Top 5 Tarantino Films

Acclaimed director and foot fetishist Quentin Tarantino has been as successful as he has been controversial in his in his twenty-plus year stint behind the camera. Are his films groundbreaking and generation-defining? Or are they ultraviolent trash? I don’t care. I can’t get enough of ‘em, so here’s my top five ranking.

5: Reservoir Dogs

Tarantino’s debut defined cool and introduced his audience to the quirks and obsessions his films would become famous for. Long scenes of natural-but-quirky dialogue? Check. An excellent, eclectic soundtrack? Check. More blood than anyone thought was legal to put on screen? Check, check and check. While Reservoir Dogs now feels more like groundwork than something groundbreaking, standout scenes include when Michael Madsen cuts that guy’s ear off and, my personal favourite, Steve Buscemi on tipping your waitstaff.

4: Pulp Fiction

Perhaps his most famous work, Tarantino’s breakout hit of the 90’s launched a thousand pale imitations of its effortless style and nonlinear plot. For me, it doesn’t hold up as well as it used to. B-Willy’s French girlfriend makes me want to bludgeon myself every time she’s on screen, and it gets worse with each rewatch. That said, Samuel L. Jackson remains Badass Incarnate.

3: Kill Bill Vols. 1 and 2 

QT’s martial arts bonanza is a blur of violent action and pays homage to the Kung Fu classics of the 70s. Best viewed as one continuous film rather than as two halves, the full spectacle really highlights how Tarantino elevates a simple revenge flick into something more human. I’m sure a lot of people just want to skip ahead to see Uma Thurman slaughter roughly 88 Yakuza, but I prefer when she just hangs out with the immortal Sonny Chiba in his sushi bar.

2: Django Unchained 

Tarantino’s latest is a surprisingly humorous Southern (as opposed to Western) brought to life by the chemistry between its excellent leading men (Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx). It’s a film that tackles an impossibly abhorrent part of American history with a breathlessness and lightness of touch that is a testament to QT’s skill as writer and director. Undoubtedly my pick for Best Film of the Year.

1: Inglourious Basterds

Both historical epic and WWII Spaghetti Western, Inglourious Basterds keeps your fingers digging into the armrests throughout. It stands as Quentin Tarantino’s most mature and accomplished film to date. The  basement pub standoff is Oscar-worthy in its own right.

So there you have it, Tarantino’s top 5 films definitively ranked for your pleasure. If you disagree, then you’re more than welcome to go and read a gosh-darned book.