Quentin Tarantino’s Top 20 Films of the Past 17 Years

Posted by on August 17th, 2009   Filed under: Lists
Source: Kottke.org

tarantinotop20

Regardless of whether or not you think Quentin Tarantino is an egomaniac and regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of his films, one of the things you have to love about him is the fact that he’s kind of a fanboy in his own right. Let’s face it: the guy simply loves film, and he’s probably watched more movies (both obscure and mainstream) than just about anyone else on the planet. It’s always interesting to hear him talk passionately about the movies that he loves, as witnessed in the recent Oz-ploitation documentary Not Quite Hollywood, for example.

Recently, as part of the promotion for his upcoming film Inglourious Basterds (which hits theatres this weekend), he recorded a short video for Sky Movies talking about his Top 20 films of the past 17 years — that is, his favourite movies that have been released since he first started directing his own flicks. Any surprises? Well, it’s kind of surprising that he managed to narrow it down to just 20, but beyond that, I certainly didn’t expect him to be a fan of Team America: World Police! Cool. Check out the full list and the video embedded after the jump.

Battle Royale
Anything Else
Audition
Tsui Hark’s The Blade
Boogie Nights
Dazed & Confused
Dogville
Fight Club
Fridays
The Host
The Insider
Joint Security Area
Lost In Translation
The Matrix
Memories of Murder
Supercop (Police Story 3)
Shaun of the Dead
Speed
Team America: World Police
Unbreakable



  • Henrik

    Props for picking Shyamalan, massive anti-props for making fun of his name.

  • I finally agree with Henrik! very passive aggressive for old Q-tip-o-re-o

  • Joe Cock

    Yeah, asian movies FTW.
    I’ve seen Battle Royale, The Host and Joint Security Area.
    The first one is forgetable (in my opinion wich is of course unworthy in comparison) but The Host and espacially Joint Security Area are amazing films.

    Other great asian moovies that just randomly come to my mind and were kickass:
    – Bangkok Dangerous (the original one of course)
    – Infernal Affairs
    – every single Takeshi Kitano Film but espacially
    – Brother
    – Violent Cop
    – Dolls
    – Zatoichi-The Blind Samurai

  • I agree with the choices of “Unbreakable”, “The Matrix”, and especially “The Host”.

  • kris

    same list as me and im 14. but he forgot twister.

  • I would have put “The End of Evangelion”, “Gojira”, “Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris”, “Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Complete”, “Watchmen”, “The Dark Knight”, “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” on my list of top films.

    Kris,

    I agree. “Twister” was awesome.

  • @Matt Keith: T2 came out 19 yrs ago.

    Surprised Tarantino didn’t include The Fifth Element or The Professional!!1

  • Wow… this has to be some sort of wierd inside joke between him and his friends or something.

    Speed? Really?
    Supercop? Come on dude.

  • Rusty James

    Ah, another site reported he said Blade, but I’m glad to see it was actually The Blade. One of my favorite films of the past twenty years as well.

    And I hope you guys are joking about Twister.

  • Ryan,

    LOl, my bad I didn’t see that about it being in the last 17 years….oh well That would be my list for best films ever made period.

  • Rusty James

    here’s mine

    the blade – tsui hark
    crumb – terry zwigoff
    ed wood – tim burton
    one false move – carl franklin
    violent cop – beat takashi
    boogie nights – pt anderson
    heat – michael mann
    little dieter needs to fly – werner herzog
    children of men – alfonso curon
    slackers – richard linklater
    pulp fiction – quentin tarrantino
    thin red line – terrance malik
    irreversible – gasper noe
    eternal sunshine – michel gondry
    big lebowsky – coens
    bottle rocket – wes anderson
    anchorman – adam mckay
    manderlay – lars von trier
    assassination of jesse james – andrew dominic
    ghost dog – jim jarmusch

  • omfg

    Whats with the fucking spaces between words!?!”!?!?!!

  • omfg

    Oh, and ummmm no. The guy has seen a quite alot amount of films, but not more then a normal film lover would do when they were 46 years old.

  • heydude

    Does anyone have a list of his all time favorite movies?
    I know The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is his favorite, but i want to know about his other favorites.

  • Rusty James

    Other films he’s mentioned as his favorites are Blow Out (he’s a huge depalma fan), Taxi Driver, Rio Bravo (which he mentions in the video). He used to mention Chunking Express as one of his favorites but it doesn’t come up in this video so maybe it’s fallen out of favor with him.

    For a best of the past 17 years list I can’t help but feel that Battle Royal is a pretty week choice.

  • Rob

    Pulp Fiction is the number one film of the past 17 years hands down! revolutionary!

  • Rob

    Snatch and Amelie deserve some props too!

  • Chris

    I like his movies but I want to punch the guy in the face.

  • joe

    JSA, Audition, Battle Royale, The Host..

    NICE

    But Lost in Translation was definitely not my thing. big ole meh from me.

  • joe

    ps. Memories of Murder was good, but not deserving in the top 20 IMO

  • Swarez

    Greeeeat. Another comment section where everyone feels compelled to put together their own list because somebody made their own and it’s all fucking pointless in the end.
    yayyyy.

  • Your mom is.

  • modesilver

    i’ve been meaning to watch Memories of Murder and Unbreakable, but later forgot about them. looks like i have to watch them now.

  • steviebaby

    I’ve seen most of the movies on his list (even the Asian ones) and while I did enjoy them, they wouldn’t even make top 10 of their year as far as I’m concerned, let alone last 17. It’s funny that given all things, I would have definintely nominated Pulp Fiction as one of the stand-out movies of recent history.

    The man makes incredibly enjoyable films but his OWN taste is really weird.

  • Damndirtyape

    Not a fan at all of Tarantino but I’m glad to Dazed and Confused on the list. Such a great nostalgia inducing film with perfect casting.

  • No Star Wars? ugh!

    He forgot the #1 film of all time….Commando

  • El Rocho

    The Host is a terrible overrated film. Aside from the opening scenes where the monster attacks, the rest just awful. I’m very surprised by his choice of that. And Woody Allen’s film. I thought it was so sub-par for what Allen can do. The rest, I completely agree on.

  • I totally overlooked Woody Allen’s “Anything Else” in Tarantino’s list until you pointed it out, El Rocho. I enjoyed it when I saw it, and I noticed that people including critics were ignoring it at the time of its release. I didn’t think it was special or much different from Allen’s usual output. I wonder what Tarantino likes so much about it.

    As for “The Host,” I like it because it focuses on how a regular family deals with the threat of a monster. The family works together as a team, each using whatever talent each has. The goofiness of the family adds to the charm for me.

  • Dre

    Pretty sweet list. I’m glad he mentioned Dogville and JSA though disappointed he left out Oldboy and Chungking Express. Maybe he felt he had too many Asian films? I think I read somewhere he fought for Oldboy in Cannes to win first prize (don’t remember the actual name).

    Here’s my list (putting the ones I agree with Tarantino first):
    Battle Royale
    Audition
    Dogville
    Fight Club
    The Matrix
    Oldboy
    Martyrs
    Chungking Express
    Ginger Snaps
    Dancer in the Dark
    Lord of the Rings (trilogy was shot together, so I count it as one)
    Pulp Fiction
    Happiness
    The Sweet Hereafter
    Chasing Amy
    Hard Boiled
    Mulholland Drive
    The Dark Knight
    Scream
    Donnie Darko

  • gideon

    Unbreakable and fight club are two of the best movies of all time

  • Andrea

    I love Tarantino films
    and I also love the fact he loves Battle Royale
    Asian School girls with machine guns killing each other
    It’s all kinds of awesome

  • Guest

    I like how he hasn’t just chosen all big budget american films. Battle Royale ftw.

  • how can anyone say memories of murder is over rated. That movie is amazing, easily one of the best ones out of all those movies.

  • Sewmehon Yismaw

    here r main

    JAcky Brown
    Pulp Fiction
    Inglourious Bastardes
    Death Proof
    Natural Born Killers
    Kill Bill Vol.1 And Vol.2
    true romance
    sin city
    reservior dogs

  • Frank

    Really amazing that Oliver Stone is so minutely mentioned!!! You have to be joking. U-Turn; Platoon; Natural Born Killers, and the screenplays for Midnight Express and Scarface etc etc?