1/65Movie buffs are raving about Quentin Tarantino’s list of the top 20 films of the 21st century. Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP
Quentin Tarantino reveals top 20 films of the 21st century - as only he can
2/65The US filmmaker, who has worked with most of the biggest stars of the past few decades, certainly has a view of the movie industry unlike any other. Picture: Riccardo Antimiani
3/65The man behind Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill and a host of other iconic films, pictured here with his wife Daniella Pick, is known for his penchant for violence and gore – and those themes certainly come through in his top 20. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Sony Pictures
4/65But Tarantino’s top 20, which he revealed recently on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, also features a few surprises and potentially some flicks you’ve never even seen. The only rules were they had to have been released from 2000 onwards – and he couldn’t pick more than one film from one director. Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP
5/65Steven Spielberg’s 2021 adaptation of the legendary musical West Side Story, which also garnered critical acclaim and received seven Academy Award nominations, kicks off Tarantino’s list in spot 20. Tarantino said he “couldn’t believe” he liked lead actor Anson Elgort (pictured) because “I didn’t like him in anything else”.
6/65But Tarantino could not have been more complimentary of Spielberg. ‘This is the one where Steven shows he still has it. I don’t think (Martin) Scorsese has made a film this exciting (this century). It revitalised him.’ Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios
7/65West Side Story, which stars Rachel Zegler as Maria, is available to watch in Australia on Disney+. Picture: Niko Tavernise/20th Century Studios
8/65Eli Roth’s 2002 horror film Cabin Fever takes the 19th spot. This gruesome and often darkly humorous movie follows a group of college graduates who fall victim to a flesh-eating virus during a cabin getaway.
9/65Tarantino’s one-word description for all that darkness? “Charming.” “Eli’s sense of humour, sense of gore — it just really, really works. People kind of forget how tense it is in the first half because it gets so genuinely funny in the last 20 minutes,” he told Ellis. Picture: Tim Palen
10/65Roth his best known for another horror flick, Hostel. Tarantino conceded the torture scenes might have been Roth’s “best” work, but Cabin Fever is his “favourite”. Cabin Fever is available to watch in Australia on Stan, while Hostel is on Netflix.
11/65Tarantino continued to show a variety of tastes by selecting 2011 biographical sports drama Moneyball 18th. Directed by Bennett Miller and starring Brad Pitt as Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, the film tells the true story of his unconventional approach to building a baseball team.
12/65It was Pitt’s performance, which saw him nominated for best actor at the Oscars, which did it for Tarantino. “Brad Pitt’s performance was one of my favourite star performances of the last 20 years. Where a movie star came in and reminded you why he was a movie star and just carried the movie on his shoulders.”
13/65Pitt, pictured at the Japan premiere of the film with Angelina Jolie, was at the peak of his powers. Moneyball is available to watch on Netflix in Australia. Picture: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP
14/65OK here’s where Tarantino goes a little off-track. At number 17 he had the 2008 Thai martial arts action film Chocolate, directed by Prachya Pinkaew.
15/65Starring JeeJa Yanin as an autistic girl with incredible martial arts skills, Tarantino hailed the film’s impressive fight choreography.
16/65“Here’s a movie you probably never heard of,” Tarantino said. “People getting f**ked up in the most spectacular of ways … they trained this 12-year-old girl for four years to star in this movie … this is some of the greatest kung-fu fights I’ve ever seen.” Unfortunately it’s not available to stream in Australia.
17/65Tarantino has another left-field pick next. Rob Zombie’s 2005 horror crime film, The Devil’s Rejects, sits at number 16. A sequel to his 2003 film House of 1000 Corpses, this movie continues the violent exploits of the Firefly family.
18/65Tarantino said Zombie, who is also a rock star, influenced many filmmakers that came after him. Unfortunately it’s not available in Australia unless you purchase it from Apple TV, Prime Video or YouTube, although House of 1000 Corpses is on Stan. Picture: Charles Brewer
![“This rough Peckinpah–cowboy–Manson thing — that voice didn’t really exist before (House of 1000 Corpses], and Zombie refined that voice with this movie. … Peckinpah wasn’t part of horror before this. He melded it with sick hillbillies, and it’s become a thing now. You can recognise it across the street, but that didn’t exist before.” The film featured Sid Haig (pictured) as Captain Spaulding.](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/5ac3ec2e7975f47d4a9e8ce6dfcf068a?width=650)
19/65“This rough Peckinpah–cowboy–Manson thing — that voice didn’t really exist before (House of 1000 Corpses], and Zombie refined that voice with this movie. … Peckinpah wasn’t part of horror before this. He melded it with sick hillbillies, and it’s become a thing now. You can recognise it across the street, but that didn’t exist before.” The film featured Sid Haig (pictured) as Captain Spaulding.
20/65Tarantino sticks with the boundary-pushing by selecting Mel Gibson’s 2004 biblical drama, The Passion of the Christ, at number 15. Picture: AFP/Icon Productions
21/65The powerful and graphic depiction of the last hours of Jesus Christ’s life drew an unexpected response from Tarantino – laughter.
22/65“I was laughing a lot during the movie. Not because we were trying to be perverse, laughing at Jesus getting fcked up — extreme violence is just funny to me — and when you go so far beyond extremity, it just gets funnier and funnier. We were just groaning and laughing at how f**ked up this was … Mel did a tremendous directorial job. He put me in that time period. I talked to Mel Gibson about this and he looked at me like I was a f**king nut.” Unfortunately it’s another one that’s not available on streaming services. Picture: AFP/Getty
23/65In 14th position, Tarantino ranked beloved 2003 musical comedy The School of Rock.
24/65Directed by Richard Linklater, the film starred Jack Black as a substitute teacher who turns his class into a rock band.
25/65“It was a real fun, fun, fun screening,” Tarantino said. “I do think this one had the explosion of Jack Black combined with Rick Linklater and (writer) Mike White — that made it special.” School of Rock is available on Stan or for free on 10Play.
26/65At number 13, Tarantino has Jackass: The Movie, a 2002 American stunt comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine. Based on the popular MTV series, this film brought the outrageous and often dangerous antics of Johnny Knoxville and his crew to the big screen.
27/65“This was the movie I laughed at the most in these last 20 years,” Tarantino said. “I don’t remember laughing from beginning to end like this since Richard Pryor.”
28/65“As I was making Kill Bill, I thought this movie was so f**king funny I had to show it to the crew. So we found a print, watched the movie, and just died,” Tarantino added. Jackass: The Movie is available for streaming on Stan.
29/65The 2013 Israeli black comedy crime thriller Big Bad Wolves, directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, holds 12th spot Tarantino’s list.
30/65It tells the story of three men who abduct a schoolteacher to torture and interrogate him after he is suspected of murdering a young girl. Driven by a desire for revenge, the men become increasingly brutal in their attempts to extract a confession, but the situation spirals out of their control, leading to a violent and dark climax.
31/65“This has got a fantastic script and a similar storyline to (2013 Hugh Jackman film) Prisoners … they handle it with guts and balls — you know the American movie wouldn’t do that,” Tarantino said. Unfortunately it’s not available in Australia.
32/65Coming in at number 11 is the controversial Japanese dystopian action-thriller Battle Royale, released in 2000. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku, this intense film sees a group of high school students forced to fight to the death.
33/65Battle Royale is hailed for spawning imitations like The Hunger Games novels and Netflix series Squid Game, but Tarantino says it was worse than that.
![“I do not understand how the Japanese writer didn’t sue [Hunger Games author] Susan Collins for every f**king thing she owns,” he said. “They just ripped off the f**king (film). Stupid book critics are not going to go watch a Japanese movie called Battle Royale, so the stupid book critics never called her on it — they talked about how it was the most original f**king thing they’d ever read. As soon as the film critics saw the film, they said, ‘what the f**k, this is just Battle Royale except PG!’”. The first installment of the Hunger Games made $700 million at the box office. You can watch Battle Royale - which made $30 million - in Australia on Mubi.](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/99d30673d0153922254eb96f0a0e1602?width=650)
34/65“I do not understand how the Japanese writer didn’t sue [Hunger Games author] Susan Collins for every f**king thing she owns,” he said. “They just ripped off the f**king (film). Stupid book critics are not going to go watch a Japanese movie called Battle Royale, so the stupid book critics never called her on it — they talked about how it was the most original f**king thing they’d ever read. As soon as the film critics saw the film, they said, ‘what the f**k, this is just Battle Royale except PG!’”. The first installment of the Hunger Games made $700 million at the box office. You can watch Battle Royale - which made $30 million - in Australia on Mubi.
35/65Woody Allen’s whimsical romantic comedy Midnight in Paris, released in 2011, begins the top 10. The film transports an aspiring American novelist, Gil Pender (Owen Wilson), back to the vibrant artistic and literary scene of 1920s Paris each night.
36/65The film earned Woody Allen an Oscar for best screenplay but it was Wilson’s performance which captivated Tarantino … eventually.
37/65“I really can’t stand Owen Wilson. I spent the first time watching the movie loving it and hating him. The second time I watched it, I was like ‘ah, okay, don’t be such a pr**k, he’s not so bad’. Then the third time I watched it, I found myself only watching him.” Midnight in Paris isn’t available on Aussie streaming platforms but can be purchased through Apple TV, Amazon Prime or Fetch TV.
38/65The hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, released in 2004, is at nine.
39/65The film follows ordinary bloke Shaun (Simon Pegg) as he attempts to win back his girlfriend and reconcile with his best mate (Nick Frost) amid a sudden zombie apocalypse. Directed by Edgar Wright, the film cleverly blends horror tropes with sharp British humour.
40/65Tarantino hailed the film, directed by Edgar Wright (right). “The script is really terrific, it’s one of the most quotable films on this list, I still quote the line ‘the dogs don’t look up’,” he said. “It’s not a spoof of zombie movies, it’s a real zombie movie, and I appreciate the distinction.” Shaun of the Dead is available to stream on Binge.
41/65At spot eight is George Miller’s triumphant return to the post-apocalyptic wasteland, Mad Max: Fury Road. Released in 2015, it’s a relentless and visually stunning action spectacle. The film was a critical darling, scooping up an impressive six Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.
42/65Tom Hardy takes on the role of Max Rockatansky, while Charlize Theron delivers a powerful performance as Imperator Furiosa, leading a group of enslaved women to freedom. .
43/65Tarantino immediately knew director George Miller had nailed it when he finally saw the film. “I was actually not going to see it for the simple reason that in a world where Mel Gibson exists, and he’s not playing Max? I want Mad Mel! Weeks and weeks and weeks passed, and people kept talking about how great it was, and Fred, my editor, was saying, ‘I’m serious, you gotta do it’. Then I saw it. The great stuff is so great, and you’re watching a truly great filmmaker – he had all the money in the world and all the time in the world to make it exactly as he wanted.” Mad Max: Fury Road is everywhere — you can watch it on Netflix, Prime Video, Stan or HBO Max.
44/65At seven is the high-octane thriller Unstoppable, released in 2010. It sees a veteran engineer (Denzel Washington) and a young conductor (Chris Pine) race against time to stop a runaway freight train carrying toxic chemicals.
45/65Directed by the late Tony Scott (left), this action-packed film is a masterclass in suspense and practical effects. “It’s one of my favourite last movies of a director,” Tarantino said. “I’ve seen it four times, and every time I see it, I like it more. If you asked me years ago, I would have put Man on Fire on the list, but Unstoppable is one of the purest visions of Tony’s action aesthetic, the two guys are great together, and it gets better and better.”
46/65“It’s one of the best monster movies of the 21st century. The train is a monster. The train becomes a monster. And it becomes one of the greatest monsters of our time. Stronger than Godzilla, stronger than those King Kong movies,” Tarantino added. You can watch Unstoppable on Disney+. Picture: Joel Saget/AFP
47/65David Fincher’s crime thriller Zodiac, released in 2007, is at six. The film meticulously reconstructs the hunt for the infamous Zodiac Killer, who terrorised Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
48/65Starring Jake Gyllenhaal (right), Mark Ruffalo (not pictured) and Robert Downey Jr. (left), the film follows a cartoonist, a journalist, and a detective as they become obsessed with unmasking the elusive killer. .
49/65Tarantino said the film by director David Fincher was another slow burn but now one of his all-time favourites. “When I first watched Zodiac I wasn’t that into it, and then it started playing the movie channels, and first thing I knew, watching 20 minutes of it, 40 minutes of it, and I realised this is a lot more engaging than I remember it being, and it kept grabbing me in different sections, so I decided to watch this goddamn thing again, and it was a whole different experience from that point on. I found myself, every six or seven years, watching it again, and it’s a luxurious experience that I give myself over to … mesmerising masterwork.” Zodiac can be seen on SBS On Demand or HBO Max.
50/65Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling epic There Will Be Blood, released in 2007, makes Tarantino’s top five. The film delves into the ruthless ambition of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), a silver miner who transforms into a misanthropic oilman in early 20th-century California.
51/65Day-Lewis delivered a powerhouse performance, earning him an Academy Award for Best Actor, while the film also secured an Oscar for Best Cinematography. “Daniel Day-Lewis. The old-style craftsmanship quality to the film. It had an old Hollywood craftsmanship without trying to be like that. It was the only film he’s ever done, and I brought it up to him, that doesn’t have a set piece. The fire is the closest to a set piece. This was about dealing with the narrative, dealing with the story, and he did it fcking amazingly,” Tarantino said. But he brutally exposed the film’s major weakness.
![“There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being one or two if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano (pictured),” Tarantino said. “Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. (Dano) is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest f***ing actor in SAG [laughs].” Stream There Will Be Blood on Stan.](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/cfdf5344ef0c8a4c891d01fd41a77d4a?width=650)
52/65“There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being one or two if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano (pictured),” Tarantino said. “Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. (Dano) is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest f***ing actor in SAG [laughs].” Stream There Will Be Blood on Stan.
53/65Christopher Nolan’s epic war film Dunkirk, released in 2017, might be the best war film ever made and enters Tarantino’s list in spot four. The film masterfully depicts the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, during World War II. Told from land, sea, and air perspectives.
54/65Starring Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Mark Rylance, among a strong ensemble cast, Nolan’s innovative storytelling and immersive cinematography earned the film three Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing, making it a truly cinematic experience.
55/65“Another film that I didn’t initially like,” Tarantino said. “What I now love about it is that I feel there’s a real mastery to it, and I came around to it watching it again and again and again. The first time, it’s not like it left me cold — it was so kind of gobsmacking, I didn’t really know what I saw, it was almost too much, and then the second time I saw it, my brain was able to take it in a little bit more, and then the third time and the fourth time, it was just like, wow, it just blew me away.” Watch Dunkirk on Netflix or HBO Max.
56/65Sofia Coppola’s melancholic and charming Lost in Translation, released in 2003, not only made Tarantino’s top three – it also sparked a relationship.
57/65The film explores the unlikely bond formed between a fading movie star, Bob Harris (Bill Murray, pictured right), and a young, recently married college graduate, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), both feeling adrift in Tokyo. Coppola (left) not only directed but also penned the Oscar-winning screenplay – and captivated Tarantino.
58/65“I fell so much in love with Lost in Translation that I fell in love with Sofia Coppola and made her my girlfriend (laughs),” Tarantino said. “I courted and wooed her, and I did it all in public – it was like it was out of a Jane Austen novel. I didn’t know her well enough to get together on my own, but I kept going to events… I spoke to Pedro Almodovar about this, and we both agreed it was such a girly movie, in such a delicious way,” he added. “I hadn’t seen such a girly movie in a very long time, and I hadn’t seen such a girly movie like that be so well done.” Lost in Translation is available to watch in Australia on Prime Video.
59/65Tarantino had the highest praise for his runner-up, the heartwarming and emotionally resonant animated feature Toy Story 3. Released in 2010, the film sees Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the rest of Andy’s beloved toys facing an uncertain future as their owner prepares for university.
60/65Directed by Lee Unkrich (right), the film features the familiar voices of Tom Hanks (left), Tim Allen and Joan Cusack, among many others. It was a critical and commercial triumph, securing two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for Randy Newman’s We Belong Together.
61/65“That last five minutes ripped my f***ing heart out, and if I even try to describe the end, I’ll start crying and get choked up,” Tarantino said. “It’s just remarkable. It’s almost a perfect movie. And we don’t even get to talk about the great comedy bits, which are never-ending. People never nail the third film of a trilogy. The other one is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to me, and this is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of animated films. This is the greatest end of a trilogy.” Unsurprisingly, you can watch this on Disney+.
62/65And in first place is the intense war drama Black Hawk Down, released in 2001. The film chronicles the harrowing true story of a US military mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, where American soldiers found themselves trapped and fighting for survival after two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down.
63/65Directed by Ridley Scott, the film features a stellar ensemble cast including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana (pictured) and Tom Sizemore. “I liked it when I first saw it, but I actually think it was so intense that it stopped working for me, and I didn’t carry it with me the way that I should’ve,” Tarantino said. “Since then, I’ve seen it a couple of times, not a bunch of times, but I think it’s a masterwork, and one of the things I love so much about it is … this is the only movie that actually goes completely for an ‘Apocalypse Now’ sense of purpose and visual effect and feeling, and I think it achieves it. It keeps up the intensity for 2 hours 45 minutes, or whatever it is, and I watched it again recently, my heart was going through the entire runtime of the movie; it had me and never let me go, and I hadn’t seen it in a while.” The feat of direction is beyond extraordinary.”
64/65Tarantino said “the feat of direction” by Ridley Scott (left) is “beyond extraordinary”. Black Hawk Down is available to watch on Binge, Netflix and Stan.
65/65US Director and President of the Venezia 67 jury, Quentin Tarantino arrives for the screening of "The black swan" opening the 67th Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2010 at Venice Lido. "The black swan" by US director Darren Aronofsky with US actress Natalie Portman and French actor Vincent Cassel is presented as part of the Venezia 67 competition. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI
