Tarantino Movies ranked from Good to Great

For the purposes of this listicle, we will focus on the movies that Tarantino directed. This excludes True Romance, Natural Born Killers, and From Dusk Till Dawn.

Before anyone gets their undergarments in a wad, I’d like to set the record straight: like many, Tarantino is one of my favorite filmmakers, and every movie on this list has inspired me as a writer, one way or another. So, when ranking his filmography, I am splitting hairs between some of the best movies ever made.

10: Death Proof (2007)

At the number 10 spot (I'm not gonna get into the semantics of his filmography), we have Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof, a project with his friend and fellow filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez; the pair attempted to capture the aesthetic of the Grindhouse genre they both adored. The film executes its intentions very well and carries over the signature Tarantino dialogue with which we are familiar. 

Death Proof might have been the biggest flop of Tarantino's career. It's hard to say if he and Robert anticipated this double feature to be a 100-million-dollar hit. But Tarantino doesn't seem like the type of filmmaker who follows the money. He follows the story, and the money usually follows, just not with this one.

How do I feel about this movie? I enjoyed it. It's fun, unapologetically what he wanted to make, and his attention to detail is admirable. It's got all the pieces I look for in a Tarantino movie, the dialogue, the violence, and the Tarantino "Stan Lee" cameo. One thing I appreciate is the characters and the sets. The sets feel lived in; it feels like we're dropping in on these characters' lives and routines and catching them at their most unfortunate moment.

Death Proof gets a Dyl rating of 6/10.

Oh, almost forgot. Death Proof was the birth of a relationship between Kurt Russel and Tarantino. Which leads us into our next movie...

9: The Hateful Eight (2015)

This one may be controversial, at least among my friends it is. At the number 9 spot, we have The Hateful Eight, Tarantino’s “Who done it?” Western. Shot on 65 mm, the movie looks like it’s from a history book. We view these beautiful landscapes as we follow this wagon through a snowy biome. 

One by one, we meet his All-Star cast, Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Walton Goggins, and Channing Tatum, hiding in the floorboards. With each introduction, we get a hint of motivation, and as the story goes on, the motivations become clear, and the purpose of every character is defined.

It’s a very good movie, but it doesn’t hit for me like the movies higher on this list. For me, this movie isn’t as re-watchable as the others, and once I know who done it the mystery, I don’t have the urge to revisit it.

Not my favorite but still good. It gets a Dyl score of 7/10.

8: Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)

I thought this one would be higher. I guess I’ll get into the semantics now. Tarantino considers this and Volume 1 to be one movie. He intended to release it all as one, but when the run time started to get out of hand, the Producer, who shall not be named, suggested splitting it in two. And they did.

Volume 2 is the movie we finally do it, the movie where we Kill Bill... and everyone else. The action in this movie is fantastic, particularly the fight in the mobile home. We get introduced to the rest of the gang, who’s still living, and see what they have made of themselves since the wedding. These movies are like fifteen-minute character studies wrapped in one, and then they all die.

As usual, the dialog is fire, the actors are great, and everyone gets what's coming to them. The ending is slightly underwhelming, but she pulls off the move that was hinted at, so storytelling-wise, it makes sense.

Fantastic action flick, but, other movies have an edge over it. Kill Bill: Volume 2 gets a Dyl score of 8/10.

7: Jackie Brown (1997)

Tarantino loves strong female protagonists. Jackie Brown is another one of his movies where the protagonist gets what's hers. 

QT is no stranger to bold choices, and like John Travolta, QT loves bringing his favorite actors out of the shadows. Enter Pam Grier, a star of a bevy of Blaxploitation movies; QT inserted her into the driver's seat. She's strong and doesn't take a shit, but more importantly, she's smart. She's a lady we want to root for, and we smile when she gets the last laugh.

It amazes me this movie was produced for only 12 million, especially with Robert De Niro and Samuel L Jackson being cast. Speaking of Samuel, I enjoy how he gets eviler and eviler as the movie progresses. We find out early that he's got loose morals after killing Chris Tucker in the trunk of the car, but by the time he's sitting in the dark. Also, Robert, popping that lady in the middle of the parking lot, had my jaw on the floor.

Jackie Brown gets a Dyl rating of 8/10.

6: Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

It’s the whistle movie.

Volume 1 starts and ends with action that pulls your eyelids back. You can't take your eyes off this movie; you saw what Bill and the quacks did to her. Now we need to see how she responds, and oh boy, is it violent. It follows Tarantino's classic out-of-order storytelling, which, in many ways, doesn't feel out of order. All the information falls into place in a way that makes sense and is digestible to the audience.

The action is dope. There's also a variety in the presentation. The first fight scene in the house is grounded hand-to-hand combat. Then we watch an anime short to get the back story on one of our antagonists. And finally, we have the ridiculous over-the-top battle, but it's also sick. The blood unnaturally spewing vertically out of the top of a ninja's torso is gross but hilarious. While the consequences of the action can be ridiculous, it doesn't cheapen the action itself. 

While we are thrown into the action early, we soon watch the rise of the Bride. We see her pull herself out of the depths she's fallen into. Then, piece by piece, we watch her put herself back together. Her revenge is earned, but while she does get some "get back" in this film, the job is not done.

Volume 1 feels like a live-action anime, while Volume 2 feels like a western. This is what breaks the movies into two: they don't feel the same. This is not to say that if you double-featured these movies, it wouldn't be natural, but if you did it stand-alone, you'd define them as two different things.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 gets a Dyl score of 8/10.

5: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

QT’s love letter to old Hollywood.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood holds a special place in my heart as it was the first and only Tarantino movie I saw in theaters shortly after its release. I was just a young man early in my screenwriting journey, and seeing a film like this was inspiring. The stars in it, the transformation of the Hollywood strip, the balls it takes to rewrite the history of one of Hollywood's most tragic stories. He made this movie his way with no compromises. 

I often describe Oppenheimer as Christopher Nolan’s most Christopher Nolan film. Here’s what I mean by that: Oppenheimer has everything Nolan is known for and loves: Science, Time, boundary-pushing visuals, and a tight and well-thought-out script. His previous movies have all these, yes. But Oppenheimer feels like the culmination of all his work. This is how I describe Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It has Tarantino written all over it: Old Hollywood, Pop Culture, Gripping Dialogue, and a hint of his justified violence snuck in at the end.

Some say this is his best work; I think I’ve even heard QT say it’s his best work. Do I agree? Well, you see where it’s placed on the list. Do I think it’s great? Absolutely.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood gets a Dyl rating of 9/10.

4: Reservoir Dogs (1992)

He has arrived.

The official directorial debut of QT, and all it took was for Harvey Keitel to sign on. Made with a shoestring budget, Reservoir Dogs is our introduction to Tarantino’s signature dialogue. Rather than discussing a big plot point, Tarantino opts for the pop culture conversation, with a moral debate about tipping, while sprinkling some exposition and hints about who our characters are.

Iconic scenes from Reservoir Dogs include Mr. Blonde dancing with the razor, the aforementioned opening table talk, and Mr. White begging for his life in the back of the car. We also get the first instance of Tarantino’s needle drop and signature diegetic music in the movie. Reservoir Dogs sets the groundwork for what is to come and serves as the launch pad for one of the most influential directors ever.

This gets a Dyl score of 9/10.

3: Pulp Fiction (1994)

The film that changed cinema, and inspired generations of filmmakers.

Before Pulp Fiction, no one knew you could write like that. No one knew you could structure a story like that. No one thought you could cast like that. And everyone was mad they didn’t come up with it first. 

Some people won’t get it, and because of that, they probably won’t like it. That’s the problem with shaking shit up and breaking the mold, people will reject it. It even happens today. I read the customer reviews for Everything Everywhere All at Once on Amazon, and while in a subjective medium, I think it’s an objectively good story, how it is presented turns people off. For some, there’s too much jumping around; there’s too much going back to go forward. It’s not easily digestible, and neither is Pulp Fiction.

Many have tried to recreate the dialogue of Pulp Fiction (including myself), and many have failed (including myself). Many have tried to recreate the structure of their story (including myself), and many haven’t executed it as well as QT (including myself). We shouldn’t try to copy Pulp Fiction; we should make our own. What does that mean? It means we make a story unique to ourselves. Tarantino didn’t make Pulp Fiction how he did to fit a uniqueness quota; he made it like that because it’s true to who he is. So, writers and filmmakers, don’t copy Pulp Fiction; write your own.

Legendary movie. This gets a Dyl score of 10/10.

2: Inglorious Basterds (2009)

The first time Tarantino rewrites history.

Inglorious Basterds is one of the most perfectly cast movies I have ever seen. Through the grapevine, I’ve heard Tarantino had initially thought he had written a character he couldn’t cast until Christoph Waltz strolled into the audition room. Christoph masterfully plays Hanz Landa. We all know how good the opening scene is, but from then on, every time Hanz emerges and sneaks onto the screen, we are in fear. We’re afraid that he’ll figure out Brad’s not a nazi or that someone is planning something. He’s got a nose for it. Small in stature but massive in presence. Of course, he won the Oscar; to give it to anyone else would’ve been criminal.

One man could have carried this movie, but it wasn’t. Brad Pitt disappears into a country boy who’s in the business of killing Nazis. Michael Fassbender pulls his weight until he makes his fatal mistake, the same as Diane Kruger. The real heart of the cast comes from Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus. Tarantino has a knack for writing a woman we want to see stand up to those who hurt her, and luckily, they always do. The satisfaction of watching someone decide they aren’t gonna take shit anymore and sticking it to their oppressor is, and I don’t use this word lightly, fantastic.

Beautiful sets, clever dialogue and masterful directing. What more could you want? Inglorious Basterds gets a Dyl score of 10/10.

1: Django Unchained (2012)

Here she is, my favorite Tarantino movie (at the moment the top 3 can change all the time), Django Unchained.

Tarantino’s ability to transform an actor is second to none. Not to take away anything from Jamie, he was an Oscar winner before this, but the Jamie I know is the Jamie from Horrible Bosses, aka MF Jones. He lets his actors stretch their legs. Leo went all the way; these guys are almost unrecognizable in their roles. On top of that, he did a total 180 with Christoph, turning him from the cold, sadistic hunter to the kind and caring Dr. Schultz. We just saw this man oppressing minorities and now we’re watching him free them from their oppressors- and we believe it!

QT loves a good revenge story. Up until writing this list I didn’t realize that was his specialty. On top of the revenge, this movie is a lot of fun. Sharpshooter, smooth-talking, plotting, scheming, and an explosion to cap it off. And despite the subject matter being depressing it’s still very heartwarming. Christoph becomes a mentor of destruction. He gives Django the tools to bring home his wife and even puts his life on the line to help him see it through.

One of my favorite westerns. Django Unchained gets a Dyl score of 10/10.