Quentin Tarantino: His 5 Best Movies (To Absolutely Watch)

Quentin Tarantino certainly needs no introduction. Since the 1990s we have come to love his creative genius as he directed, wrote and painstakingly produced his films. You can immediately recognize his work as soon as the opening credits start. Tarantino has a well-defined and completely personal style, like no one else, and many elements and tricks are recurring in his films. For instance, the dialogues are his trademark, but also the representation of violence (in a more or less bloody way) and the temporal jumps in the narrative.

niood lists the top 5 movies of the genius movie director and producer, Quentin Tarantino:

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

R 1994, Crime/Drama, 2h 33m

Rotten Tomatoes AUDIENCE SCORE: 96% (250,000+ Ratings)

Storyline:

Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions. In this ultra-hip, multi-strand crime movie, their storyline is interwoven with those of their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) ; his actress wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) ; struggling boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) ; master fixer Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) and a nervous pair of armed robbers, “Pumpkin” (Tim Roth) and “Honey Bunny” (Amanda Plummer).

Why we love it:

Tarantino’s second work marks an epoch. Pulp Fiction is the most important film of the 90s and is a fundamental film in the history of cinema. The postmodern work par excellence that founds a new imaginary. Here is all Tarantino: the non-linear structure, the exaggerated violence, an iconic soundtrack, perfect dialogues and actors in a state of grace. The film is full of scenes and lines that have entered pop culture (the dance between Uma Thurman and John Travolta, Mr. Wolf, the quote from Ezekiel). An inimitable and historical film, the best of Tarantino.

2. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

R 1992, Crime/Drama, 1h 45m

Rotten Tomatoes AUDIENCE SCORE: 94% (250,000+ Ratings)

Storyline:

A group of thieves assemble to pull of the perfect diamond heist. It turns into a bloody ambush when one of the men turns out to be a police informer. As the group begins to question each other’s guilt, the heightening tensions threaten to explode the situation before the police step in.

Why we love it:

It is clear from the very beginning of this director’s way of making cinema which are the themes he prefers, a passionate and grotesque entertainment in the face of violence, the face of a scurrilous, unfiltered, dirty America and the moral ambiguity of characters that even in being outlawed they follow a “moral code”.

3. Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

R 2003, Sports & fitness/Action, 1h 50m

Rotten Tomatoes AUDIENCE SCORE: 81% (250,000+ Ratings)

Storyline:

A former assassin, known simply as The Bride (Uma Thurman), wakes from a coma four years after her jealous ex-lover Bill (David Carradine) attempts to murder her on her wedding day. Fueled by an insatiable desire for revenge, she vows to get even with every person who contributed to the loss of her unborn child, her entire wedding party, and four years of her life. After devising a hit list, The Bride sets off on her quest, enduring unspeakable injury and unscrupulous enemies.

Why we love it:

Volume one lays the foundations for this whole journey. We have, in the staging, all the obsessions of Quentin Tarantino with lots of unforgettable cult moments like the Pussy Wagon or the part of Hattori Hanzō (name taken from a legendary samurai). Not to mention the exaggerated fights that pay homage to the 70s martial arts cinema.

4. Jackie Brown (1997)

R 1997, Crime/Drama, 2h 35m

Rotten Tomatoes AUDIENCE SCORE: 85% (100,000+ Ratings)

Storyline:

When flight attendant Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is busted smuggling money for her arms dealer boss, Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and detective Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) want her help to bring down Robbie. Facing jail time for her silence or death for her cooperation, Brown decides instead to double-cross both parties and make off with the smuggled money. Meanwhile, she enlists the help of bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster), a man who loves her.

Why we love it:

This film is the one that distances itself the most from the Tarantinian style, it is more mature. There are sequences of violence, but the act is not shown, it has a linear narrative and has less action. Andrew Collins describes his essence perfectly: “It proves that Tarantino is a director who doesn’t need violence to keep our attention”.

5. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

R 2009, War/Comedy, 2h 32m

Rotten Tomatoes AUDIENCE SCORE: 88% (250,000+ Ratings)

Storyline:

It is the first year of Germany’s occupation of France. Allied officer Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a team of Jewish soldiers to commit violent acts of retribution against the Nazis, including the taking of their scalps. He and his men join forces with Bridget von Hammersmark, a German actress and undercover agent, to bring down the leaders of the Third Reich. Their fates converge with theater owner Shosanna Dreyfus, who seeks to avenge the Nazis’ execution of her family.

Why we love it:

This is the brilliant rewriting of Quentin Tarantino, which combines, in a perfect mix, a ruthless and refined violence, and a strong and pungent irony, put together by a perfect script and numerous quotes. Cinema, on the other hand, is the common thread of all these components: that powerful means by which the Nazis propagated themselves and sang their praises for the “majestic enterprises”, now becomes a crematorium in which others will finally be able field your own revenge.