Six movies Quentin Tarantino called “masterpieces”
The Hollywood landscape changed drastically when Quentin Tarantino released his debut film, Reservoir Dogs, in 1992. The movie was independently made on a limited budget and quickly lapped up attention from critics, with the filmmaker being labelled as the next indie darling. With his follow-up, Pulp Fiction, Tarantino proved that independent filmmaking could be just as enticing and successful as mainstream blockbusters, further helping to spur the decade’s indie cinema boom.
Since the ‘90s, Tarantino has made more popular movies in the form of titles like Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds, and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. His auteur style has led Tarantino to become one of modern cinema’s most well-known names, loved by casual film fans and dedicated cinephiles alike. Tarantino himself is a massive cinephile, imbuing his work with countless references to other movies. He’s never shied away from sharing his opinions on movies throughout the years, not hesitating to boldly declare a handful of movies “masterpieces”.
Tarantino has certainly called more than six movies masterpieces in his time, likely labelling movies like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with a capital M – a film he’s routinely called one of his all-time favourites. However, he’s also heralded several movies over the years as “masterpieces”, which you would perhaps not expect from him, such as cult horror movies and an animated classic.
While most people would call John Carpenter’s Halloween his finest work, a defining horror movie which allowed him to rise to prominence, Tarantino seems to prefer Dark Star. The film was released in 1974 and acted as Carpenter’s debut feature. It emerged from the filmmaker’s tenure as a film student, and following its lack of success, he was often critical of the final product. Tarantino, on the other hand, thinks it’s amazing, labelling it as a “science fiction masterpiece”, an “early ‘70s masterpiece”, and “a counter-culture, anti-establishment, hippie filmmaking masterpiece.”
When speaking via The Video Archives Podcast, he concluded, “I actually think it is a classic now.”
Tarantino has always loved Japanese cinema, paying particular homage to it in Kill Bill. He has labelled several Japanese movies as masterpieces, starting with Audition, the violent horror movie directed by Takashi Miike, which has clearly inspired Tarantino’s own work. “A true masterpiece if there ever was one,” he once said. The movie’s surprising ending has continued to shock viewers since it was released in 1999, with the depiction of torture making for a highly challenging watch. Tarantino was amazed by the way Miike’s movie played with the audience, describing the ending as “one of the wildest leaps I’ve ever seen anyone do as far as orchestrating an audience goes.”
The director also loves Sonatine, directed by Takeshi Kitano, a Yazuka film that helped to completely transform the subgenre through its absurdist approach to violence. In a video discussing his love for the film, Tarantino explained, “This was a bracing bucket of cold water in the face of the Japanese film industry and yakuza films, and critics loved it,” before referring to the Russian Roulette sequence as a “masterpiece.”
An unlikely favourite, Apocalypto, is next, which was directed by Mel Gibson. Released in 2006, the epic movie takes us to the 1500s when the Maya civilisation was declining, with all dialogue spoken in Yucatec Maya. While critics didn’t universally acclaim the movie, many filmmakers shared adoration for it. He told Film Ink, “I think it’s a masterpiece. It was perhaps the best film of that year. I think it was the best artistic film of that year.”
Tarantino has never been afraid to make a controversial statement, and one of his most divisive opinions is that Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov was “fraudulent”. Instead, he heralded the Adrian Lyne version, released to much controversy in 1997, as far superior, calling it a “masterpiece.” While the ‘90s adaptation depicted more of the book’s shocking moments, such as the adult Humbert kissing and being intimate with 14-year-old Lolita, this resulted in the movie being heavily criticised.
On a lighter note, Tarantino called Toy Story 3 “a masterpiece” and his “favourite” movie of 2010. The third instalment in the beloved series was the most emotional of the bunch, with the toys almost losing their lives and facing evil in the form of Lotso the bear. The toys are eventually given a new home after Andy goes to college, leaving even the most cold-hearted audience members wiping away tears. Although it’s hard to imagine Tarantino loving a family-friendly movie, there’s no doubting Toy Story 3’s status as an animated masterpiece.
Movies Quentin Tarantino called masterpieces:
- Dark Star (John Carpenter, 1974)
- Audition (Takashi Miike, 1999)
- Sonatine (Takeshi Kitano, 1993)
- Apocalypto (Mel Gibson, 2006)
- Lolita (Adrian Lyne, 1997)
- Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010)
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.