From his interesting casting choices to the clever homages he hides in plain sight, Quentin Tarantino is without a doubt one of the greatest directors of all-time. Tarantino’s film career officially started in the 1980s when he wrote and directed My Best Friend’s Birthday, a screenplay that would eventually become the basis for the 1993 romantic crime film True Romance. Since then, the Knoxville native has evolved into one of the most recognized and admired directors in Hollywood.
“Movies are not about the weekend that they’re released, and in the grand scheme of things, that’s probably the most unimportant time of a film’s life.” ~ Quentin Tarantino
In celebration of Tarantino’s career, join us as we rank the beloved director’s 10 feature films. Enjoy!
10. Death Proof (2007)
Synopsis: Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) is a professional body double who likes to take unsuspecting women for deadly drives in his free time. He has doctored his car for maximum impact. So, when Mike purposely causes wrecks, the bodies pile up while he walks away with barely a scratch. Mike may be in over his head, though, when he targets a tough group of female friends, including real-life stuntwoman Zoe Bell (who served as Uma Thurman’s double in Kill Bill), who plays herself.
Starring: Eli Roth, Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell, Vanessa Ferlito, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Bruce Willis, Jordan Ladd, Tracie Thoms, Josh Brolin, Danny Trejo
Source: Screenshot via Dimension Films9. Django Unchained (2012)
Synopsis: Two years before the Civil War, Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave, finds himself accompanying an unorthodox German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) on a mission to capture the vicious Brittle brothers. Their mission successful, Schultz frees Django, and together they hunt the South’s most-wanted criminals. Their travels take them to the infamous plantation of shady Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), where Django’s long-lost wife (Kerry Washington) is still a slave.
Starring: Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Walton Goggins
Source: Screenshot via Columbia Pictures8. The Hateful Eight (2015)
Synopsis: While racing toward the town of Red Rock in post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) encounter another bounty hunter (Samuel L. Jackson) and a man who claims to be a sheriff (Walton Goggins). Hoping to find shelter from a blizzard, the group travels to a stagecoach stopover located on a mountain pass. Greeted there by four strangers, the eight travelers soon learn that they may not make it to their destination after all.
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Walton Goggins, Bruce Dern, Demián Bichir, Channing Tatum, Zoe Bell
Source: Screenshot via The Weinstein Company7. Jackie Brown (1997)
Synopsis: 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.
Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Bridget Fonda, Robert Forster, Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Michael Bowen, Chris Tucker, Sid Haig, Tommy Lister
Source: Screenshot via Miramax Films6. Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
Synopsis: The Bride (Uma Thurman) picks up where she left off in Volume 1 with her quest to finish the hit list she has composed of all of the people who have wronged her, including ex-boyfriend Bill (David Carradine), who tried to have her killed four years ago during her wedding to another man. Leaving several dead in her wake, she eventually tracks down Bill in Mexico. Using the skills she has learned during her assassin career, she attempts to finish what she set out to do in the first place.
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Parks, Lucy Liu, Samuel L. Jackson, Gordon Liu, Sonny Chiba, Chiaki Kuriyama, Julie Dreyfus
Source: Screenshot via Miramax Films5. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Synopsis: Actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) gained fame and fortune by starring in a 1950s television western, but is now struggling to find meaningful work in a Hollywood that he doesn’t recognize anymore. He spends majority of his time drinking and palling around with Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his easygoing best friend and longtime stunt double. Rick also happens to live next door to Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha) and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) — the filmmaker and budding actress whose futures will forever be altered by members of the Manson Family.
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, Austin Butler, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Al Pacino, Rafał Zawierucha
Source: Screenshot via Sony Pictures4. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Synopsis: 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 (Diane Kruger), a German actress and undercover agent, to bring down the leaders of the Third Reich. Their fates converge with theater owner Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), who seeks to avenge the Nazis’ execution of her family.
Starring: Eli Roth, Christoph Waltz, Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Diane Kruger, Michael Fassbender, Mike Myers, Daniel Brühl, B. J. Novak, Léa Seydoux, Til Schweiger, Denis Ménochet, Harvey Keitel, August Diehl, and Julie Dreyfus
Source: Picture via Universal Pictures3. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Synopsis: Six criminals with pseudonyms and each strangers to one another are hired to carry out a robbery. The heist is ambushed by police. As such, the gang is forced to shoot their way out. At their warehouse rendezvous, the survivors, realizing that they were set up, try to find the traitor in their midst.
Starring: Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Chris Penn, Randy Brooks, Lawrence Tierney
Source: Screenshot via Miramax Films2. Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Synopsis: 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.
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Sonny Chiba, Gordon Liu, Chiaki Kuriyama
Source: Screenshot via Miramax Films1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Synopsis: 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).
Starring: Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Ving Rhames, Christopher Walken, Rosanna Arquette, Maria de Medeiros, Steve Buscemi
Source: Screenshot via Miramax Films