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Quentin Tarantino's Favorite 20 Movies From 1992 to Now

by Alex Billington
August 16, 2009

This video is starting to make its way around the web and it's definitely worth watching. Like him or hate him, Quentin Tarantino is a very unique filmmaker, with a distinct style and particular tastes. We know that Enzo Castellari's 1978 Italian film The Inglorious Bastards was an inspiration for Tarantino's new Inglorious Basterds, but what are his other favorite films? In this video recorded for Sky Movies, Tarantino lists off his favorite 20 movies from 1992 to now. That year is so important because that's the year he became a director (with Reservoir Dogs) and these are the 20 films that he admires the most since then.

From what I can tell (looking at the Death Proof footage being shown on the bottom) this was recorded during the release of Grindhouse and wasn't shot recently for Basterds. That said, I doubt there's much that has changed on here, or at least I'd be curious to ask him if anything was different (or if there were any films between April of 2007 and now that were good enough to even be on here). He mentions a lot of interesting films in this, especially a lot of stuff that I wouldn't think Tarantino would've enjoyed (like Friday or Speed or Team America) but so be it. Truly a list of favorite films unlike any other favorite films list out there.

Edit: Apparently this video is not actually that old. Tarantino recently took over Sky Movies in order to host showings of his favorite films on that channel, including There Will Be Blood, Sunshine, and Taxi Driver.

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Jack

Boogie Nights, yeah!
zibo fricka

Nifty. I loved Dazed and Confused. I watch it at least once per year.
Quanah

Very interesting. I think this proves that Quentin is TRULY a fan of movies, and not films (Yes, there's a difference, and anyone who's ever written a script, shot a few frames, or has been a true avid fan of the moving pictures knows what I'm talking about). I have to say: I respect Quentin for his take on the medium. I think it's admirable that he's both predictable, and unpredictable when it comes to his views. He's really an interesting person to listen/watch and absorb his views on movies. Good find Alex.
-Peter-

wow, nice.
jules

Jsa, great movie.
Roberto Dinamite

QA loves his Asian movies
Nithin

Alex, the footage at the bottom is Death Proof if i am not wrong. Death Race is the Jason Statham movie.
Jordan

Glad to see Unbreakable made it on his list. It is no doubt Shamaylan's best film. Also it appears that he did this this year since he said it was the best movies in the last 17 years since 1992. By my math that adds up to 2009. So I guess the random Death Proof clips have nothing to do with it.
David C

Where is Green Mile, Bravehart, Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Bad Boys, Blade, Lock Stock, Snatch, Cast Away, I Am Legend, I Robot, We Were Soldiers, Departed, Armageddon, Rocky Balboea and load of others.
Dean S

Actually alex i think this was filmed for basterds, kind of, this weekend gone was tarantino weekend on a movies tv station here in the uk, "sky movies" as it says behind him. I think they were showing deathproof underneath him because they were about to show it.
Movieraider321

he says over the last 17 years.............from 1992, do the math.........2009!
1001

QT failed to mention he's also stolen material from every movie he mentioned too. The guy's a hack.
Eli

Unbreakable is a masterpiece.
loci

the plebs love to be told what is good
Hatori Hanzo

1001 said: QT failed to mention he's also stolen material from every movie he mentioned too. The guy's a hack. I guess yor coment makes you a hack too since you've stolen that comment from past bloggers.
esophus

#15 lolol
L

#9 - When you said Saving Private Ryan, you had me interested. When you said Bad Boys, you lost all credibility. #14 - And cutters love telling others that they are always inside the box.
marty

#15 - Haha!! My personal opinion is: QT failed to mention he's also stolen material from every movie he mentioned too. The guy's a hack
zetsu

i agree with some of his choices battle royale,the matrix,audition,fight club,the host and unbreakable all pretty fucking cool movies.i wonder if one day will we ever see tarantino do a comic book movie,he loves films as you can tell from the video but he also loves comic books i think if i remember rightly he mentions a comicbook refrence in all his films,even the bit that he wrote for crimson tide you he them talking about the silver surfer.tarantino if you make a comicbook movie make sure it one of the following 1.daredevil 2.the preacher 3.the punisher 4.ghost rider 5.nightwing 6.the sandman.
Weird-Coma

Ehh, I liked most of the stuff he mentioned, maybe not as much as he did, but barring Friday (funny but not top 20 funny), Speed, Insider, Police Story 3 (again, cool but not top 20 cool) and Dazed and Confused, his list is pretty safe. Tastes are different for everyone, I'd have put Dogma, The Big Lebowski, Snatch, Oldboy, American Psycho in there just to name a few. Different opinions for different people.
bozoconnors

@20 - agreed. Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels as well. Odd list. Daunting task though.
Jon the Rob-ot

Q respects the independent cinema and he receives "props" for that.
Jake Yenor

Fun picks - Jake Yenor
ryan

Hmmmm no Robert Rodriguez stuff on the list... I guess he's not a fan of his butt-buddy's movies. Glad to hear that....
Tra la la la la di da

He said Friday...ugh. I almost lost respect for him then I watch Reservoir Digs. lol Nice watch though and predictable mostly, as Quanah mentioned, but I liked the out there choices.
SHANEDAV

can someone type all the movies he said so I can copy paste THX
Al

24, remember, this is his favorite TWENTY films from the past 17 years, for all we know a Rodriguez film could be 21.
AlexG

Battle Royale Was SHIT
m4st4

UNBREAKABLE!!!!!
I Drop Screws In Tuna!

Does anyone else think that Quentin Tarantino looks like Richard Kiel?
SwolN PekR

What part of "HIS favorites" do some of you morons NOT understand? This isn't his declaration of the absolute BEST films of the past 17 years! Why spend useless time and energy picking apart his choices? When you get finished, he's STILL the one with the massively successful career and legions of loyal fans, not you. #18---Yeah, he's a hack.....Worth millions of dollars. You'd be a "hack" too, for that kind of money.
Mark Drennan

Lost in Translation makes my top 2. Nice.
David C

Quentin Tarantino looks like a trout.....................the bastard
Brian Becker

America, fuck yeah! Comin' again to save the motherfucking day, yeah! America, fuck yeah! Freedom is the only way, yeah! Terrorists, your game is through, 'cause now you have to answer to America, fuck yeah! So lick my butt and suck on my balls! America, fuck yeah! What you gonna do when we come for you now!
Paterick

So ... Everyone can put their lists of their favorites and we rip into eachother about how little we know about good films or we shit on QTs pics or we go at him with both hands about how unique the dude is and how we must not understand movies enough or just get over it, do some combo of that stuff, be open to different kinds of movies and make SURE we actually see them in a theater and don't ntpick so damn much that we barely even experience the damn thing. I think what I get out of this list is that you gotta use the right side of your brain deciding your favorite movies instead of using the left side to decide what the greatest films are.
Kenco

He said at the very start the words "the last 17 years", well then, considering that it begins in 1992 and by adding on 17 years, that would give us 2009..... WOW! Somebody didn't do very well in math, ha ha!!
Syphous

I've never been a big fan of QT (except of course the magnificent Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Vol.1) so I'm pretty surprised that we have such similar tastes in movies. He listed off some great stuff, however I would have left Speed out. There is no excuse for Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock's awful AWFUL acting.
Rachel Replicant

I love the man and ALL (Yes, all including Jackie Brown) of his movies, but almost lost all respect when he mentioned "The Matrix" talk about hacks stealing material from everyone! that movie was the 40 thieves den of pillaged goods!
Da Man

Tarantino really is a true movie fan. And while he does draw a lot from other flicks (or steal from them I guess some would say) I think he adds just as much original, visionary even, material to the profession. He's got a vision of his own, but he loves movies so much that he prolly can't help steal a little something fron them. They say art imitates life. Seems to me that Tarantino's life is movies. Lost in Translation is the best movie ever.
Pratik Stephen

For those who don't want to spend 7 mins watching the entire video again and again, here's the list of movies, as I've noted them in a hurry. (with probably a few typos.) Battle Royale - Japanese (QT's favourite) Anything Else - Woody Allen Audition - McKay The Blade - (martial arts) Boogey nights Dazed and Confused, Rio bravo (Hang out Movies) Dogville - Greatest movie scripts Fightclub Friday (Ice cube + Chris Tucker) The Host (Korean monster movie) The Insider (Michael Mann) Joint Security Area Lost in Translation The Matrix Memories of Murder - Interesting and complex SuperCop aka Police Story 3 - Jackie Chan Shaun of the dead - Edgar Right Speed - Keanu Reeves Team America Unbreakable - M Knight Shyamalan
Buster Keaton

lol he called him shalamalamadingdong!
Jason

Quentin is not a hack. He merely references all the films/filmmakers that HE loves. I've actually expanded my movie awareness, thanks to him. He's one of THE most unique filmmakers to emerge in the last 20 years. He's a movie director who's also a HUGE FAN of cinema. As a fan myself, I love to hear him talk about movies. I CAN'T WAIT to see Inglourious Basterds. A friend who's as big of, if not bigger, movie fan than myself LOVED IT!! Also, QT produces some of THE BEST movie soundtracks EVER!!
Lando

so let me get this straight, Tarantino is a hack for taking ideas from other movies??? HAHAHAHAHHA...so every director who cites inspiration or scene admiration is a hack too??? Spielberg, cohens, etc are all hacks??? LIsten to your director commentaries on your dvd's and notice that almost ALL directors take cues from other works and are inspired by other works as well!!! and in many cases will tell you why they took or what they took!! first of all, for all those towing that line do you know that much about film that you see his movies and are like "Oh yea, he took the pacing and sequences from Kubricks "The Killing" or "oh yea, that was an ode to Leones "duck you sucker"??? OR...did you just hear that on some site or above threads and take the hater stance of "YEa, he's a hack" cause he doesnt do shit with robots and mindless plot lines to sell toys to over aged adults? Inglorius basterds fucking rocked!!! it killed just about everything Ive seen this summer (transforming robots, time traveling terminators, and while ive been waiting for over 20 years for Watchmen, it killed watchmen!)
OK but

I recongize the guy is no hack, but fuck, he makes movies that seem so... adolescent. He's the perfect MTV american auteur- so much style, not enough substance.Flash flash flash. I dont want to be reminded of how many fucking movies youve seen QT everytime i watch your shit, I want something tangible, something REAL not more fucking plastic. Your too fucking Po-mo for your own good, gain some more life experience and then come back and share some REAL insight, not what your favorite movie last week was.
Fearandloathing116

i can't believe in didn't say fargo or the big lebowski and he mentioned the host...