Best Quentin Tarantino Movies

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Quentin Tarantino, born March 27, 1963, in Knoxville, Tennessee, has enjoyed great success as an actor, writer and director. In his role as the latter, Tarantino –a former video store clerk – has directed a small body of films that have left an indelible mark in Hollywood.

Here are five movies – and yes, they’re saturated with extreme, quirky and obscene violence – that no Quentin Tarantino fan should ever miss.

Pulp Fiction (Miramax, 1994)

Quentin Tarantino co-wrote (with Roger Avary)and directed this sordid story of two hit men who are sent to retrieve a stolen briefcase belonging to their mob boss. John Travolta (Vincent Vega), Samuel L. Jackson (Jules Winnfield), Tim Roth (Pumpkin), Amanda Plummer (Honey Bunny), Eric Stoltz (Lance), Bruce Willis (Butch Coolidge), Ving Rhames (Marsellus Wallace), Rosanna Arquette (Jody), Uma Thurman (Mia Wallace)and Christopher Walken (Captain Koons) head the cast.

Budgeted at $8.5 million, Pulp Fiction was filmed in Los Angeles, Hawthorne and Pasadena, California. Quentin Tarantino appears as Jimmie Dimmick, with Tarantino’s trademark Red Apple cigarettes smoked by Bruce Willis in the film.

Pulp Fiction opens at a seedy diner, where breakfast patrons Pumpkin and Honey Bunny decide to rob the place. The action shifts to hit men Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, who are on their way to collect a stolen briefcase for mob kingpin Marsellus Wallace. Throw in aging pugilist Butch Coolidge, a sanctioned hit on Mia Wallace, a Vietnam vet with an heirloom gold watch, a bizarre Twist contest at Rabbit Slim’s and a fair amount of gun play, and one has the basic ingredients of a Quentin Tarantino classic.

• Domestic (USA) box-office gross: $107.928 million (#10, 1994)
• Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Tarantino), Best Writing (Tarantino, Avary, won), Best Actor (Travolta), Best Supporting Actor (Jackson), Best Supporting Actress (Thurman), Best Film Editing (Sally Menke)
• Great line: “Hamburgers! The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast.” – Samuel L. Jackson

Reservoir Dogs (Miramax, 1992)

Quentin Tarantino co-wrote (with Roger Avary) and directed this classic heist film. Harvey Keitel (Mr. White/Larry Dimmick), Tim Roth (Mr. Orange/Freddy Newandyke), Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde/Vic Vega), Chris Penn (Nice Guy Eddie Cabot), Steve Buscemi (Mr. Pink), Lawrence Tierney (Joe Cabot), Randy Brooks (Holdaway), Eddie Bunker (Mr. Blue) and Kirk Baltz (Officer Marvin Nash) head the cast.

Budgeted at $1.2 million, Reservoir Dogs was filmed in Los Angeles. Quentin Tarantino plays Mr. Brown. Both George Clooney and Samuel L. Jackson had auditioned for roles – as Mr. Blonde and Mr. Orange, respectively – but were turned down.

The aftermath of a jewel heist gone awry is explored in violent detail in Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut. Michael Madsen as the psychotic Mr. Blonde is mesmerizing, embarking on a killing spree after the jewelry store’s alarm is triggered. Reservoir Dogs, like all of Tarantino’s movies,is not for the faint of heart. One bloody scene features the sadistic Mr. Blonde wielding a straight razor, which he uses to cut off the ear of a kidnapped police officer.

• Domestic (USA) box-office gross: $2.832 million
• Great line: “How about a little fire, Scarecrow?” – Michael Madsen, threatening to ignite a gasoline-drenched Kirk Baltz with a cigarette lighter

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Miramax, 2003)

Quentin Tarantino co-wrote (with Uma Thurman) and directed this wild tale of a female assassin seeking revenge against her former boss. Uma Thurman (The Bride), Lucy Liu (O-Ren Ishii), Vivica A. Fox (Vernita Green), Daryl Hannah (Elle Driver), David Carradine (Bill), Michael Madsen (Budd), Julie Dreyfus (Sofie Fatale), Chiaki Kuriyama (Gogo Yubari), Sonny Chiba (Hattori Hanzo), Chia Hui Liu (Johnny Mo) and Michael Parks (Earl McGraw) head the cast.

Budgeted at $55 million, Kill Bill was filmed in California, Texas, Mexico, Japan and China. Quentin Tarantino does not appear in the movie. The start of shooting was delayed in order to accommodate Uma Thurman’s pregnancy.

An ex-assassin embarks on a trail of vengeance after her boss and co-workers massacre her wedding party in Texas. Waking up from a coma after four years, the once-pregnant bride seeks out the five killers, eliminating them one by one. Kill Bill – followed by Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) – is part Kung-Fu movie and part Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, thriving on gory violence, shadowy characters and weird camera angles.

• Domestic (USA) box-office gross: $70.099 million (#40, 2003)
• Great line: “Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you’ve lost. They belong to me now.” – Uma Thurman

Jackie Brown (Miramax, 1997)

Based on the Elmore Leonard novel Rum Punch, Jackie Brown was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), Samuel L. Jackson (Ordell Robbie), Robert Forster (Max Cherry), Bridget Fonda (Melanie Ralston), Michael Keaton (Ray Nicolette), Robert De Niro (Louis Gara), Michael Bowen (Mark Dargus), Chris Tucker (Beaumont Livingston) and Lisa Gay Hamilton (Sheronda) head the cast.

Budgeted at $12 million, Jackie Brown was filmed in Los Angeles, Compton, Hawthorne, Torrance and Carson, California. Quentin Tarantino’s voice appears on an answering machine.

Aging flight attendant Jackie Brown is coerced into smuggling contraband for crime boss Ordell Robbie. When two FBI agents nab her during one of her runs, they offer her a deal: help them get Robbie in exchange for her freedom. There’s the usual snappy Tarantino dialog and quirky direction, along with great performances from Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Robert De Niro and Bridget Fonda.

• Domestic (USA) box-office gross: $39.673 million
• Academy Award nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Forster)
• Great line: “I’m serious as a heart attack.” – Samuel L. Jackson

Inglourious Basterds (Weinstein, 2009)

Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed this off-beat World War II film. Brad Pit (Lt. Aldo Raine), Melanie Laurent (Shosanna Dreyfus), Christoph Waltz (Col. Hans Landa), Eli Roth (Sgt. Donny Donowitz), Michael Fassbender (Lt. Archie Hicox), Diane Kruger (Bridget von Hammersmark), Daniel Bruhl (Fredrick Zoller), Til Schweiger (Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz) and Julie Dreyfus (Francesco Mondino) head the cast.

Budgeted at $70 million, Inglourious Basterds was filmed in Germany and France. Quentin Tarantino voices an American soldier in the German propaganda film Nation’s Pride.

Lt. Aldo Raine and his motley group of Jewish-American soldiers operate behind the lines in Nazi-occupied France. They kill the enemy with gusto, sowing terror among German troops. At a movie premiere in Paris, Raine and his “basterds” plan to kill Adolf Hitler, who is in attendance along with fellow Nazi bigwigs Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann. There’s plenty of action and violence in this one, with Tarantino’s alternate version of Big Two making for a jolly good show. Brad Pitt enjoys one of the best roles of his career, thanks in large part to Tarantino’s crackling script and superb direction.

• Great line: “You probably heard we ain’t in the prisoner-takin’ business; we in the killin’ Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin’.” – Brad Pitt