Here are five must-see movies from the movie buff movie director Quentin Tarantino. Buoyed by his extensive knowledge of (and tendency to celebrate) film, Tarantino has managed to establish himself as one of the most wholly original and proud auteurs working in the industry. Love them or hate them, viewers always know when they’ve set foot into a Tarantino movie: they’re generally bloody, with a satisfying aesthetic formula that includes gruesome and intriguing visuals, razor-sharp dialogue, and a perfectly strapped, encompassing, and head-banging soundtrack.
For nearly thirty years, Tarantino has become known as one of the most controversial and simply exciting filmmakers working today. When the director releases a film, they’re not only events in and of themselves, but the tireless creator does his best to dish up some good old-fashioned pomp and circumstance to go along with his premieres. For the release of his claustrophobic Western, The Hateful Eight, Tarantino sponsored a nationwide roadshow that exhibited an exclusive, 70mm print of the film to originalist moviegoers. Why? Because that’s how he felt his movie deserved to be watched, even if it wasn’t “with the times.”
And while they’re always points of contention amongst critics and audiences – with many debating the director’s brutish language, his gore, or his strange obsession with feet – Tarantino’s movies stand out in the studio blockbuster age as some of the only original and commercially-successful films to come to market. While he did once work with what felt like pennies and has since made the jump to fairly expensive budgets of his own (his latest, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, nearly cost $100 million), based on his strict sense of style, Quentin Tarantino can still consider himself to be one of the best indie filmmakers working today.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
While not technically Tarantino’s first film in the director’s chair – that honor must go to the 1987 comedy short My Best Friend’s Birthday – Reservoir Dogs injected the then 29-year-old filmmaker immediately into the Hollywood conversation after its acclaimed premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Sponsored on a measly budget that just passed $1 million (its box office run would go on to make nearly three times that amount), the young director proved himself capable of wrangling contained environments with a bountiful number of interesting, yet abhorrent characters.
Compared to some of his later works, the story driving Reservoir Dogs is more stationary and simple; however, as Tarantino’s feature debut, the film beautifully sets the tone for the director’s entire career. Mixed within the film’s deadpan humor and tense dialogue are themes of masculinity and power, woven into the characters’ interactions. It wouldn’t be ridiculous to suggest that most directors would be content with making a movie as good as Reservoir Dogs at any point in their career, let along having it be their feature debut. This modest 1992 production was as confident an introduction as any film since Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, setting the foundation for both critics and audiences as to what kind of artist Quentin Tarantino would become.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Over a quarter of a century later, the film that brought Tarantino his first Oscar and established him as a household name is still a cultural landmark: Pulp Fiction, the director’s second feature film, remains today an overwhelming achievement in atmosphere, comedy, drama, and storytelling. Starting out with two criminals in black-and-white suits shooting the breeze on their way to their next hit, it first feels like a continuation of the style Tarantino had established in Reservoir Dogs but quickly expands out into a ghoulish and detailed world that feels much larger in scale.
The winner of the Palme d’Or at that year’s Cannes Film Festival, Tarantino’s second production is also similar to his first in that it is so proud and clear in its voice. As a stylish, sexy, and even fetishistic film, it totally revamped the worldwide audience’s perception of independent cinema. Fortunately, the director has never shied away from unique subject-matter for his films, and Pulp Fiction may be Tarantino at his most creative and eccentric.
Kill Bill (2003, 2004)
While perhaps not his greatest achievements, the Kill Bill movies are among Quentin Tarantino’s most inspired productions. This split revenge saga – one whose second volume is arguably the better of the pair – is a masterclass in choreography, visual violence, and tributary storytelling that elevates the genre it is inspired by: kung-fu exploitation films.
Yes, the kung-fu movies do have their own fair share of quirks – not the least of which is a proudly campy fixture – but the simple fact of the matter is, when it comes to defining Quentin Tarantino and the purpose of his of cinema, the Kill Bill films best encompass all that he has to offer: they’re a stylistic, loving homage to an underrated genre.
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
After enacting a well-earned vengeance onto a dreadfully horrid man, the final line of Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds is Lt. Aldo “The Apache” Raine’s statement, “this may just be my masterpiece.” It was a booming finale that was also thinly veiled wink to the audience — one that many couldn’t help but agree with.
The movie sees the director exhibit a much higher degree of maturity. Its dialogue is still razor-sharp, but also incredibly unsteady. Every conversation feels as if it’s going to blow out the sides of the screen and in many cases, they do. In addition to the overarching Nazi narrative, the overall eerie quality of the film rests largely in the hands of its SS officers: while Colonel Hans Landa (an Oscar-winning performance from Christoph Waltz) is always the one who comes to mind, there’s also August Diehl’s short appearance as Major Hellstrom to consider. The latter partakes in one of the tensest and most meticulously crafted scenes Tarantino has ever made. The film, released in 2009, ushered the director into a new era of Hollywood, and solidified the director’s continued, ongoing relevance.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, the heavy awards-contender Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is without a doubt the most meditative production in his filmography. The movie about movies Tarantino fans always knew was coming still contains the Tarantino motifs – the cursing, the big names, and the fluid dialogue (with an extra dash of Hollywood nostalgia) – but feels way more mellow than anything he’s ever put out before.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s relatively mild nature led many audience members to feel unsure about how to receive it; however, it is also for that reason that the film is a must-see. In addition to being one of Quentin Tarantino’s best chances at a Best Picture Oscar win, the film fantasia also brings with it a sense of nostalgia and desire; the era depicted in the film is long gone, scarred by the heinous crimes that the movie revisits, and subsequently revises; in giving audiences a chance to witness what may have been, Tarantino is at his most vulnerable as a filmmaker, showing a softer side to his usually visceral public image.
More: Quentin Tarantino Universe Timeline: When Each Movie Takes Place
