ByA richly textured homage to the late ’60s and Hollywood’s Golden Age, “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood” (2019) was a Tarantino gorgeous comeback. A Hollywood filmmaker with his signature style, Quentin Tarantino is a master of provocative, witty movies, dark humor, and sparkling dialogues. There is a lot to unpack in his movies. And each Tarantino movie is unique in its own way. However, here is our ranking of the most iconic Quentin Tarantino movies.
1.”Pulp Fiction” (1994)
Listing the most famous films of Tarantino, it is impossible to bypass this iconic movie. “Pulp Fiction” became a landmark in the world’s cinematography. A masterpiece with an ensemble cast, “Pulp Fiction” brought Tarantino international fame and cemented his movie in popular culture. Set in the underground criminal world of 1990s Los Angeles, the effortlessly elegant movie follows four storylines. Two criminals Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) are having a nice time, resting from the showdown, and talking to the debtors of their boss Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). At the same time, three stories unfold. In the first one, Vincent looks after the wife of Marcellus Mia (Uma Thurman) and accidentally saves her from death due to an overdose. The protagonist of the second story is a boxer who defrauds Marcellus. And the third story intertwines the first two. Nonlinear storytelling weaves together different stories and makes a flamboyant yet sharp and multifaceted story.
2.“Inglourious Basterds” (2009)
This revisionist and rousing war movie is undoubtedly one of the best-known Tarantino movies. Set during the alternate retelling of World War II, the movie is a revisionist take. Lieutenant of the American army Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) decides to fight the fascists by their methods: he gathers a group of Jews, heads it, and begins to do justice. This gang captures German soldiers and kills them with particular cruelty. At this time France is occupied and under the rule of Hitler, and Paris is dominated by Nazi Colonel Hans Landa, an officer who won the title of a hero for his numerous murders. Brilliantly portrayed by Christoph Waltz, villainous Landa likes Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) who turns out to be a Jewish woman, whose family Landa has once executed.
The heroine decides to take revenge on the fascists. This eclectic non-conventional movie is full of amazing dialogues, thrilling plot twists, and unforgettable acting performances of Waltz, Pitt, Fassbender, Roth, Bruhl, Laurent, and Kruger. The iconic role of Hans Landa brought Christoph Waltz numerous acting awards including the BAFTA and Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor Award. This controversial adventure film was the movie that revitalized the career of Tarantino. Even if you generally don’t like war movies and would rather enjoy comedies and play at Hellspin, “Inglourious Basterds” will keep you at the edge of your seat. It is bizarre, audacious, hyperviolent, and this is the Tarantino flair.
3.“Django Unchained” (2012)
A brutal historical Western, this film is set in pre-civil war America in the middle of the XIX century. A bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz, nicknamed Dentist, is fishing in the Wild West and buys a slave Django (Jamie Foxx), and frees him. Together they go in search of a criminal gang led by the Brittle brothers. The main goal of Schultz is to destroy the ringleaders and pick up another big score. But Django wants to find out where his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) is. She has not yet been able to free herself from the shackles of slavery. A critical and commercial success, “Django Unchained” is the most financially successful movie in Tarantino’s career.
4.“Reservoir Dogs” (1992)
This movie brilliantly set out Tarantino’s trademark style and was a turning point in his career. Empire even named this Tarantino’s debut feature film “Greatest Independent Film of All Time”. The story revolves around eight thieves and a diamond heist. The boss, Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) gathers six experienced and professional criminals to carry out the plan and organize everything in the best way. Joe develops a brilliant plan, but everything goes wrong. The robbery turns into a real massacre with liters of blood and dozens of cruel scenes. In “Reservoir Dogs” Tarantino used nonlinear narrative to make the story more gripping.
5.“Kill Bill: Vol. 1″ (2003)
The movie revolves around the professional assassin Bride, portrayed by Uma Thurman. At her wedding, a gang of cold-blooded killers breaks in and decides to kill everyone who attended the wedding, including the Bride herself. All this was started by the heroine’s ex-boyfriend Bill, father of her unborn child, who betrayed her. After a coma, Bride decides to hack her way to her ex-lover for a bloody rampage. On her journey to Bill, she has to overcome many difficulties and fight brutal assassins. Nonlinear storytelling, dark humor, amazing fight choreography, and stylistic flair make the movie very entertaining to watch. A homage to samurai movies, “Kill Bill” is epic. There are many other films to love in Tarantino’s filmography like “Four Rooms” (1995), “Jackie Brown” (1997), “Death Proof” (2007), and “The Hateful Eight” (2015). We also intentionally didn’t add “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood” (2019) to this list, but it definitely would deserve a spot on our list or even a separate article.
