Iconic filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has managed to cultivate a devoted fanbase, critical clout, and fairly consistent box office success, but not all of his projects are made equal. There’s not an outright “bad” one in the bunch, but without a doubt there’s a huge middle ground between his best work and the least effective of his projects. As of now, there are 10 Tarantino movies, including his half of Grindhouse, Death Proof. Considering Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood was marketed as his ninth film, it’s clear he doesn’t consider that Kurt Russell thread horror-actioner to be one of his 10 total movies he intends to make. But we’re counting it here, and whenever he makes his final (so he says) film, this list will be bumped up to 11 entries.
In fact, there’s an argument to be made that he’s only made eight films, not counting his segment of Four Rooms (which would place last were we to include it): Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill (merging two films into one), Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Which one is our favorite? Find out below.
10) Death Proof
There’s some question of how much Death Proof counts as an entry in Tarantino’s filmography, but we’re going with it does because, unlike his segment of Four Rooms, it feels almost entirely separate from the rest of Grindhouse. Specifically, Robert Rodriguez’s far more entertaining Planet Terror.
Death Proof has some serious pacing issues. At two hours, it’s about 30 minutes too long for the story that was told here. And, while Tarantino’s dialogue still sparks, it’s not the most entertaining aspect of the film (which it usually is). And that takes us to what works about Death Proof. Specifically, Kurt Russell’s angry, intimidating performance as Stuntman Mike and the elongated chase slash revenge that makes up the third act. Not to mention, the movie wastes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, which is always a crime. It’s not even close, Death Proof is the least effective film under Tarantino’s belt.
Stream Death Proof with a Starz Apple TV channel subscription.
9) Kill Bill: Vol. 2
The two Kill Bill movies are essentially tied, and for multiple reasons. Perhaps most importantly, they’re not so much two separate films as they are halves of a single film that was too long to distribute.
But, on the other hand, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill: Bill Vol. 2 are quite different from one another. Specifically, the first volume is easily the more exciting one, while the second one is more plot-driven and, really, Tarantino-esque. The first one’s a throwback, and while it does have Tarantino style, it’s Vol. 2 that carries his classic crime action-drama threads (e.g. everything with the late Michael Madsen doesn’t feel that far removed from Reservoir Dogs, had his Mr. Blonde lived through the ordeal and gone on to live in a trailer and work at a topless bar). So, which Kill Bill is better? It comes down to personal taste. Do you prefer an elongated sword battle for a finale, or David Carradine talking about superhero secret identities?
Stream Kill Bill: Vol. 2 with an AMC+ Apple TV channel subscription.
8) Kill Bill: Vol. 1
While Vol. 2 comes packed with some stomach squirming moments (e.g. Beatrix ripping out Elle Driver’s other eye) and genuine shocks (the black mamba leaping out at Budd), Vol. 1 is just flat-out the more entertaining film. And it comes with a few stomach squirming moments and genuine shocks of its own, so it gets the slight win here on our ranking.
The film is pretty entertaining all the way through, even if there’s something of a lull between the time Beatrix visits Vivica A. Fox’s Vernita Green (a fantastic opening scene) and Lucy Liu’s O-Ren Ishii. Of all five villains Beatrix AKA the Bride had to take down, Ishii was easily the most compelling, and the Bride’s fight against her and her Crazy 88 is enthralling, very well shot, and fueled by a few choice needle drops.
Stream Kill Bill: Vol. 1 with an AMC+ Apple TV channel subscription.
7) The Hateful Eight
With gorgeous cinematography, a sublime score by Ennio Morricone of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and The Thing fame (the latter of which had three unused tracks that were put into Tarantino’s film), and typically perfect casting, The Hateful Eight is an ambitious but at times overwhelming modern Western. But it’s a case where the best elements greatly outweigh its worst.
The single setting works well, as does the twist about the gang members being beneath the floorboards. But that’s just it, they only work well, not sublimely. Instead, where The Hateful Eight earns its highest marks is in terms of casting, particularly when it comes to the work done by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Walton Goggins. Outside one performance in Inglourious Basterds, Leigh’s performance here is the best acting ever displayed in a Tarantino film. It’s a masterclass. Even still, The Hateful Eight isn’t quite as rewatchable as other later phase movies from the director, and it doesn’t feel as integral to understanding who he is as a creative as Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, or Pulp Fiction.
Stream The Hateful Eight on Netflix.
6) Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
We’re getting a sequel to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood sequel, this time fronted by Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth instead of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton. But it’s not the 10th and “final” official Tarantino film. He’s not even directing it. It will instead be helmed by David Fincher with Tarantino penning the script, which is equally exciting.
Hollywood is the ultimate companion piece to Inglourious Basterds. And while the majority of the film works quite well, it can also be a bit overwhelming at two hours and forty minutes. But when it’s tied into Inglourious, namely in the way it plays with particularly horrid history, it’s an absolute blast.
Stream Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood on fuboTV.
5) Jackie Brown
Few authors were as adaptable as the late Elmore Leonard, who created the character Raylan Givens from Justified. It really just came down to who was adapting him, and for that task it’s truly difficult to imagine anyone who could tackle his expertly crafted crime stories and snappy dialogue than Tarantino. The only one who has ever done it as well for the big screen is Steven Soderbergh for his Out of Sight.
Jackie Brown remains the only time Tarantino has directly adapted pre-existing source material. One would think that would make it stand out considerably within his catalogue, but it doesn’t. The whole thing feels distinctly Tarantino. And, as is the case with most of his films, there are a few performances that are genuinely astounding. In this case, the work done by Pam Grier and Robert Forster.
Stream Jackie Brown with a MovieSphere+ Prime Video channel subscription.
4) Django Unchained
Django Unchained was a massive tightrope walk for Tarantino. The topic of slavery naturally has to be handled with the utmost delicateness if it’s going to be tackled at all, and Tarantino’s guiding hand has never quite been delicate. But he really made it work. The key was emulating Italian Westerns more than recreating a genuine Antebellum South. It allows the film to feel somewhat removed from the real-world ugliness that taints U.S. history. But not entirely, though, as it doesn’t shy away from showing the evil that men do just as it doesn’t shy from showing those evil men fly across the room as soon as they’re blasted by a six-shooter.
There’s a good bit of humor in Django Unchained, too, which works far more often than not, especially when it comes to Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Monsieur” Calvin J. Candie and his utter inability to speak a lick of French. That character trait is probably the funniest thing Tarantino has ever written, but Django also houses the sweetest, the saddest, and the worst things he’s ever written. As for the sweetest, it’s when Django is utterly captivated by the German folktale told to him by Christoph Waltz’s Dr. King Schultz. The saddest is the death of D’Artagnan, without a doubt. And, when it comes to the worst, Tarantino’s scene as an Australian bounty hunter feels entirely out of place. In other words, Django Unchained can feel all over the place, but it’s a masterful, compelling, entertaining epic nonetheless.
Rent Django Unchained on Amazon Video.
3) Reservoir Dogs
Right out the gate, Tarantino established his style, his firm grasp over the crime genre, his fantastic taste in music, and his ability to get the exact performances out of actors that he wanted. Reservoir Dogs also holds a new charm at this point, as it’s the only one of his films (save for Death Proof and either half of Kill Bill) that doesn’t play as an epic.
It’s intricately constructed like the remainder of his filmography, but as a whole is far breezier, and for that reason it’s arguably his most intense film to date. And, while Tarantino deserves the lion’s share of the credit for Reservoir Dogs‘ success, the actors deserve a cut too. From Steve Buscemi and Harvey Keitel to Tim Roth and the late Michael Madsen, all the stars are firing on all cylinders.
Stream Reservoir Dogs on Paramount+.
2) Inglourious Basterds
There are essentially three phases to Tarantino’s career. The early days consisted of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown, the experimentation phase consisted of the two Kill Bill films and Death Proof, and the glossier later days started with Inglourious Basterds and continue today. As far as that later phase goes, it’s always going to be incredibly difficult to beat Inglourious.
There’s a strong argument that this is Tarantino’s film. Were it not for the similar level of quality mixed with the importance to his career that the number one spot represents, Inglourious would win. Tarantino almost always plays with establishing different storylines and merging them, and that’s never been done better than it was done here. It also established something new: Tarantino’s joy with messing with the history we as the audience know as our reality. He genuinely built a world here where he could gruesomely kill off Hitler and it’s both entertaining and feels somewhat real. We know it’s not real, but for a while we live in it, and once the movie is over it’s still a reality we can wish is true. Lastly, Christoph Waltz’s performance as Hans Landa is the best acting to ever grace a Tarantino film, and that’s really saying something.
Stream Inglourious Basterds on fuboTV.
1) Pulp Fiction
Stuffed with some of the best dialogue Tarantino’s ever penned, explosive acting from Samuel L. Jackson (the ultimate collaborator of the director’s), and a compelling non-linear structure, Pulp Fiction took the clout Tarantino netted from Reservoir Dogs, upped it, and put a major box office success under his belt.
Pulp Fiction came at the exact right time. It was an integral factor in making the ’90s the definitive decade for indie cinema, and on top of being an important entry in cinema history, it’s also just incredibly entertaining. And thanks to its non-linear structure, it practically begs to be rewatched, which is an experience continuously bolstered by Tarantino’s energetic dialogue and the charming entourage of actors, all of whom are delivering some of their best work to date.
Stream Pulp Fiction on Paramount+.
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