantino is one of my 3 favorite directors and yet, for all intents and purposes, I just saw one third of his filmography for the first time. This got me thinking, what are my Tarantino rankings? This is one of my 3 favorite directors, I should probably have an idea of where I stand, right?
I considered whether or not I should re-watch all of his movies in order to determine my list. As much as I would love to, I don’t think I will get around to it. So, that’s a possible flaw with the list, maybe it’s been a few years since I’ve seen some of them. Frankly, there’s one movie of his I still haven’t seen (Death Proof). Not ideal, but if there’s a movie of his to skip, it sounds like that was the one. I don’t want to be influenced by any other lists, but I’d venture to say that movie probably ranked last on most internet lists.
Only the 9 feature-length films he’s directed will be ranked. It doesn’t feel right including True Romance (or any other movie where he wrote but didn’t direct) since he didn’t have the final say in how the story was told. I’m combing Kill Bill into one entry since that’s how Tarantino views them and they do meld together.
Spoilers ahead. To the list!
9). Death Proof (2007)
I never saw it, so naturally, it has to be ranked last. Death Proof wasn’t his most memorable effort. To be honest, I bet it’s still pretty decent, he’s just too good for one of his movies to have have nothing interesting in it. Crazy that 2007, one of the most beloved movie years of all-time, had a Tarantino movie released that year that we don’t even talk about. That year could’ve been even more revered had that movie hit.
8). Jackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown is an enjoyable movie. As I said earlier, I only just saw it, so it isn’t a movie I have a history with, but it was very good. One thing of note to me is that the screenplay was adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel. So, it’s a cool crime story, for sure, but maybe not quite the same as the other original screenplays. It’s a good movie, but to me, it feels slightly less “Tarantino” than his other efforts.
7). Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 (2003-2004)
In high school and college, I heard how awesome Kill Bill was, which of course led to me being somewhat disappointed when I first saw it. Having just re-watched them in the last couple of months, they’re definitely fun. Uma Thurman is awesome as The Bride. Extremely believable as an elite assassin. The movie has his typical violence, but most of it is swordplay. The Crazy-88 fight scene at the end of Volume 1 is probably most notable, but the fight with Vernita Green, the above fight with Elle Driver, and the way Bud meets his demise are all highly enjoyable. It’s also the first of a few movies of his that focus on revenge, which is always an entertaining theme.
6). Django Unchained (2012)
Starting with Inglourious Basterds in 2009, I saw the last four Tarantino movies in the theater. Believe it or not, I had the most fun seeing Django. I remember really enjoying it. And yet, I haven’t watched it front-to-back since that day. There isn’t even a scene that I go back to on YouTube.
Obviously, it’s an awesome revenge storyline. It’s loaded with awesome actors who are all great in their roles. It’s funny and action-packed. The violence against slaveowners is cathartic, but there are also horrifying elements of slavery depicted.
It was a fun ride in the theater, for sure, and I’m sure if I see it again, I will still love it. Just not to the degree of the top 5 movies.
5). Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
I have a feeling over time this one will continue to rise up my rankings. I’ve seen it in-full around four or five times. After watching it, I often feel like I missed something that may be keeping it out of the top 4. I very well may have. However, there’s a lot I do love about this movie.
The climax above was fantastic! Like all of Tarantino’s masterful scenes, there’s tension leading up to it. Certainly the real-life baggage with the Manson family is palpable. You don’t know who will live or how it will go down. Of course, it ends up being an ass whooping that is actually kind of funny. There are also two great pay-offs that were set up earlier. First you have Cliff’s command over his dog, which was shown earlier at his home, and used to great effect in the fight. Then there’s the fact that Rick Dalton has a flamethrower in his pool house that he took from his movie: The 14 Fists of McCluskey. Setups and payoffs are a small thing, but when done right they really make you feel like you’re watching something great.
The Spahn Ranch scene is one of the best in any of his movies. There’s genuine suspense when Cliff goes in the house to find Spahn. And again when Tex is racing back with a gun to confront Cliff. It’s also awesome to watch him beat the snot out of the Manson hippie. Just an overall masterclass in tension and release.
Brad Pitt is really fucking cool in this movie. I think DiCaprio is great in the movie, Margot Robbie exudes great warmth as Sharon Tate, but for my money, it’s Brad Pitt’s movie. Cliff is not a good person, but it’s hard not to love him. He’s just really cool. He does parkour up Rick’s house to the roof and fixes his antenna. He’s always relaxed and calm. He hallucinates about fighting Bruce Lee. He lives in a trailer with his dog, eats easy mac for dinner and it all looks awesome.
It’s also just an interesting story about old Hollywood. How a struggling actor gets used as the heavy on TV shows to build up other actor’s bonafide’s. Little things like that which I never personally would’ve thought about. It’s only number 5 on my list, but I look forward to how my perceptions will change with this movie over time.
4). The Hateful Eight (2015)
Contained thrillers are a lot of fun and sometimes underappreciated because they don’t have the same great set pieces as many mainstream thrillers. There are a lot of fun, if despicable, characters stuck in a cabin together during a snowstorm. They’re all grumpy, none of them trust each other, it’s perfect for conflict.
The first chapter is great too, where John Ruth, the cantankerous bounty hunter, is riding in a coach with his prisoner, the criminal Daisy Domergue, and he stops in the middle of the snow to pick up two of the characters before getting snowed in the at the cabin. The dialogue is quite funny and it immediately sets up the trust issues as Major Warren and Sheriff Mannix each have a suspicious story as to what they’re doing in the middle of the snow and why they need a ride.
Despite minimal locations, it’s highly entertaining, and always engaging. The characters are interesting, and it’s fun to watch them try to solve the various problems.
3). Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Tarantino’s first feature film certainly had a cultural impact. Even though I didn’t see it until my sophomore year of college, it definitely had an impact on me as it was one of the first Tarantino movies I saw, and therefore a lot of his directorial trademarks (nonlinear storyline, fun dialogue, etc.) were new and exciting. Those aspects of the movie still hold up for me, but there are also a lot of things I’ve grown to love related to the story and how it’s told.
Most notably, Reservoir Dogs is a heist movie that doesn’t show the heist, but rather the aftermath and some of the setup. It’s an amazing choice. There’s a small group of movies that fall into a genre but focus on different elements of the story than what typical genre stories would focus on. Most heist movies show the execution of a heist. They often show the gathering of the team, the heist plan, the setup, and then afterward the getaway. Reservoir Dogs skips most of that. 12 Angry Men is often considered a courtroom drama, but the movie doesn’t show the trial, but rather, the jury deliberation. Moneyball has some baseball scenes, but it’s really about an underdog finding a way to build a winning team. Reservoir Dogs is one of the best examples of movies that subvert our expectations by focusing on a different aspect of the story.
The story does a great job of providing conflict. The different characters are philosophically opposed, which means they will butt heads over what happened and how to move forward. Also, the stakes are high. Even though our protagonists are murderous bank robbers, we’re interested to see their fate because they’re lives and freedom are at stake.
Like every Tarantino movie (that I’ve seen), there are masterful scenes. The cop torture scene is legendary, and probably the most notorious scene in the movie. It’s simultaneously silly and terrifying. I can’t hear the song “Stuck in the Middle With You” without thinking of this scene and this movie.
Reservoir Dogs has one of the best climaxes I can think of just in terms of sheer intensity and finality. At this point, the audience knows who the undercover cop is, and we’re on edge to see if he’s going to be found out. We’re also on edge because the hero of the story, Mr. White, is prepared to unknowingly defend the undercover cop with his life, and we’re concerned about what happens. The tension is boiling over and as more members of the team come to the warehouse, it explodes in a Mexican standoff.
Finally, there’s the opening scene. It’s probably most famous for introducing us all to Tarantino dialogue both in terms of quality and context. Mr. Brown starts out talking about the meaning of the Madonna song, “Like a Virgin”. This, on its own, is funny and interesting. It’s unlike anything most viewers heard in mainstream movies back in 1992. The context is also notable, here are a bunch of bank robbers, sitting around, shooting the breeze at breakfast right before they go rob a jewelry store. It’s movie characters, talking about mundane topics like a normal person, right before a gigantic, high stress event. But this scene also serves an important function to the story. It reveals character. The tipping argument is a funny aside and well-written on its own. But think about what we learn from the tipping argument that isn’t about tipping:
-Mr. Pink is unsympathetic, cares about his own neck and applies a certain cold logic to problems;
-Mr. White is emotional. He makes decisions based on emotion. He believes in tipping because it’s important to help people who need help;
-Mr. Yellow is trigger-happy and loyal to Joe. He grins and does the finger gun only because Joe was joking;
-Joe is sharp. He immediately notices that someone didn’t tip;
-Eddie is an enforcer. He tells everyone to back off the dollar and he does what Joe says;
-Mr. Orange is a rat. He snitched on Mr. Pink for not tipping.
It’s a fantastic blend of style and substance.
2). Inglourious Basterds (2009)
I’ve said it before, but my theater experience for this movie was slightly disappointing. My expectations were sky high. The marketing was centered around Brad Pitt and the Basterds, and while those scenes lived up to the hype, there ended up being a lot more to the movie, which wasn’t bad but just wasn’t quite what I had been hoping for. Of course, I re-watched it later, and it became one of my favorite movies.
As I’ve written here before, it has one of the best opening scenes of all time. It’s an amazing introduction to one of the all-time great movie villains, while also using the historical context to create a tremendous amount of tension. I could go on and on, but will stop it here since it’s a scene I’ve written about before.
The dual storylines and dual missions is reminiscent of The Bridge of the River Kwai. Shoshanna’s storyline is very heartfelt, both tragic and cathartic. Of course, the Basterds storyline is pure fun and adrenaline.
The pub scene is another masterclass in suspense and tension. So is the strudel scene with Shoshanna and Hans Landa.
Also, Hugo Stiglitz is basically my hero. Similar to other entries, this movie is a fun ride that also has legitimate moments of emotion, sadness and fear.
1). Pulp Fiction (1994)
It may or may not be Tarantino’s best movie, but it was the first one I saw. My reaction to it in high school (~10 years after it came out) is just like what it was in the public consciousness in 1994. I didn’t know movies could be like that.
I didn’t know movies could tell a story out of sequence. I didn’t know characters could just talk about mundane things like Quarter-pounders with cheese and foot massages. I didn’t know these same characters could go from talking about mundane things right to killing people. I didn’t know two characters could start to hold up a restaurant and then have the movie cut away and not come back to it until the end. I didn’t know criminals had personalities other than being evil criminals. I didn’t know brick and mortar businesses might have nefarious things happening in the back. It was all a wonderfully pleasant and totally unique experience for me. Other movies may have done these things, but I hadn’t seen them yet. This is arguably the most seminal movie experience of my life.
Also, the music is awesome. The characters are funny. The story is exciting and unpredictable. Everyone’s cool. Like I said, it may be the most important movie for me personally. I will always cherish it and although the other rankings may change over time, I don’t think any will be able to overtake #1.
Movie Opinions 