Tarantino flicks ranked from worst to best

As we're forced to self-isolate amid the coronavirus crisis, why not revisit the films of celluloid maestro Quentin Tarantino? We rate and rank every one of his nine unforgettable films.  

Maverick filmmaking master Quentin Tarantino released his long-awaited latest opus, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood last year.

And with Tarantino announcing this will be the second-last time we ever see his name at the top of the credits, there is no better time than now for a bottom-to-top ranking of the great man’s entire career.

So sit back, order yourself an imaginary Royale With Cheese, and let’s start the countdown to the very best, shall we?

9. DEATH PROOF (2007)

If you’re a rabid follower of Tarantino and sometimes found yourself thinking you’d happily watch him direct anything, well, here’s the anything.

It’s the feature-film equivalent of your favourite musician singing you the phone book. Or your favourite painter splashing some undercoat on an old weatherboard joint.

Kurt Russell stars as Stuntman Mike, a creepy, scar-faced dude who prowls the highways looking for ladies to kill in calamitous car accidents from which he will always emerge unscathed.

Stuntman Mike’s set of wheels are inexplicably indestructible, you see. And his set against women is equally unfathomable.

This is Tarantino-by-numbers: a lot of catchy patter, and blood-soaked splatter, but none of it really adds up.

WHERE TO WATCH: not currently available.

Death Proof is the most forgettable in the Tarantino back catalogue.

8. JACKIE BROWN (1997)

Probably the slowest, most sluggish thing Tarantino will ever put his name to.

The movie’s main plot thread — concerning a down-and-out air hostess (Pam Grier) that orchestrates a cash sting against a ruthless gun-runner (Samuel L. Jackson) and some naive cops (led by Michael Keaton) — is certainly strong enough to keep you in your seat for the two-and-a-half-hour running time.

However, Tarantino’s reluctance to pick up the pace can get mighty frustrating after a while, especially once it is clear he will be covering every last minor detail of this shonky shakedown in its entirety.

Only QT’s brilliant flair for street-smart dialogue (as is often the case, Samuel L. Jackson gets the best lines) stays above the average zone throughout.

WHERE TO WATCH: Foxtel Now, Stan.

Tarantino’s flair keeps Jackie Brown interesting, despite its sluggish pacing.

7. THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015)

The last member of a trio of Tarantino titles that don’t really cut it.

Sprawling, messy, slow-moving and unapologetically self-indulgent — and that’s in its best stretches! — The Hateful Eight takes almost three hours to tell a story needing only half that time.

A slogging story takes place some years after the close of the US Civil War, on a mountain pass in a remote region of Wyoming.

A bounty hunter (Kurt Russell) and his latest captive (Jennifer Jason Leigh) are forced by a blizzard to make an unscheduled stop at a hostel already hosting a badass clientele. What follows is a talky battle of wits, interspersed with bursts of bloodletting that would make a serial killer blush.

This was the movie Tarantino brashly predicted would bring the widescreen format back into fashion. So what did he then go and do? He set most of the movie indoors. Good one, QT!

WHERE TO WATCH:  NETFLIX; FOXTEL from March 27.

The Hateful Eight takes almost three hours to tell a story needing only half that time.

6. DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012)

Django Unchained is a head-on collision between the reprehensible and the redeemable.

A fitting clash, given the core subject of the picture is slavery in 1850s America.

A charismatic Jamie Foxx stars as Django, a slave whose freedom has been purchased by a dandy German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (a wonderful Christoph Waltz, once again making Tarantino’s dialogue play like spoken music).

By way of obligation, Django agrees to spend some time in the employ of Schultz on just one condition: should the opportunity ever present itself, Schultz must help Django secure the freedom of his long-lost wife.

Remarkably, for all of its bloody excess and bloody-minded indulgence, this is the most humanised, passionate and unfiltered of Tarantino’s works to date.

WHERE TO WATCH: FOXTEL

5. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009)

Tarantino at his most crowd pleasing: irreverent, irrational and irresistibly entertaining.

The title of this highly unorthodox WW2 thriller refers to a secret unit of Jewish-American commandos that pride themselves on killing Nazis as brutally as possible.

At the urging of their swaggeringly confident commander (Brad Pitt), the Basterds become involved in a bizarre plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler during a film premiere in Paris.

Also fated to be present on the evening in question is a notoriously genocidal German officer (a scene-stealing Christoph Waltz) and a young Jewish woman (Melanie Laurent) who earlier escaped his clutches in a terrifying household raid.

Tarantino himself described Inglourious Basterds as “not your grandaddy’s war movie.”

He is not kidding.

WHERE TO WATCH: FOXTEL, AMAZON

Inglorious Basterds is Tarantino at his most crowd pleasing.

4. KILL BILL VOLUMES 1 & 2 (2003-04)

Originally conceived as a sprawling four-hour epic revenge flick, Kill Bill was later divided into two episodes. However, this sudden change of plans did not impact on what remains a truly mesmerising display of directorial firepower.

Uma Thurman has the central role of The Bride, a former freelance assassin newly emerged from a four-year coma after her wedding day was rudely interrupted by a bullet to the head.

With nothing left to live for but to square the ledger on her terms, The Bride begins hunting down the group who nixed those nuptials (and her husband and unborn baby).

The key to the movie is the punishing physicality displayed by Thurman, who makes a majority of male action heroes look like lay-about librarians.

WHERE TO WATCH:  FOXTEL, AMAZON, STAN

Uma Thurman’s punishing physicality is on display in Kill Bill. Picture: Supplied

3. ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD (2019)

This might be an early call, but it is the right one: Tarantino’s latest will go down as one of his greatest.

In journeying back to Hollywood as it was fifty years ago — and never would be again — Tarantino vividly evokes a time, a place and a mood that puts viewers under a transfixing spell.

The significance of setting the movie primarily in 1969 will not be lost on those who know their Hollywood history. This was the year where Charles Manson and his feral followers shocked the world with their premeditated murder of rising star Sharon Tate and others in a quiet neighbourhood up in the Hollywood hills.

How and why Tarantino addresses the notorious Manson killings cannot be addressed here, but there is nothing seedily exploitative about this tragic incident’s prominence in the story.

Our principal guides through the tale are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), an actor whose star is fading fast; and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), Dalton’s longtime stuntman, stand-in and best friend.

One of the many joys of the movie is simply cruising along in the conversational orbit of these two remarkable characters (played to perfection by DiCaprio and Pitt, both close to career-best form here).

Then there is also the sublime contribution of Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, who just happens to live right next door to Rick Dalton … can you see where this is heading? Believe me when I tell you that you don’t …

WHERE TO WATCH:  FOXTEL from March 27

2. RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)

One of the most accomplished and arresting filmmaking debuts in motion-picture history. This low-budget, high-energy indie production marked the arrival of a fully-formed talent, and its influence upon a subsequent generation-and-a-half of directors, writers and actors is as powerful as ever.

The plotting of this head-spinner of a heist movie sees five colour-coded thieves enlisted by crime boss Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and his chubby henchman son, Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn), to pull off a juicy jewellery job.

Things don’t go quite as planned, everybody starts suspecting everybody else of ratting to the cops, and what began as a sophisticated manoeuvre of organised crime swiftly devolves into a chaotic collision of egos.

This is not to say these guys are stupid. Tarantino’s dialogue is far too sharp and the actors (including Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen and Tim Roth) are far too polished for this group of misfits to come across as mere brainless brawlers.

WHERE TO WATCH: GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES

Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel in Reservoir Dogs’ dramatic conclusion.

1. PULP FICTION (1994)

The best thing Quentin Tarantino will ever put his name to delivers both four ripping crime yarns for the price of one, and a complete movie to stand the test of time (happy 25th birthday, by the way!).

A rousing ensemble of performers of varying abilities, credibility’s and sensibilities are all propelled to the next level by electrifying dialogue, immaculate scene construction and breathtaking twists, turns and doublecrosses no-one saw coming at the time.

Three performances in particular encapsulate all that is great and good here.

John Travolta and Uma Thurman in one of Tarantino’s classic scenes.

John Travolta was finished in Hollywood when Tarantino chose him to be the link-man who would hold the whole movie together. He nailed the task with astounding poise and craft.

Samuel L. Jackson, as Travolta’s born-again partner in hitmanship, was similarly brilliant.

And then there was Bruce Willis — like Travolta at the time, seemingly holding a one-way ticket out of the movie game — who obliterated all expectations with the best work of his career.

Pulp Fiction’s capacity to surprise, baffle and excite powers it along through many a repeat viewing, with its stature as a true touchstone of pop culture never once diminished.

WHERE TO WATCH: FOXTEL, AMAZON, STAN

Originally published as Tarantino flicks ranked from worst to best