Ranking: Tarantino Films

1. The Hateful Eight (5/5)

Re-watch after re-watch has propelled this to the top of my list. It's easily the most flawless work technically speaking I've seen of QT's as it merges the strengths of all his past works together into a true masterpiece. There's that claustrophobic nearly-one setting structure of 'Reservoir Dogs' which Tarantino utilises for some nail - biting tension and uprarious laughs through his consistently on-point dialogue. There's the epic scope of the likes of 'Inglorious Basterds' and 'Django Unchained' generated by the context of post - Civil War America and the stormy blizzard that sets the ominous tone so brilliantly. There's the bloodshed of the Kill Bills and the heart and soul of 'Kill Bill Vol. 2' and 'Jackie Brown', and chemistry between cast members all round pulsating through the great dialogue and deliveries, most notably in the form of Samuel L. Jackson and Walton Goggins' performances. Heck there's even Kurt Russell getting an opportunity to show his talents in a great Tarantino film. Speaking of the cast the titular eight (and James Parks) are all pitch-perfect, in bigger roles or smaller ones. This film is the perfect representation of why Tarantino is one of my favourite auteurs as it takes on his unique style, works it to perfection, and also demonstrates his maturity as a filmmaker by adding so much depth and emotion to it.

2. Inglorious Basterds (5/5)

Interesting in a film called 'Inglorious Basterds' the Basterds, a squad of American gung-ho soldiers dedicating their lives to 'killin' Nazis', are possibly the least interesting aspect. They're not bad either and it's always enjoyable to see Brad Pitt have a bit of fun chewing the scenery, but it's telling that their most interesting character, Michael Fassbender's Archie Hicox, isn't even really a proper Basterds.  Anyway the film is a great film, filled with tremendously interesting characters to root for and hate, and even finds complexity within war film clichés with the German sergeant  (Richard Sammel) who is not depicted as a cowardly snivelling scoundrel but a brave soldier facing death for his country. Almost the whole cast is excellent, the script (in particular the opening scene and the bar scene) fantastic but the best thing about it is MVVVP Christoph Waltz, a true master of the Tarantino lingo, who gives one of my all-time favourite performances as Hans Landa, a complete creep yet somehow charismatic villain who always makes his intentions known yet so subtly manipulates people into doing what he wants.

3. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (5/5)

Where the first Kill Bill was all about the action and peppered with emotional undercurrent, this is all about interactions between characters and the power behind these interactions. Now I really, really liked the first Kill Bill. But I love the second installment even more because it's not just an excellent Tarantino film it's a great film overall. It's perhaps benefited by better 'villains' this time round. Lucy Liu and Vivica A. Fox were good adversaries, but this time the Bride's combatants are: Darryl Hanna who is wonderfully OTT as an eyepatch wearing, gleeful sadist Elle Driver with a grudge and some serious daddy issues. Michael Madsen who is beautifully understated and sadly humorous as the washed up Bud. And of course at its core is once again Uma Thurman in the role she was born to play. As the Bride she's just as badass as she was last time round but this time, with an even stronger, heartrending arc to complete. Besides all of this great hefty emotional stuff there's still lots of fun to be had, from Gordon Liu and Michael Parks' cameos and the fantastic visual style that carries on from the first film.

4. Pulp Fiction (5/5)

The only thing holding back this film from a strong 5 overall is parts of the Golden Watch segment. The bedroom scene between Butch and his girlfriend is excruciatingly boring to watch and sends the film to a glaring halt; it's impressive how Tarantino managed to brush up his romantic writing so much more in his later works as this instance of it here verges on Attack of the Clones level bad. Also the whole segment as a whole I don't think adds all that much to the film beyond Christopher Walken's cameo which is entertaining and some badass Ving Rhames. Otherwise this film is rightly called Tarantino's masterpiece by many, even if I don't quite agree myself. John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson are a great pair of hitmen, with Jackson's closing monologue to the film the best dialogue Tarantino has ever written, and the best lead performance in a Tarantino film bolstering it. Also great are all the Uma Thurman/Travolta scenes that burst at the seams with chemistry, and though I don't necessarily think Tarantino was as snubbed of a Best Director win as many seem to be (I would've given it to Frank Darabont for Shawshank) he certainly demonstrates a growing confidence and style to his work here, with the non-linear structure in particular not feeling gratuitous but actually works wonders for the plot.

5. Jackie Brown (5/5)

Easily the most understated and underrated of Tarantino's filmography. Pam Grier's lead performance as the titular heroine of sorts, an airline hostess who gets involved in a convoluted double-cross plot with bloodshed and money involved, excellently balances this rather wonderful film that for all its swearing, cussing and occasional bursts of violence is possibly QT's sweetest work. Brown and Max Cherry (an endearingly charismatic Robert Forster) are a unique and refreshing onscreen 'couple' of sorts and their blossoming attraction is the highlight of the film for me. But there's also the classic tropes of comical brutes in the form of Samuel L Jackson, Robert de Niro and Bridget Fonda as some very incompetent criminals. Tarantino's script here is good, perhaps not as innovative because it's an adaptation of a novel, but the directorial flourishes here are kept to a bare minimum. Whenever someone tells me they find Tarantino to be all style and no substance, here's a film I point them to: not much in the way of flair but with a whole lot of depth at its emotional core.

6. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (4.5/5)

7. Django Unchained (4.5/5)

I think I'll start with a few of this film's flaws. It's a bit too long, losing a great deal of steam before the rousing conclusion, could have used some extra editing in the third act, and Broomhilda is a very underwritten character especially when contrasted to many other Tarantino female characters. I otherwise absolutely love this film. I would call the soundtrack in terms of its eclectic selection of songs, the best of Tarantino's career, particularly 'Freedom'. Jamie Foxx is a strong lead (thank god they did not go for Will Smith), Christoph Waltz waltzes along with Dr King Schultz like only he can, and best of show are Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L Jackson having an absolute ball (and in DiCaprio's case some pain along the way) as two incredibly repulsive yet hilarious individuals, the repugnant Francophile Calvin Candie and Uncle Tom houseslave Stephen. The scenes with the two of them unraveling the plans of Schultz and Django, and the dinnertime scenes, are some of the best scenes Tarantino has ever written, and make up for some of his questionable directorial choices.

8. Reservoir Dogs (5/5)

A few of its more dated and slightly amateurish qualities in terms of the production and a few lines of dialogue, which push it down. I still think it's a really good film though. The opening scene in particular is a masterclass in character introduction without exposition, as we get insight into what and where characters are coming from by just their interactions with one another. It's a film I can quite confidently call a Tarantino film where direction is more prominent than the performances, which are all good, but it's Tarantino's musical choices ('Stuck in the Middle With You', 'Little Green Bag') and innovatively constructed sequences (the bathroom anecdote scene is a personal favourite) make this a raw but visceral first-time effort.

9. True Romance (4.5/5)

One thing that holds this film is akin to the problems of Django, in that the third act is simply not as interesting or engaging as what came before. Maybe sticking to Tarantino's original non-linear structure would have helped rectified this issue. However, I entirely stand by the late great Tony Scott's decision to revise many of Tarantino's original script choices to fit into his film, including the ending. This stands as his attempt at his version of Badlands and while it's nowhere as great as that film, it's a very strong effort nevertheless. It provides an early insight into the power of Tarantino's dialogue which might go overboard sometimes but when it works, like in the Drexl scenes and the Sicilian scenes, it's very effective. The titular duo of Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette might be more lighthearted and breezy than Tarantino had envisaged but they're a charming couple, and the supporting cast is absolutely brilliant with all sorts of big names, Dennis Hopper, James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt and best of all, Gary Oldman as a wannabe black pimp.

10. From Dusk Till Dawn (4/5)

Quite literally a game of two halves as the first is a taut kidnapping thriller with a few dark laughs, and the second half is a vampire horror film with Harvey Keitel as a priest fending them off with his faith. Now the first half is a bit slow but watchable and Tarantino is actually quite good at acting for once, while George Clooney is charming and likable doing his 'criminal with a heart' routine. When the second half comes along Tarantino in both acting and script terms, cedes to director Robert Rodigruez who creates an interesting and scary selection of horror setpieces. A mess of a film but entertainingly so.

11. Natural Born Killers (3.5/5)

A film I'm in two minds about. On one hand, some brilliant directorial choices by Oliver Stone (particularly the faux sitcom segments and the prison break finale) and two great lead performances by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as the titular serial killers. On the other hand it's extremely heavyhanded in many regards in terms of dialogue, and not at all helped by Stone's often bombastic approach to the material. Robert Downey Jr who gives a perfectly fine performance unfortuantely grates a bit because of the pretension of some of the material he has to work with. It's an admirable effort but deeply flawed not in terms of lacking material but rather an excess of it. I'd really like to see QT'S original script for this though.

12. 'The Man From Hollywood' from Four Rooms (3/5)

A forgettable anthology of stories at a disorderly hotel with Tim Roth as a hapless bell boy. This segment is well written and Paul Calderón is very charismatic, the only problem is I just didn't find it all that interesting.

13. Death Proof (2/5)

Another half on an anthology showing that Tarantino is probably best attuned to having a whole film to himself to play with. An extremely boring film with brief flashes of light from Kurt Russell's performance. The performances besides Russell are extremely bland and really I just found it entirely disposable and forgettable.