Ranking Quentin Tarantino’s Filmography
Quentin Tarantino is a cinematic genius. Or, at least, he thinks he is. I just happen to agree with him. While he’s directed only nine films in his legendary career, each of them deserves a spot in the pantheon of film for a variety of reasons. From the landmark opening scene of Jackie Brown to the final skin-crawling scalping of Inglourious Basterds, single frames of Tarantino’s movies exist as immediately identifiable iconic cinematic moments.
His latest release, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood has a multitude of iconic moments, as well as icons (Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Timothy Olyphant, Kurt Russell, Mike Moh playing icon Bruce Li, Bruce Dern, and Luke fucking Perry), that expands Tarantino’s already classic-filled filmography. Most directors are lucky to make one masterpiece, where Tarantino might have four. He exists in rarefied air, even for Hollywood.
Tarantino is less a filmmaker than he is a hip-hop artist. The way the auteur samples different films and genres for each of his projects is more akin to an early record from Kanye West than it is an original film from Martin Scorsese. Look no further than Jackie Brown, which uses all of the typical tropes of traditional heist movies but sprinkles in blaxplotation homages to Coffy and Foxy Brown as much as it evokes the cleverness of Oceans Eleven or Heat. Likewise, Django Unchained bucks every trend of the typical Western, evoking the work of Sergio Corbucci instead of Clint Eastwood or John Wayne.
His films shapeshift between genres, as Pulp Fiction seamlessly bounces from crime drama to black comedy and Inglourious Basterds blends war epic with western with black comedy with fairy tale and even a touch of film noir doomed romance. Of course, no film is as overtly a fairy tale as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which attempts to buck genre entirely in an attempt to tell the most deeply heartfelt and tender story Tarantino’s pen has yet crafted.
Tarantino has created a filmography that will certainly serve as a talking point in film studies classes for the rest of time. He has said his next film will be his last, creating a ten film collection of Tarantino Essentials. Surely, after his tenth film is released, I will revisit this list, and surely it will be debated into the Internet void where I will be called varying degrees of the word clown or idiot by Twitter avatars who like Kill Bill more than I do. That’s fine, and I hope you debate this list with your friends and followers, because that will mean you read it, which is cool.
With that, this is a definitive, entirely correct, inarguable ranking of the nine films Quentin Tarantino has directed. This of course means that True Romance, which was only written by Tarantino, will not be on the list. Neither will Natural Born Killers or From Dusk Till Dawn. Which is half good because Oliver Stone ruined the former.
9. Death Proof
Death Proof is an interesting Tarantino project in that it is both unlike anything he had ever done to this point while staying true to the directors ticks. It is, at its core, a slasher film, which has a certain rigidity to it as all exploitation films do. However, Tarantino is able to put his own twist on the genre, paying homage to the traditional stuntmen of the past. Named for the “death-proof” cars stuntmen used to drive during chase sequences to perform crashes while being relatively safe; Death Proof is a twisted take on the slasher genre, deploying Kurt Russell as a vicious stuntman hell bent on murdering young women. Sure, a death-proofed car will keep the stunt man safe, but as Kurt Russell’s Stuntman Mike so eloquently puts it: “This car is 100% death proof… but honey, to get the benefit, you really need to be sitting in my seat.”
In the end, Death Proof is a good movie that is held back by the rigidness of its genre and scope. It can never achieve anything more than the sum of its parts, because of what it exists to be. It’s an incredibly well-acted and well-scripted slasher film, but it’s still a slasher film. It’s constructed as such, and in that it is held down, unable to reach the stratosphere of Tarantino’s greater works. The usual ticks are here, from the inappropriate comedic timing to the Oh So Much Gore, but the deft cinematography and genre-blending writing of his other efforts are missing. Death Proof excels at what it does, but doesn’t attempt to become anything more.
STAND-OUT SCENE: After Kim shoots Stuntman Mike in the shoulder, he’s forced to pull over and treat his wound by pouring whiskey in it. Not only was this climactic scene brilliant, it was improvised by Kurt Russell, who is a maelstrom in his most villainous role. Tarantino left it in the final cut because he found it wildly funny, as only Tarantino could.
8. The Hateful Eight
The Hateful Eight is a difficult thing to quantify. It’s a film about vicious, wholly unlikable people who find themselves stuck in a cabin together during a blizzard in Wyoming. Oh, by the way, they are (mostly) bounty hunters and one of them is transporting a prisoner worth $10,000. On paper, it’s a perfect vehicle for Tarantino’s unique blend of witty dialogue and ultra-violence. On screen, it should be a monolith of a director at the peak of his powers, bolstered by a time-capsule worthy performance from Jennifer Jason-Leigh that ranks as her very best and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress (an award she should have won).
However, Tarantino falters in this film in the only way he can. It’s too much of himself, and he can’t get out of his own way. At nearly three hours, it’s over-long and the setting becomes claustrophobic. The decision to film the movie in Ultra Panavision 70 feels special when you see the film in its roadhouse format, complete with intermission, but feels wasted when you consider 80 percent of the film takes place indoors, in a singular location. In the end, The Hateful Eight is not a bad film, but it feels more like a vehicle for an admittedly spectacular Ennio Moriccone composed score than it does a completely crafted Tarantino original.
STAND-OUT SCENE: Daisy Domergue, played by Jennifer Jason-Leigh having the time of her life, asks Kurt Russell’s John Ruth if she can play that guitar over there. While she picks away and sings a morbid tune, Ruth discovers he likes her singing, right up until she sings about his death. Of course, this is where the poison she indirectly fed him kicks in, and so does the plot. Finally.
7. Kill Bill
Technically Kill Bill is two films but also technically one. Tarantino himself has said it is one film, and so I will respect the author’s take because I happen to agree it is one film, in much the same way The Lord of the Rings is one film. It’s also the entrance into the meat of Tarantino’s catalog, as every film from here on out is certified Great. Like Death Proof after it, Kill Bill is constructed to pay tribute to grindhouse films, blending spaghetti western with kung-fu in one of Tarantino’s deftest scripts.
While treating Kill Bill as one film seems like the only appropriate way to rank it, it also feels unfair to an extent. Volume 1, while excellent, is limited in that it is strictly a kung-fu homage, which presents the same problems as Death Proof in that it is held back by what it is intended to be. Volume 2 rescues Kill Bill from falling entirely into the same trap, however. The climactic moments of the second installment are incredibly emotionally appealing, and some of the most visceral work Tarantino has ever done. The Bride finally facing down Bill holds a real, palpable emotional power that is absent from the first installment. Ultimately, Kill Bill ranks among the least of Tarantino’s greatest works, but make no mistake, it is a capital-G Great work.
STAND-OUT SCENE: While Kill Bill’s four hours spread across two theatrical releases contain a multitude of fantastic moments, including the best action choreography in Tarantino’s career, on moment stands-out among the rest. From the song, to the slow-motion walk, it all feels like a parody trope, which makes it hard to believe Tarantino invented it. Kill Bill put Hotei Tomayasu’s song Battle Without Honor or Humanity on the map, and this scene has earned its rightful place in the lexicon of cinema.
6. Jackie Brown
Jackie Brown is a criminally underappreciated piece of film and certainly the most underrated film of Tarantino’s catalog. It has become a classic Cool Kid move to call it Tarantino’s best film in an attempt to seem cultured while you rush that frat full of college sophomores with Pulp Fiction posters of Uma Thurman on their walls. “Bro, have you seen Jackie Brown? Seriously, bro, nobody talks about it but it’s probably his best movie, bro.” is probably a phrase being uttered at a welcome weekend college party while you read this. Unfortunately for those Cool Kids, they are wrong. (But their heart is in the right place.)
To actually talk about Jackie Brown for a moment, it is spectacular. It is really the last homage film on this list, but it’s clear Tarantino reveres the blaxploitation films of the 70s and 80s and infused Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch with blaxploitation themes. In fact, Tarantino drummed up the vastly underappreciated blaxploitation icon Pam Grier for the lead role as Jackie herself, giving her a role and script that finally befit the oft underutilized star. Not to be missed is Samuel L. Jackson at his most villainous, and Robert De Niro at his most dense. Jackie Brown is Tarantino’s funniest, and nearly his most heartfelt film in the catalog.
STAND-OUT SCENE: The Cool Kids are wrong that it’s Tarantino’s best film, but it does contain his single greatest sequence. Jackie Brown’s opening credits see her starting her shift at the airport, travelling through the terminal. In a total of nine camera shots, Tarantino tells us everything there is to know about Jackie, all to the tune of Bobby Womack’s stellar Across 110th Street.
5. Django Unchained
I would like to start this segment by addressing what a criminal oversight it was by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to not so much as nominate Leonardo DiCaprio for his performance in this film. While Christoph Waltz was nominated for the same award (and won it), his performance was the second best in a film chock full of great performances.
Django Unchained is not Tarantino’s best script, but it seems as though he had the most fun writing it. It provided him an opportunity to create some truly awful characters, the likes of which even the motley crew of The Hateful Eight would cringe at. What holds Django from being higher on this list, despite it being Tarantino’s most commercially successful film (yet), is that it amounts to self-indulging revenge fantasy. Despite it being a revenge fantasy of the utmost quality, it never reaches the incredibly high heights of the next four films on this list.
STAND-OUT SCENE: It’s the one that should have won DiCaprio his first Oscar, dammit. DiCaprio is an absolute tour de force as the vile Calvin Candie, his first truly villainous role, and he has an absolute blast playing it. In this tense, nearly-climactic scene when Candie discovers Django and Dr. Schultz’s true motive, DiCaprio actually cut his own hand by accident. Never one to break character, the cameras continued to roll, and Tarantino loved the scene so much that they used fake blood to wrap up the scene. I remind you, he wasn’t even fucking nominated.
4. Reservoir Dogs
This is the film that turned Tarantino from the video store clerk who sold a couple scripts to the most promising director in American cinema. Reservoir Dogs changed what could be expected from an independent film, and was a watershed moment for movies that embraced vitriolic dialogue and ultra-violence. It is also the perfect entry point into Tarantino’s style, as it beautifully blends his unique take on comedy and crime.
Reservoir Dogs opens with a scene that tells you everything you will ever need to know to watch a Tarantino film. As the camera cuts around a diner table while a group of strangers about to rob a diamond store shoot the shit, you’re introduced to Tarantino’s vernacular, as well as characters who really feel like they have lived entire lives before this moment. Where some films open with characters whose lives seem to start and end at the opening and closing credits, Reservoir Dogs is full of characters who seem to have been guided by experience. It’s immediately apparent as Steve Buscemi’s Mr. Pink argues about the virtue of tipping a waitress.
STAND-OUT SCENE: You already know which scene it is. The one that stunned critics and audiences who were about to be desensitized to Tarantino. In hindsight, it’s pretty tame. The camera even cuts away to minimize the violence you actually see. But in 1992, it was shocking to see a psychopath cut someone’s ear off while Stealers Wheel plays on the radio.
3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Everything I’ve said about aspects of Tarantino films that define his films should be thrown out the window for his latest masterpiece. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a massive, and very welcome, outlier in his filmography. It’s as tender, personal, and deeply heartfelt as the director has ever been in a film. Devoid of his usual ultra-violence and drawn-out conversations, Tarantino finds himself exploring a setting more than he does a story.
That’s not to say the characters suffer as Tarantino explores Hollywood in 1969. In fact, by casting megastars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as down-on-their-luck losers in Hollywood, Tarantino has crafted two of the most relatable characters in his armory. Say what you will about the modern message of two white guys who have found themselves stuck in a world that no longer values them, but both DiCaprio and Pitt shine, bringing two of the best performances in their respective careers to the table. Tarantino’s love letter to Hollywood could feel overlong for some, but those people are missing out. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a reminder of how great Tarantino is when operating at his peak powers.
STAND-OUT SCENE: You’ll hear a lot about the perceived mistreatment of Margot Robbie by people who think she didn’t have enough speaking lines. While it’s true that her character, the real-life and tragic Sharon Tate, has limited lines, she is by no means mistreated. In fact, the scene in which she pops-in to a local theater to revel in an audience enjoying her own film steals the entire movie.
2. Pulp Fiction
While Reservoir Dogs prepped the world for Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction introduced the world to him. Possessing every single trademark tick that has come to define Tarantino’s career, Pulp Fiction tells a completely disjointed, violent, controversial, deftly written, and wildly entertaining story about gangsters, a crime boss, a boxer, and a very over-zealous amateur crime couple.
From the first frame of the film, you get the feeling that you’re in for something special. That feeling gets turned up to 11 when Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winfield and John Travolta’s Vincent Vega ride around south Los Angeles talking about Amsterdam and cheeseburgers. That feeling gets turned up to 12 when they discuss the underlying motives of a foot massage en route to sending some clients of their boss a message. And when Jules senselessly murders someone in the middle of a question — “I’m sorry, did I break your concentration?” — and recites Ezekiel 25:17 before murdering Brad? That feeling flies off the charts. Pulp Fiction deserved both Best Picture and Best Director. It won neither.
STAND-OUT SCENE: Vincent Vega has to take his boss’s wife Mia (played with graceful wildness by Uma Thurman) out on a date while the boss is out of town. After a dinner (and a dance scene that just narrowly missed the honor of being singled out here), Mia overdoses on cocaine in her living room. Nobody makes an overdose hilarious like Quentin Tarantino.
- Inglourious Basterds
Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino’s most complete film, and it rounds out this list as both his best, and his fourth bona fide masterpiece. The first in what became a theme of revisionist history films (Django, Once Upon a Time), Basterds saw a troop of Jewish-American soldiers stampede across Nazi occupied France to do one thing and one thing only: kill Nazis. Basterds ranks easily as the most viscerally pleasing film Tarantino has ever made. It is also his most well written.
Christoph Waltz became a household name after portraying arguably the greatest character Tarantino has ever penned. Colonel Hans Landa is the devil; charming, polite, and pure evil. His character, brought to life by Waltz’s virtuosic performance, drives the film. From the opening scene that evokes fairy tell in much the same way Once Upon a Time in Hollywood does to the final moments of the film, Waltz’s performance is mesmerizing as Landa fills you with dread. Brad Pitt, having the time of his life, works wonders as the hilarious Lieutenant Aldo Raine, commanding his band of merry basterds on a Nazi killing romp across France. In the closing moments, Pitt also delivers perhaps the films most telling line, that feels like it’s coming from Tarantino’s own mouth: “You know somethin’, Yudovich? I think this might just be my masterpiece.”
STAND-OUT SCENE: Tarantino himself has called this scene his favorite of all the scenes he has ever written, and it’s easy to see why. Waltz charms and terrifies as he interrogates Monsieur LaPadite about the whereabouts of the Jewish family the Dreyfuses. The scene closes in the most horrifying way imaginable, as Landa commands his SS soldiers to murder the family hiding below the floorboards, climaxing with an exquisitely composed shot of Shoshanna’s escape from the clutches of the Jew Hunter.