Quentin Tarantino is a masterful filmmaker that has made many influential films over the last 3 decades. He has written and directed 9 feature films and has written/co-written many great movies like True Romance (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994). Tarantino is well known for his nonlinear narrative style, extreme violence, and interesting dialog in his movies.
He started his career in 1992 by making his first feature film ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (Technically his first film would be ‘My Best Friend’s Birthday’ which he made in 1987, but he didn’t get to finish the film because a fire broke in at the laboratory where he stored the film and destroyed half of the footage. But you can still find the unfinished short movie on the internet)
And since then Tarantino has made some of the most influential films that have shaped the film industry. His films have grossed over $1.8B at the worldwide box office and have been nominated for 34 Academy Awards, Including 3 for Best Director.
Even though he never won in that category he won 2 Oscars for The Best Screenplay in 1995 and 2013. However, he has stated that he will retire after making his 10th movie, which means he will be only making one more movie. Let’s hope he changes his mind and give us some more wonderful films to enjoy. So, here are the 9 Best Quentin Tarantino movies of all time.
Best Quentin Tarantino Movies of all time
9. Death Proof
2007 | Action, Horror
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Quentin Tarantino, Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Vanessa Ferlito, Mary Winstead and more.
IMDb Ratings: 7/10
Death Proof tells a story about a stuntman named Mike who kills women and makes them look like car accidents. Kurt Russell plays the role of the stuntman Mike, and Zoë Bell the stunt-women who did the stunts for Uma Thurman in kill bill and has worked with Tarantino on many other projects, plays the role of a stunt woman that goes by the same name as her. The movie has a simple story told in a fun way, with a lot of action and violence. The movie flopped at the box office grossing only $31M. However, being at number 9 on the list doesn’t mean Death Proof is a bad movie, it is still a good, enjoyable movie if you don’t rely too much on realism in movies.
8. Jackie Brown
1997 | Crime, Drama
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda and more.
IMDb Ratings: 7.5/10
Quentin Tarantino’s 3rd movie Jackie Brown tells a story about a middle-aged flight attendant that gets caught for smuggling money and how she handles the situation. The role of the flight attendant Jackie Brown is played by Pam Grier. Tarantino specially choose her because he was a huge fan of her and he also wanted to give a little boost to her career. And the supporting cast includes some big names like Robert De Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, and Michael Keaton. With entertaining characters and a plot, the movie gives a truly wonderful experience to the audience. Robert Forster was nominated for the Best supporting actor at the 70th Academy Awards. The movie grossed over $74M at the worldwide box office.
7. The Hateful Eight
2015 | Western, Drama
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Quentin Tarantino, Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins and more.
IMDb Ratings: 7.8/10
The Hateful Eight tells a story about a bounty hunter and his prisoner who tries to find shelter during winter, and face a series of revelation events when they find one. One of Tarantino’s favorite collaborators, Samuel L. Jackson plays the role of Major Marquis Warren, Kurt Russell plays the role of the bounty hunter John Ruth and Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the role of the prisoner.
Even though the movie runs for 3 hours and almost takes place in the same place it still keeps you entertained till the end. It is mostly Tarantino’s dialog and great acting that make this an interesting movie. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s amazing performance got her a nomination at the 88th Academy Awards for best-supporting actress. The movie grossed over $156M at the worldwide box office.
6. Reservoir Dogs
1992 | Crime, Crime
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawerence Tierneyand more.
IMDb Ratings: 8.3/10
Reservoir Dogs is the first feature film done by Quentin Tarantino. It tells a story about a heist gone wrong. The movie’s cast includes some talented actors like Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Steve Buscemi. And Director Quentin Tarantino himself also plays a role in the movie as Mr. Brown. The story is loaded with violence and action scenes. It is told in a non-linear narrative and Tarantino’s writing keeps you entertained throughout the whole movie without making the audience lose interest.
The movie wasn’t very successful at the box office (It only grossed $2.9M) but it was not bad considering the movie only had a budget of a little over $1M. Reservoir Dogs is considered to be one of the best directional debuts in cinema history, and it’s still being loved by audiences all over the world.
5. Once upon a time in hollywood
2019 | Comedy, Drama
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Sharon Tate, Charles Manson, Dakota Fanning and more.
IMDb Ratings: 7.6/10
Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie Once Upon a Time In Hollywood tells a story about a fading Hollywood actor named Rick Dalton, who is trying to achieve success and fame in the industry. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of Rick Dalton, Brad Pitt plays the role of his stunt double Cliff Booth. The story is based on the murder of the late Hollywood actress Sharon Tate in the 1960s. Even though Tarantino has used some real-life characters in his story (Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth both are fictional characters), most of the story has been changed by him.
The real-life events were much darker than how they happened in the movie. Anyway, Margot Robbie gives out a great performance as Sharon Tate, and Leonardo Dicaprio was also incredible in his role. The movie earned Brad Pitt an Oscar for the Best supporting actor and nominations for Leonardo Dicaprio and Quentin Tarantino for Best Actor and Best Director. It grossed over $374M at the worldwide box office.
4. Kill Bill
2003 | Action, Crime
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah Vivica A Fox and more
IMDb Ratings: 8.1/10
Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill is an action movie about a bride that is seeking revenge (Even though Kill Bill has 2 volumes Tarantino himself stated he consider it as one movie; his original idea was to release Kill Bill as a single movie but it was Uma Thurman who suggested they break it into 2 parts and release as 2 volumes). Uma Thurman plays the main role, The Bride. And the supporting cast includes David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, and many other talented actors.
The story is presented in a nonlinear style, and both volumes are packed with action and many violent scenes. Every single character in this is well developed and given a proper background story. It makes the movie enjoyable even more. Both volumes became wildly successful at the box office by grossing a total of $330M at the box office. Also both of the parts of Kill Bill will always be included in the list of Best Quentin Tarantino movies of all time
3. Django Unchained
2012 | Western
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Fox, Samuel L. Jackson and more
IMDb Ratings: 8.4/10
Django Unchained is a Western, that tells a story about a black slave trying to free his wife from a vicious plantation owner. Jamie Foxx plays the role of Django (the black slave), Christopher Waltz plays the role of Dr. King Schultz who helps Django, and Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of Calvin Candy, the plantation owner. The movie runs for nearly 3 hours and with interesting characters and a story, it never makes you bored; Tarantino’s writing gives a perfect balance to both action and comedy.
Christopher Waltz’s incredible performance earned him an Oscar for the Best Supporting actor at the 85th Academy Awards and Leonardo DiCaprio also delivers a show-stealing performance. Tarantino won an oscar for Bets Screenplay. This became the most successful Tarantino movie at the box office by grossing over $425M worldwide.
2. Pulp Fiction
1994 | Crime, Drama
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and more.
IMDb Ratings: 8.9/10
I think I would be right if I called this the most iconic Tarantino movie. Pulp Fiction is a collection of 3 tales, about two mobsters, about their boss and his wife, and about a boxer. And it shows how they interfere with each other’s lives. Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta play the roles of the two mobsters, Ving Rhames and Uma Thurman play the roles of the hitman and his wife and Bruce Willis plays the role of the boxer.
Pulp Fiction is packed with violence just like every Tarantino movie and it’s definitely a movie worth watching. It is also the movie that really put Tarantino on the map. He and his co-writer Roger Avary won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay that year. And Tarantino was also nominated for best director alongside the movie being nominated for 6 other Oscars. It grossed over $213M worldwide throughout the year 1994, against a budget of $8M.
1. Inglorious Basterds
2009 | War, Action
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Waltz, Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and more.
IMDb Ratings: 8.9/10
It’s very rare to see a perfect opening, a perfect second act and a perfect ending in the same movie. Inglorious Basterds is a movie that is perfect from its start to the very end. It tells a story about a group of Jewish U.S soldiers that tries to assassinate some Nazi leaders during World War II. The cast includes Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Daniel Brühl, Michael Fassbender and many other talented actors.
With a powerful opening scene it drags you right into the story, and with Tarantino’s interesting characters and unpredictable story it keeps you entertained for its whole runtime without making you bored for split second. Christoph Waltz’s incredible show stealing performance earned him an Oscar for the Best supporting actor at the 82nd Academy Awards, also establishing a name for him in Hollywood. The movie was nominated for 7 other Oscars including 2 for best Directing and Screenplay. This also became a success at the box office grossing over $321M worldwide.
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